[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17552-17553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TAKING CARE OF VULNERABLE AMERICANS

  (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RANGEL. My colleagues, some of you may have read that the 
protesters at Wall Street are now being subjected to attacks by the 
police and law enforcement for loitering and other violations. There is 
no question in anyone's mind that the right to free speech has 
restrictions and it's not an open end and we have to be considerate of 
the people who are adversely affected. But there is also a moral issue, 
in addition to the constitutional issue, that no one

[[Page 17553]]

can challenge that these protesters have brought to the attention of 
the American people: the fact that we have a moral obligation to take 
care of those people who are vulnerable, take care of those people who 
are sick, take care of the people that are aged and our children, not 
just before birth but after birth. The fact that we are talking about 
turning these questions over to 12 Members of Congress--it's not just 
unconstitutional; it is immoral.
  So I'm calling on the spiritual leaders of our country: Don't leave 
this vacuum. Bring in the Catholics and Protestants and all the 
religions to say there's something wrong with the formula that we have 
for the poor.

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