[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, we are 1 day closer to a government 
shutdown, and the Republican leadership continues their obstinate 
crusade against everyday Americans.
  If their insistence on draconian cuts and their blind allegiance to a 
government shutdown weren't bad enough, their 2012 budget decimates 
SNAP and Medicaid, food and health care assistance programs for the 
most vulnerable people in America.
  Republicans continue their efforts to balance the budget on the backs 
of the poor, and we must not stand for that.
  But Americans from all walks of life are saying enough. Over 23,000 
people--members of churches, mosques, and synagogues; union members and 
white collar workers; clergy and lay people--are fasting in opposition 
to the draconian Republican budget cuts.
  Democrats stand with those fasting in opposition to cuts to programs 
that make up the circle of protection, the programs that protect the 
hungry and the most vulnerable both here at home and around the world. 
We can and we should and we must do better.
  I urge my Republican colleagues, stop your assault on the poor. Stop 
your assault against the poor.
  You could read more about their efforts at www.hungerfast.org.

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