[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5666-5667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Baca) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, we find ourselves less than 24 hours away from 
abandoning our veterans--I state, from abandoning our veterans, our 
seniors, and our active duty military personnel. Why? You ask yourself, 
Why? Because Republicans refuse to budge from a fiscal plan that will 
cost our Nation 700,000 jobs and the anti-government tea party is dead 
set on shutting government.
  In my district in California's Inland Empire, we face a 14 percent 
unemployment rate. My constituents need jobs. Our priorities now should 
be about creating jobs, not about shutting government. We all know the 
devastation of the consequences of a shutdown. Eligible seniors and 
disabled Americans would be unable to apply for Medicare and Medicaid 
benefits. Can you imagine someone that needs medical assistance and 
they can't get it, the impact it will have on their life, the impact it 
will have on their behavior and on their families?
  Veterans' service benefits would be delayed. Pay for our troops and 
their families would be delayed. And on the other side, you hear a lot 
of rhetoric about our troops and that we should pass this budget. But 
they don't talk about, they are not willing to cut any of the rich, or 
the millionaires and the billionaires. They want to protect the rich. 
They want to protect the oil companies. They want to protect the 
outsourcing of companies that go outside, but aren't willing to make 
the cuts that are necessary. I think everybody has got to have cuts.

[[Page 5667]]

  It will also impact our Social Security claims that would go 
unprocessed. Federal vendors and contractors, their employees would go 
unpaid. Government housing assistance would be halted, and millions of 
tax refunds would go unsent.
  In my home of San Bernardino County, a shutdown would mean no 
paychecks for 22,000 Federal employees and retirees. Think about the 
economic damage this loss of revenue would cause.
  But instead of working on a compromise, I say instead of working on a 
compromise, because it takes two leaders and it takes other 
individuals, and Harry Reid is doing what is necessary in leading, it's 
the other side that has to compromise as well. It's not a one-sided 
team; it's a two-sided team. And when the chemistry is good on both 
sides, we should be able to come up with a compromise that is good for 
our Nation and our country.
  But instead, Republicans have introduced a long-term budget that 
devastates our seniors and ends Medicare as we know it. The budget 
shouldn't be about flexing our political muscle. It should be about 
doing what is right for the American people, and this Republican budget 
makes all of the wrong choices.
  The GOP plan increases suffering, I state, suffering for our seniors 
and young people while protecting tax breaks for the wealthy, while 
protecting tax breaks for the wealthy. The Republican budget eliminates 
guaranteed coverage for our seniors under Medicare which currently 
serves 48 million elderly Americans. It slashes Medicaid for seniors in 
nursing homes and Americans with disabilities. It increases college 
education costs for 10 million middle class students. And we need to 
invest in education. They are our future. If we don't invest in our 
students and their education, they cannot provide for us. We need to 
invest in them, not cut them. And, of course, it gives tax breaks to 
the big oil companies and companies that ship jobs overseas.
  Seniors in my district live on a fixed income. Can you imagine living 
on a fixed income of $1,900 a month or whatever income you have? It is 
very difficult to make your mortgage payments, put food on the table, 
and know how you are going to get by the next day. Or if you have any 
other emergencies.
  We are a country; we are America. We are the greatest country in the 
world, and we should provide for every American that is here, 
regardless of who they are or where they come from. They can't afford 
to pay more health care or see cuts in Social Security benefits. We all 
agree, and it has been stated, we all agree that we must get our 
deficit under control.
  But remember, Republicans had 12 years to do this and went out of 
control in their spending and didn't do anything when they had control.

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