We have a responsibility to provide Americans with the skills and opportunities they need to be successful in the global marketplace.

It is our responsibility to ensure that children who come from disadvantaged families have the same opportunities as their peers.

Social Security, as you can see from this chart, has never contributed one dime to the national debt or any of our deficits.

I suspect a lot of these teachers are wondering why are they paying for the sins that were done by others?

Raising the retirement age would mean an immediate benefit cut for men and women of America.

No matter how many times you say Social Security is broke, the reality is that Social Security's independent revenue stream and its Trust Fund's investments maintain the program's solvency until 2037.

It would be disingenuous for me to promote my legislation using the deceitful claim Social Security is broken or faces an imminent crisis.

We have a quarter century to shore up Social Security.

The motion imminent crisis we face is one that we can address right now in our 2012 budget.

The most imminent crisis we face is the crisis we have the opportunity to address right now in our 2012 budget, and that is America's economic crisis.

Further, because of the current economic conditions, more Americans are in need of legal assistance.

I strongly support LSC funding.

I am also here today to speak on the importance of homeownership and foreclosure prevention programs in the President's budget proposal.

This is why I strongly support adequate funding for viral hepatitis programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I strongly urge this committee to give high priority to Workforce Investment Act funding, viral hepatitis funding, legal services for low-income individuals, and housing and foreclosure prevention programs.

We must ensure that every American has a roof over their head by funding $2 billion in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

If you support the repeal of health reform--you are contributing to the destabilization of Medicare.

With rising costs for gas, food, and rent--proposing drastic cuts to education, housing, and healthcare will place additional burdens on the most vulnerable among us--jeopardizing the lives of millions of Americans.