On the recordApril 8, 2011
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.…
