Katie Porter: “Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), that the cuts she…”

“Mr. Speaker, I would say to my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), that the cuts she has described, are not cuts. They are cuts from the President's budget. And the President's budget, this President, has been particularly adept at drawing a political document. All Presidents draw a political document, but this President has taken it to an art form; and it is, basically, a document that is not responsible. Let us start the debate today by being very, very clear. When the other side talks about cuts, they are talking about cuts from an irresponsible President's budget. If we look at the Department of Education, there are no cuts in programs. There is a $2.4 billion increase in spending in this bill over last year in discretionary programs. If we look at the Department of Health and Human Services, there is a $2.2 billion increase over last year. There are cuts in some programs in the Department of Labor. But this is an economy that is growing so fast, where we have almost full employment, that the need for job training is less than in the past. Such growth justifies a slowdown in spending. So I would say to the gentlewoman, let us talk not about cuts. There are not cuts except in certain areas where they are justified. There are increases.”