Xavier Becerra: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I stand in strong opposition to the Republican budget that we are…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I stand in strong opposition to the Republican budget that we are considering here today. How easy it is for some to forget that when President Bush took office, we had surpluses as far as the eye could see, and when President Bush left office, we were left with a deep pool of red ink. My friends on the other side of the aisle talk about the urgency of reducing our deficits, but where were my deficit-concerned colleagues when Congress passed tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, adding trillions to the deficit? Where were my deficit-concerned colleagues when President Bush took us into two wars without paying for either? I find it hard to believe that after voting time and again to add trillions to the deficit, that the only solution they offer to create economic growth in this country is to end Medicare and to hand out more tax cuts to the wealthiest among us. The Republican vision in this budget doesn't reflect the America that I grew up in, and their vision of an America that can't is not the country that I want my children to inherit. Budgets are about choices, and this Republican budget chooses billionaires over seniors and oil subsidies over college dreams for our middle class.…”