Rick Allen: “just one more point here. I think we have a moral obligation to our children that can be easily summarized: number one…”

“just one more point here. I think we have a moral obligation to our children that can be easily summarized: number one, protect them from harm. And that is what governments at all levels do, try to do, and that is what a lot of social service agencies try to do, protect our children from harm. Number two, we need to give them a healthy start in life. We have to provide them with quality health care. Number three, we have to create opportunity for them, and that means investing in education, giving them a chance to succeed in life. So as I said before, $36 billion more is what the Republicans in the House want to spend on interest on the national debt. But they are cutting the Maternal and Child Health block grant by $24 million, or 3 percent. They are failing to raise the maximum Pell grant by even $100. They are doing that by only $50. The bill is making a 5 percent cut in the Healthy Start Initiative, which makes targeted grants to improve prenatal and infant care in areas with high infant mortality rates. So in those areas with high infant mortality rates, we are just saying we are going to take money away from those parents and their kids. We are going to take it away because we have to pay interest on the national debt. They are freezing money for the child care block grant at last year's level. They are freezing after-school health care funds. It goes on and on. It is just an abomination.…”