Janice Schakowsky: “something is seriously wrong here. Last week this House authorized a defense bill that will cost $400 billion, a record…”

“something is seriously wrong here. Last week this House authorized a defense bill that will cost $400 billion, a record increase of $48 billion, this despite the fact that the Inspector General of the Department of Defense has testified publicly that the Department cannot pass an audit and cannot track $1.2 trillion in transactions. The increase in the defense budget alone is three times greater than the cost of the welfare program, the major program supposedly aimed at lifting poor women and children out of poverty, aimed at fostering responsibility. We are demanding that poor women get a job, any job, even as we lose track of more than a trillion dollars? Bail out the airlines, give huge subsidies to farmers, offer a $254 million tax rebate to Enron? I am for accountability, but for everyone. But the Republican welfare bill is just mean. It makes it harder for most people in need to achieve self-sufficiency, something they want even more than we want from them. I say vote for the Democratic substitute. Vote no on the Republican bill.”