John Yarmuth: “We are involved in probably the most important thing that this body does on a year-to-year basis--figuring out how to…”

“We are involved in probably the most important thing that this body does on a year-to-year basis--figuring out how to spend taxpayers' money. The budget process is more than taking dollars from one place and spending them in another. It's a statement of our values, a statement of our values as representatives who are trusted by our constituents to do the right thing, and a statement of our values as a Nation. I think it is pretty clear, from what we have seen in H.R. 1, the Republican version of the continuing resolution proposal, that we have a very distinct difference in our values. At a time when millions and millions and millions of Americans, hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians are suffering, the Republican continuing resolution would take money and would put the burden of these very, very serious economic times on the people least able to afford them. At the same time, we're taking money away from incredibly important investments that this Nation has to make if it wants to remain competitive in this global economy a generation from now and two generations from now. Instead, the Republicans would slash money from police departments, slash money from fire departments, slash money from our education system, deal a very serious blow to Head Start, all of the things that we need to fulfill our basic obligation as a government. One is to provide opportunity, one is to protect our citizens.…”