On the recordMarch 8, 2011
China is racing ahead with respect to these kinds of investments. The fact is, they are sending their students to the United States for degrees in math, science, and engineering, but the House is cutting Pell grants so there is a 15-percent cut below the maximum level, which would affect over 100,000 students in college, making it less affordable, less accessible for low- and moderate-income students. That is not a budget that helps our economy. It does nothing with dealing with the deficit and jobs. They tie the hands of the Consumer Product Safety Commission so they cannot launch a database for consumer products. If you are an average American, you do not need to know if the products you buy are safe or will harm you. That does not matter anymore, even though it has nothing to do with dealing with the budget problem. They reduce Federal funds from being spent for Planned Parenthood, for doctors and nurses to conduct 1 million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer and more than 830,000 breast cancer exams. I guess it is much more important that millionaires, people earning more than $1 million a year, get their tax cut than 830,000 women to have breast cancer screenings. This value system is something that I think is absolutely essential for us to examine.
