Chris Van Hollen

That is irresponsible and reckless given the impact that not paying our bills would have on the economy.

The position our Republican colleagues unfortunately have taken is that we're going to shut down the government if we don't accomplish the goal of shutting down the Affordable Care Act.

We're focused on something very different than solving this long-term challenge.

We should adopt the kind of framework recommended by every bipartisan group that's looked at this issue.

We're on an unsustainable path with respect to the debt.

We should adopt the kind of frameworks recommended by every bipartisan group that has looked at this issue in recent times.

Let's work together to replace it in a way that achieves the same amount of deficit reduction or more without the self-inflicted wound of hundreds of thousands fewer jobs.

We have got to act now to kick our economy into higher gear, to put more Americans back to work.

We know that with real reforms we can not only pay down the debt--we can help grow the economy and put people back to work.

That is irresponsible.

The hole we will have to dig ourselves out of will be that much deeper.

That is a self-inflicted wound. That is a wound that this country cannot afford.

That's a self-inflicted wound. That's a wound that this country cannot afford.

As the gentleman knows in a new Congress, all the legislation that was considered in the previous Congress goes away. The fact is that in this Congress, we've not had one concrete proposal from our Republican colleagues to replace the…

Congressman Van Hollen today... said that they have 30 days in order to be able to work out a diplomatic solution to this and if that doesn't happen, then the president would get the authority to do the military efforts.

The number I was giving you was for able-bodied adults. Did not include the elderly and kids.

I have not heard any testimony today that actually goes out to propose specific changes.

If you look at the Republican budget, it dramatically cuts, not reforms, it dramatically cuts a lot of those important supports that have helped that poverty level come down

But in Parliamentary systems where they can engage all these programs at once, they look at these problems and they say, 'Collectively, we are spending a great deal of money. We need to fix the way we collectively spend the money.'

It's time to do the hard work needed to put in place a fiscally responsible budget that adopts the balanced approach recommended by bipartisan groups.

Why are Republicans making such deep cuts to programs that help so many? Because their lopsided approach to the budget plan refuses to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay one penny more for the purpose of deficit reduction.

I asked him specifically on Medicaid, does he show any significant work disincentive as a result of Medicaid? And his answer was 'No.'

I could not agree more that we should take our existing resources and channel them to programs that work.

It was a very stark example of misplaced priorities.

I must confess I find the timing of this hearing particularly strange.