"But that is not what the Ag Committee chose to do. What they chose to do was to cut food nutrition programs that will cut food assistance immediately to every single household receiving those food nutrition programs."
"While today's hearing is titled 'Strengthening the Safety Net,' it is mostly an effort to sugarcoat a Republican budget that shreds the social safety net while providing gold-plated tax breaks to the ..."
"I think that this test-driven mentality that we have in the country has been a disservice to most of us."
"I think it would be better if we tried to take the programs that work, try and refine them."
"First, I would observe that while spending on safety net programs is high now it is largely the function of the economic downturn."
"I am more than a little frustrated that we seem to have an inability to accept some of the successes."
"If you look at their budget, they cut $800 billion out of Medicaid over 10 years."
"I think it is Orwellian to present a budget that tears a huge hole in the safety net as one that is, in fact, designed to strengthen support for vulnerable Americans."
"It does this by converting Medicaid into a block grant program that provides inadequate funding that fails to keep pace with the need."
"Let's put this hearing in context. The Republican budget takes a lopsided approach to addressing our deficit."
"America absolutely must have taxes and safety net programs, even though they reduce the reward to working."