Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, if CSBG programs were fulfilling their statutory purpose, we would be hearing lots of numbers of people lifted out of poverty. But those numbers have been notably absent in the committee debate and here today. We have been given no proof, no proof at all, that these programs are working as they have been set up. We are asking hardworking taxpayers-- let me repeat that--hardworking taxpayers to give money to support these programs that have no accountability. The goal is to take people out of poverty and have them become hardworking taxpayers to balance out the burden here in this country, but that is not happening, Madam Speaker. This bill would appropriate $1 billion. I said in my opening comments that we are $30 trillion in debt. We are going to add to our debt with this program with no accountability. We should not spend a dime of taxpayer dollars without knowing that those dollars are being spent effectively. Republicans support commonsense efforts to fight poverty and provide a safety net for Americans truly in need. We want to make our Nation's antipoverty programs the best they can be, a streamlined network that specifically focuses on aiding those in dire need and helps lift them out of poverty, but that is not what we have here. H.R. 5129 fails to reform CSBG. In fact, the program widely expands the pool of eligible beneficiaries, leaving those most in need with fewer resources.…”