Charles Rangel: “my colleagues, if you really want to understand what deficit reduction is all about, then what you should do is take a…”

“my colleagues, if you really want to understand what deficit reduction is all about, then what you should do is take a look at the amount of money that we are spending to keep people in jail, which reaches $40 billion. Think about the cost of crime and violence. Think about the cost of AIDS and tuberculosis. Think about the cost of having kids dropping out of school, untrained and unemployed. And think about the lost competition, the lost productivity as a result of these Americans not being able to fulfill their potential. And take a look as to where the labor market is going to be in the next 10 years. I tell you, my colleagues, if you want to reduce the deficit, if you want to make this great Republic as responsible in providing the leadership that she can, if you want us to go into the next century being certain that we will be the leaders in trade, then you will have to make the proper investments today.”