Nita Lowey: “Thank you so much. This is a very helpful discussion and I want to thank my good friend on the Committee on…”

“Thank you so much. This is a very helpful discussion and I want to thank my good friend on the Committee on Appropriations from Georgia, Mr. Kingston, for yielding, for you both yielding to me. I think there really is a difference in priorities, and that is a healthy debate, as we said before. We can talk about Medicare, and you mentioned medical savings accounts. Some of us feel it should be done differently. We can talk about Medicaid. We can talk about education, the environment. You and I may differ on the depth of the cuts in the environment. But I do believe that we can agree that there should be a balanced budget. In my judgment, the President, Democrats, and Republicans for the most part, have agreed there should be a balanced budget. This kind of a debate is healthy. We do not have to hold all the Federal employees hostage while we are debating very serious questions in this country. I do not have a national park in my district. But when a national park closes, it is not just the visitors who are on Christmas vacation that could not get into the national park. In the United States of America, seeing a closed sign to me is outrageous, but it is all the small businesses around that national park that are being deprived of their livelihood. People who want to get mortgages from the FHA cannot get those mortgages. People at veterans hospitals are not getting the services. Meals on Wheels, Head Start.…”