Nydia M. Velazquez: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Ryan budget. Our seniors and working…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Ryan budget. Our seniors and working families in New York struggle with rising rent, food, and health care costs. Now is not the time to squeeze working families in order to provide tax giveaways to the most fortunate among us. This budget will mean big cuts to the supplemental nutritional assistance program which provides food assistance to 1.8 million New Yorkers. For students looking to secure an education, this budget will mean drastic cuts to higher education funding, meaning higher costs for students. New York's small businesses and, to that effect, small businesses across this country will see Federal programs they rely on for access to credit and technical assistance reduced by $80 million-- exactly the wrong direction to go as we seek to hasten our economic recovery. Nowhere does this budget fail our Nation more than in the area of health care. Medicaid will be slashed by $810 billion, meaning disabled people, the working poor, and low-income children. For our seniors who have worked hard their entire life, this budget will mean turning our back on the Medicare guarantee for the first time, pushing the 74,000 Medicare recipients in New York's 12th District into an untested, unreliable voucher system. Let's be clear: if you vote for this budget, you're voting to end Medicare as we know it.…”