Nydia M. Velazquez: “let us be perfectly clear about this budget agreement. It is far from over. Now that the framework has been decided by…”

“let us be perfectly clear about this budget agreement. It is far from over. Now that the framework has been decided by this body, it is time to talk about priorities. The Democrats' priorities are to educate our children. First we want full funding for WIC, then we fought tooth and nail to protect funding for Pell grants, bilingual and immigrant education, Head Start, and child literacy. Now we must force the Republicans to make good on this agreement. The Republican agenda is just as clear. They continue to brag that their number one concern is cutting taxes for the richest people in this country. Mr. Speaker, is this what the American people want? When they want to know why our schools are crumbling to the ground and our students are not learning to read, is there a Member in this Chamber who will look them in the eye and tell them that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important?”