Dan Boren: “the last few nights I have been watching this 30-Something crowd up speaking at night, and it really inspired me to come…”

“the last few nights I have been watching this 30-Something crowd up speaking at night, and it really inspired me to come down to the floor. This is my first Special Order as a freshman Member of Congress. I hail from the great State of Oklahoma, and this is very, very important. I think the American people need to know about what is going on here in Washington, D.C. It is hurting my district. It is hurting all of us. I want to talk about some of these programs that you are talking about that affect everyone from Broken Arrow and Idabel, if you are listening tonight; to Muskogee, Oklahoma; to Miami, Oklahoma; to Durant. Let us talk about the community health centers that the funding has been slashed. The President's budget asked for a 64 percent reduction. We talk about Medicaid and the COPS program. We have talked about economic development in the rural part of America that is being cut. Even Start, which you talked about earlier tonight, is very, very important. Head Start funding, TRIO and Gear Up are so important. Let me tell you, in my district we have a lot of young people and their families. No one's been to college, and these programs are vital for creating jobs in a district like mine. Because of some kind of offset for, as you said, a billionaire or someone else like that, people in my district are getting cut, people in Oklahoma. I am one of the more conservative Members of our caucus. I come from a red State. I am the only Democrat in our delegation.…”