On the recordFebruary 28, 2011
I want to take a few minutes to talk about the future. Last December, when faced with the prospect that tax rates for the richest 2 percent of Americans would rise to where they were in the 1990s, when we balanced the budget and enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, Republicans decided that extending these unnecessary and unaffordable tax cuts was their number one priority. As we all remember, they held much-needed relief to the middle class hostage, and they got their tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, this tax is adding $39 billion to the deficit this year and will add even more next year. Speaker Boehner has said that our national debt is a moral issue, and I agree with him. We need to act to curb our exploding deficits and mounting debt. But Republicans and Democrats have different approaches to the problem. The Republicans' approach is the irresponsible continuing resolution that was passed by this House 10 days ago. Republicans would cut $600 million from the COPS program and $256 million from the State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program, which would make our streets less safe. Republicans would cut $75 million from the Legal Services Corporation, which would deny legal services to the victims of domestic violence.
