On the recordMay 3, 2017
I am here on behalf of the Progressive Caucus, which is the largest values-based caucus within the Democratic Party--74 members strong--who are helping to lead the legislative arm of the resistance in this country. We, every year, put forth a Progressive Caucus budget, which is really a statement of the values of the Progressive Caucus and the values of the American people. This year, this week, we released our budget. But before I talk about it, let me just take a step back. One of the things that people have asked us to do, asked so many of our Progressive Caucus members in this Congress to do, is to really fight and to lead the resistance here in Washington, D.C. And we are fighting many of the bad ideas that get proposed, from the idea of having a wall on the Mexican border to the terrible tax plan that is going to cost tens of millions of people access to health care, to a tax plan that is going to lower rates for the wealthiest in the country and leave the working class and those aspiring to be in the working class without any benefits. The cuts that the Trump administration has proposed in their budget, there is just so many bad things, day after day, sometimes hour after hour, in Washington, D.C., that happens. And it is the Congressional Progressive Caucus that is largely leading many of those fights, saying no to the bad ideas. But it is not enough to just say no.…
