Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Chair, I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York.

I stand in opposition to this blatantly dishonest Republican budget.

Republicans call this A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America, but I call it Robin Hood in reverse.

Republicans say that it will bring greater opportunity and a healthier economy for the working class, but I say it widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Our economy is driven by middle class American families.

This budget attacks them, and it attacks our economy. It is a one-sided partisan plan, increasing savings for the rich by $200,000, increasing taxes for the average American by $2,000. It repeals the Affordable Care Act, which has insured 16 million more people previously uninsured.

The district in North Carolina I represent benefits from the Democratic alternative budget. It is negatively impacted by this Republican budget.

My district has an unemployment rate more than double the State and the national average, and more than 27 percent of people in my district live below the poverty line. That is 12 percent more, Mr. Chair, than the national average.

Cuts to SNAP funding in this budget impact more than 1.5 million North Carolinians and more than 65,000 people in our 12th District. I cannot support a budget that hurts my constituents. We need a budget that brings jobs back to the 12th District and to the millions of Americans across this Nation who work hard every day to feed their families.

This budget launches a strong attack on education. As a former professor and member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, I am troubled by the fact that this budget slashes $1.2 billion in education funding for our country, cutting more than $36 million in education funding for North Carolinians. 790 children under 5 in North Carolina would be left out of critical Head Start programs. Pell grants would be frozen for students. When our children fail, everyone fails.

The Democratic alternative budget is what we need because it supports hard-working middle class families, it contributes to job growth, it invests in our children's education, and it supports our most vital programs.

I ask my colleagues on the other side to join me and countless other Members in supporting a sensible Democratic alternative. Let's continue the blue rise that our President made possible.

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