Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2216, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2217, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 243, the rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 2216, the Fiscal Year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and H.R. 2217, the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act because it deems the draconian and harmful Ryan budget as law. We should be using this opportunity to pass a budget, in consultation with the Senate, which will get the economy back on the right track in this new fiscal year. I stand before you today to express my opposition to the Ryan budget and thereby my opposition to the rule that deems this budget passed.

The Ryan budget is an economic catastrophe of this Tea Party majority's choosing.
Support for this rule, and by default the Ryan budget, is support for deep cuts to programs that help needy Americans as well as for infrastructure programs that put people to work and help our businesses thrive. Under the Ryan Budget, draconian limits will be placed upon Food Stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which would be an enormous detriment to those in poverty. According to the National Poverty Center, in 2010, 15.1 percent of Americans lived in poverty, the highest rate of poverty since 1993. In the last year, the number of Georgians on food stamps has risen to 1.9 million, almost 20 percent of the population.

A vote for this rule and the Ryan budget would be a choice to slow our economic recovery. Mr. Speaker, I cannot make that choice. I cannot choose to cut Head Start for parents who cannot afford daycare or end Medicare as we know it for seniors.
I have heard the complaints from Republicans about the need for a budget, which is why this rule is so disappointing. Mr. Speaker, there are people in Georgia's Fourth District, and here at the steps of the Capitol living on the streets, desperate for food and shelter; yet, Tea Party Republicans are willing to exacerbate the situation by snatching away the programs that help the poor get back on their feet.

Do not allow this Tea Party Congress to ``deem'' the Ryan budget as law, ignoring regular order, and cutting benefits for those Americans who need them the most.
I urge a ``no'' vote on the Rule.

Source