Chicago City Wire

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) released the following statement after voting NO on the Republican budget proposal the "Default on America Act."

 "I voted NO on the GOP Default on America Act because fiscal responsibility cannot and should never equate to endangering the livelihood of working families and communities while lining the pockets of the ultra-rich," said Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03). "Yet, with the reckless Default on America Act, Republicans are trying to take our economy hostage and propel our country towards economic and social disaster by playing with the health, education, food security, jobs, and the many other essential programs that tens of millions of Americans count on. A 22 percent cut to spending would be devastating. At a time when we need to increase our investment in veterans’ health care, we would be cutting 81,000 jobs across the Veterans Health Administration and undermine health care for our veterans. 

Republican budget cuts would raise housing costs for hundreds of thousands of working people. From limiting access to life-saving social programs, like Medicaid and SNAP, to leaving more than 300,000 kids out of child care and possibly eliminating over 142,000 new jobs, this budget proposal would endanger children, working families, seniors, veterans, and every sector of our communities. Our basic safety is compromised by Republican budget priorities – in the last few months alone, we have seen train derailment after train derailment where highly flammable chemicals, toxic waste, and oil are crossing through our communities. With the Republican 22 percent budget cut, there would be 7,000 fewer rail safety inspection days, even further exposing everyday people to the risk of disaster. 

"If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle truly cared about fiscal responsibility, they wouldn't propose taking food off tables, limiting access to health care, expelling families from their homes, and rolling back on the progress Democrats have made in the past two years. Instead, we would be advancing a clean debt ceiling increase and we would take long overdue action to ensure billionaires and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share.”

Original source can be found here.