Donna Christensen

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Now it is my honor to yield to the gentleman from Texas, a person who has long been a fighter for equality, fairness and justice, not only in his own State but for this country, the Honorable Al Green of Texas.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, it is really an honor for me to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus here this evening to recognize Black History Month and some of the people who have written that history through their life contribution, but also to talk about how the cuts the Republicans are proposing to everything except taxes for the wealthy threaten to take us back decades, if not centuries, to a place where America was not in her finest hour, a time when the poor, the rural, and people of color were denied equal opportunities to education, health care, jobs with decent wages and protections, and the possibility of homeownership. We cannot and must not go back there. I'd like to invite to start this hour with us a leader in his district in South Carolina, a leader of his faith, of this Congress, and of this country, the assistant minority leader, Congressman James Clyburn.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Mr. Clyburn, and thank you for raising what Zandi reported today. I just want to quote Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, who said today, ``Significant government spending restraint is vital, but given the still halting economic recovery, it would be counterproductive for that restraint to begin until the economy is creating enough jobs to bring down the still very high unemployment rate.'' Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield to the immediate past president of the Congressional Black Caucus who led us with great distinction, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Richmond, for your contribution to this Black History Month Special Order and for pointing out the injustice in H.R. 1 and the proposed stopgap measure for the next 2 weeks. At this time, I would like to yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, a person much admired by everyone across this country, who represents her district, this Congress, and this country with outstanding distinction, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you. And I'm sure they are inspired by the eloquence of your tribute to them. And before I speak briefly on the proposed 2-week CR, I want to tell my colleagues and my fellow Americans about the first black millionaire. It's my contribution to the Black History Month Special Order this evening. His name was William Alexander Leidesdorff, and he was born in my home island of St. Croix, which was then part of the Danish West Indies. The bicentennial of his birth was celebrated last year. His family started out poor. He ended up having to go to Denmark to get an education, and he was an immigrant to this country which had not yet bought the Virgin Islands. Yet through education, enterprise, and the opportunity to use that enterprise, he is credited with not only having become the first black millionaire but, more importantly, was named the African Founding Father of California. He also specifically played a major role in the development of the city of San Francisco. Today, if one is an immigrant, there is no welcome in this country of immigrants, and they are denied access to programs that would help them to transition into this country. Today, if one is poor, the cuts in the Republican-passed H.R. 1, the cuts to community programs, health centers, access to higher education, job training, and the support for the health of mothers and babies would ensure that the uneducated, the unhealthy, the jobless, and the poor stay that way. There will be few, if any, Leidesdorffs. Not even a black ``thousandaire'' if the tea party-led Republican majority has their way. What has happened to the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Does the Republican majority plan to cut that, too, out of the Declaration of Independence? So here we are just 5 days away--4, really--from a government shutdown if we can't agree on how to pay to keep the government open for the next 7 months. The best, the simplest, and the fairest way to do that, in my opinion, in the middle of a fiscal year when departments are carrying out plans and programs to improve and protect the lives of those who live and work in this country is to continue the spending at last year's levels--no increases, just last year's levels. That essentially adds nothing to the deficit, and most importantly, it does not destroy the small gains we have been making in bringing this country out of a deep and painful recession. Countless reputable economists, like Zandi, who's been quoted frequently here this evening, have told us over and over again now is not the time to cut the spending that's required to stabilize and begin to grow our economy again. If the Republican majority is successful with the cuts they want to make, they will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and make the already bad situation that they and President Bush created even worse for the American people who are depending on us to bring them relief. What's happening is that the majority is pretty much demanding that the rest of us accept $4 billion in cuts over the next 2 weeks in order to keep the government from shutting down. And they do have the votes, especially in this body. In that $4 billion, education takes an over $500 million cut in funding in just 2 weeks. Some of these programs the President plans to end next year. And while I'm withholding judgment on that decision, ending them now means the people working in those programs may be out of work if these cuts are continued. These programs include school improvement, safe schools, and higher education programs. Other cuts are proposed for reading and literacy programs and some that work to improve academic achievement. I suspect that these programs really need a ``mend but don't end'' approach, because we need to improve literacy and achievement if we are to produce the number of scientists, engineers, and other workers and entrepreneurs this country will need to win the future. Given the instability in the Middle East and the terrible turn that pirating has taken, can we afford to cut $245 million in the Homeland Security programs even for just 2 weeks? I don't think so. And I am sure the American people we have sworn to protect don't think so either. Coast Guard operations? Customs and Border Patrol salaries and construction projects? All of that sounds like less security and the possibility of more people out of work to me. FEMA disaster mitigation grants? Emergency operations money? We were to have 70-mile-per-hour winds here in Washington this evening. Storms and tornadoes will not necessarily stop for 2 weeks because the Republicans have to kowtow to the tea party. In just 2 weeks, there would be an almost $200 million cut in HUD neighborhood and economic development grants. Just in the 2 weeks. And almost $50 million in job training and unemployment services will be cut. With over 9 percent unemployment in many places, some in the double digits, and in the middle of a recession that has shown no mercy to the poor and the middle class, I guess there will be no mercy from this body's leadership either. I left health for last on this stopgap measure where I count over $460 million in cuts in these 2 weeks. Close to $400 million of that comes from the agency that provides services, treatment, and trains health professionals. And if the cuts to WIC and Maternal and Child Health were not enough in H.R. 1, children's programs have again been the targets of cuts, including programs in special education. And there would be a $6 million cut from the Administration on Aging. I don't understand it. If we're not placing a priority on taking care of our children and elderly, what kind of country are we? So I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: This country's in trouble. It's time to end the politics and do not only what the economists tell us we ought to do, but, more importantly, we need to come together and do what is right. These cuts are not right-- not for 2 weeks and not for the rest of this year. We really need to put the welfare of the American people in our country ahead of party politics. The times require it, and our people expect it. You know, I think we ought to change the word ``spending'' and call it ``investment,'' because that's what it really is. Investment is something that's understood and supported, and it's what is on the chopping block. Investing, not just spending for spending's sake, is what Democrats began to do in the last two Congresses--to invest in health for all Americans, in equal opportunity to a quality education; investing in restoring jobs and building a healthier economy; investing in cleaning up a polluted and unhealthy environment; investing in a better future for us and our children and in a better, stronger, more competitive United States in this world. We want to win the future. The Republican agenda looks to the past, not the future. It looks to the past to continue the economic policies that ran our economy into the ground in the first place. It looks to the past to focus on the programs they have long hated: EPA regulations, health care reform that is finally making it possible for many to become insured and secure in that insurance, community programs that help poor areas of our country have a fair shot of just surviving, programs that lift our spirits and call forth our better selves--the arts, the humanities, public broadcasting. And believe it or not, they're cutting programs like WIC, Head Start, and Maternal and Child Health. We had to fight for these programs every year during the administration of George W. Bush, and so it's no accident that we're fighting for them again. This whole agenda is not about cutting spending at all. It's a facade for what they are really trying to do; that is, gutting the programs they and their supporters love to hate. And in pursuing this agenda, they are putting the slow recovery that still has to reach urban and rural Main Street in jeopardy, putting us in jeopardy of reverting back to where we started earlier this year, to where their policies took us in 2009, a place that no one wants to go back to. And my friends, not one thing has this Republican majority done about the biggest crisis facing our country and its families: the economy and jobs. Talk about the job-killing act of 2011. Well, that was not health care reform, which is actually the biggest job creator we have passed in recent years. The winners in that category clearly are the CR that was forced through this Congress 2 weeks ago and this 2-week stopgap that would cut the Federal budget by $4 billion. What we need is a clean CR at 2010 levels to the end of this fiscal year so that we can begin to focus on the 2012 budget, which is the more appropriate place to look at deficit reduction and which is due in less than 2 months. Let me say a word about what their Governors are doing. It doesn't take 20/20 vision to see that this is a coordinated effort. Unions, which created our middle class in the first place, have always been one of the Republicans' targets. The war against the poor and middle class is not just being fought in Washington, my friends, but also in the States by Republican Governors. Lastly, please don't let our Republican colleagues fool anyone into thinking that Social Security or Medicare needs to be addressed as part of our need to reduce the deficit. They do not. But they too have always been in their bull's-eye. We need to do what is necessary to protect them for the future generations. But colleagues on the other side of the aisle, we have seen some of your plans to weaken these vital programs. But seniors, the disabled, and we Democrats want to make sure that the tea party and the Republicans keep their hands off Social Security and Medicare. Black history is not just the commemoration of how far African Americans have come, but also how far this country has come. Most importantly, it is a reminder that we both still have more to do and further to go. Today's Republican agenda for this country threatens to erase all of the gains we celebrate this month, to put up roadblocks in our road to progress, roadblocks to a better future for all Americans, and to ensuring that this country we love regains and retains its number one position in the world. It's time to stop the madness and time to work together to continue to build a stronger America, one child, one family, one community at a time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the Flake amendment and also to the underlying bill, and I join Leader Pelosi and my colleagues on this side of the aisle in calling this an irresponsible spending bill that threatens job and economic growth, hampers our global competitiveness, and harms the people who are hurting the most: the working families, the middle class, and the poor. This CR targets vulnerable Americans because it would cut funding for the things they most desperately need, like food stamps, Head Start, and funding to heat their homes, all to keep a reckless tea party- driven campaign spending cuts goal. And at the end of the day, these kinds of hurtful cuts will never get us a balanced budget, and they certainly will not secure the kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren. As one of the five representatives of the people of the U.S. offshore territories as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the territories, I am particularly troubled by the painful cuts this CR will make to the important programs that the people of the territories rely on. The bill slashes 8.33 percent from the general technical assistance account of the Office of Insular Affairs. Madam Chair, the technical assistance program provides support not otherwise available to the insular areas to fight such things as the deteriorating fiscal conditions which are facing all of the islands and our ability to maintain the momentum that has been made in making and sustaining systemic changes. These funds also support student training programs for high school and college students, as well as training for insular professionals in financial management, accounting and auditing, as well as other programs. The program also provides funds to assist the islands in maintaining accreditation for our colleges and universities. What is critical about this meager program, which has not seen an increase in its budget in more than a decade, is that it is funding that the territories could not get anywhere else in the Federal Government. Sparing this very small but essential program from the majority's indiscriminate, meat cleaver approach to budgeting would do infinitely more good than any harm it might cause to the budget. After all, the small amount of money we're talking about here does not move the meter one blip. Madam Chair, the people of the territories recognize that the Federal budget cannot sustain the path that it's on, and that reductions in spending must be made. But we have done our part and will continue to do our part to reduce Federal spending. As you look at the budget for the territories, it has not increased in several years, and it has been cut for a number of those years. But the cuts we're talking about in the CR do not only affect the territories. In addition to cutting jobs, there are also disastrous cuts that the Republicans are proposing to health-related programs that are critical to millions of Americans and are integral to all of our efforts to achieve health equity and to eliminate health disparities. These health disparities, which we know leave millions of people of color, rural Americans, and low-income Americans in poorer health, without reliable access to adequate health care, and at greater risk for premature death from preventive causes, also cost the Nation a great deal from an economic point of view. In fact, we know that between 2003 and 2006, the combined direct and indirect cost of health disparities and the subsequent premature deaths that often result, the cost was $1.24 trillion. Rather than base budget cuts on measures that will save human lives in addition to precious Federal resources, the Republicans are instead proposing cuts that will achieve the exact opposite. We all know from their efforts to repeal the landmark health care reform law, a law that has already begun to expand access to affordable high quality health care to more than 30 million Americans who were in the ranks of the uninsured, the Republicans either do not care about the importance of ensuring that every American and their families have health care coverage, or they do not understand the value of such coverage in promoting health, wellness, and thus improving life opportunities, or maybe it's both. And now, we also know that they don't care about or understand the benefits and the needs for the programs and efforts that will significantly improve the health and wellness of some of our Nation's most vulnerable residents by reducing the very health disparities that cost this Nation so much in human lives and in money. In fact, they want to cut more than $1 billion from the Nation's community health centers, the very centers that provide medical homes to millions of hardworking Americans whose health care needs would be poorly addressed without them, and to cut $210 million from maternal and child health block grant programs, more than $300 million from family planning, and $758 million from the WIC program, all of which would have a detrimental impact on the health and wellness of women and children and young families across this country. I urge my colleagues to reject this budget CR which does nothing to improve the economy and hurts vulnerable Americans.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson Lee. Thank you for your leadership on so many issues. I'm not sure if you mentioned, but there's also some job training programs that would be cut under the CR at a time when jobs are so badly needed across this country. At this time I would like to yield to the gentleman from Georgia, Hank Johnson, who joined me the last time we had a Special Order. Thanks for joining us again this evening.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Ms. Johnson, a former chair of the CBC and a leader in science for many years. I now yield to the other gentlelady from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Cleaver. We are certainly fortunate to having you leading the Congressional Black Caucus at this time. I think we need a pastor as leader. At church yesterday, my minister spoke about our need as Christians. But this would apply to any faith, that we must be on the side of the dispossessed, the helpless, the hopeless, and the marginalized, and the cuts that the Republicans plan would clearly hurt the least of these and are definitely not on their side. I want to yield at this time to the gentlewoman from Texas, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to lead this Special Order for an hour on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus and to have some of my distinguished colleagues join me. But as we begin the Special Order to call attention to the travesty that the Republican leadership is proposing and the cuts that they will be trying to enact for the balance of this year, I want to say something that begins to put these cuts into a particular perspective. I'm sure that everyone is aware that today is Valentine's Day, a day in which we supposedly celebrate love. As the Republican leadership begins the onslaught on some very important programs, I want to share with them and all of us something that Dr. Cornel West has been reminding us of as of late, that is, that justice is what love looks like in the public arena. So on this day when we show those close to us we love them, we should also be showing the American people our commitment to justice. Mr. Speaker, the cuts being proposed with the continuing resolution are anything but just. With that, I would like to yield first to our distinguished assistant minority leader, Mr. Clyburn, the gentleman from South Carolina, who has been a leader for his State, for this Congress, and for our country, particularly a leader of high morals who leads this country in making sure that we stay true to the values that this country was founded on and continue to operate in that faith.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Mr. Clyburn, and we thank you so much for developing that formula that has begun to help communities that have been long distressed with high poverty levels for all that time, and we look forward to the work of your task force. Obviously this is not a Democrat issue or a Republican issue; it's an American issue. And we look forward to supporting that task force and the work that you will be doing. Mr. Speaker, at this time I'd like to yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), who leads the Congressional Black Caucus budget and has led it for all the years that I have been here. And I must say that in all of the budgets that he has helped us prepare and present to this body, they have been thoughtful, they have provided funding to the important areas that our communities and some of the communities that Mr. Clyburn talked about needed, but still has reduced the deficit in every instance.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Mr. Scott. And I remember when the tax cuts were being debated and you led us, because we knew that those tax cuts would be paid for by cuts to the programs that our communities need most and that the American people want. The Pew Foundation did a poll that showed that people don't want cuts in those programs. It was interesting, Paul Krugman in The New York Times today made a good point. Because the bill doesn't have one of those nice names that are usually attached to Republican bills when they are doing something that would hurt the public, he suggested we call it the Eat the Future bill, because that's what we're doing. We're taking away things now that we need to invest in to build our future. So thank you, Mr. Scott, and thank you for your leadership on the budget. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to our leader, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Emanuel Cleaver from Missouri.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Johnson. Thank you for your passion on behalf of the middle class and the poor. As Congressman Scott said, throughout this recession, it has been the working people and the poor who have borne the brunt of the recession. Now they're being asked to give more. While those who are wealthier and the corporations did very well, they are being asked to give nothing. So we do need to make sure that our voices are heard and that we do everything we can to make sure that the programs that are so important to this country and to the future of this country, if we are going to win the future, are not lost, beginning with this CR. I would now like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Donald Payne, also a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He has been a leader in education as well as in international affairs, and is a senior member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Payne, for joining us this evening and for pointing out those very important issues that could be lost if this CR is passed as proposed. I want to just talk about a few issues. On the first day of the 112th Congress and this Republican-led House, the leadership took away the vote, in the Committee of the Whole, from the District of Columbia and the Territories. Apparently, that was not enough. Last week, they moved to impose their will and their conservative ideology on the people of our Nation's capital. Now, in the continuing resolution that is proposed, the assault continues, because the Office of Insular Affairs, which would support our Territories moving to more self-sufficiency, is slated to get cut by almost $7 million. My district had a major flood disaster late last year, something that has not happened in recent or even distant memory. A beloved member of our community drowned, and many lost property and suffered damage to property. The proposed CR would cut funding for flood emergencies. I am sure that places like Tennessee and New Orleans and other places that have had floods recently or that are the potential flood areas of our Nation would not want to have flood disaster funding cut. My district also has the highest concentration of greenhouse gases per square mile, and we're fully dependent on diesel for our power. The cost of electricity in the Virgin Islands is crushing families, closing businesses, and hurting our elderly. But in the Republican-proposed CR, they are planning to cut almost every EPA program that we need to protect the health and safety of communities like mine and almost every program that supports the development of renewable energy. After the Bush administration turned a surplus into the deficit we're now trying to close, communities across this country experienced a continuing increase in violent crime because of the economic distress that they faced. And so what do my Republicans want to do? In the CR, they want to cut funding for police programs, for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, as well as many other health programs, for juvenile delinquency prevention, for job training programs, as well as the community block grant and community development programs, programs that our communities need to address the rising gun violence that this economic crisis is exacerbating. For years, the Republican caucus has been trying to get their hands on the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Smithsonian funding. So these important programs, which are probably needed more than ever because there's so much pain and suffering across this country, they're also on the chopping block. As you've heard, WIC has already been cut twice last year, and yet it is proposed to be cut over $600 million. And if that were not enough, over $200 million is proposed to be cut from maternal and child health programs. Where is the justice and the love for our country's children? At this time, I'd like to just yield once again for the remaining time to the Congresswoman from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, to speak on some of the other areas that the CR would cut and hurt our effort to win the future.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I just want to assure you that the Congressional Black Caucus will work with all of our colleagues to craft a budget that's fair and yet reduces the deficit, as we've done every year.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, next week President Obama will send his budget to Congress, and news coming from the White House will not be good. But the rumors of a budget war from the Republican leadership promises to make a bad situation much, much worse. From what we are hearing, all of us can expect the same Republican policies which took an over-$5 trillion surplus that Democrats and President Clinton sacrificed to create and turned it into the dream- crushing deficit that we are faced with today. They have made cutting spending sound like a good thing, but it is not when you look at where the cuts will come from. They will not come from the tax cuts for the wealthy and not from the wars we need to end, but they will come from programs that communities and families need now more than ever. This is Bush deja vu all over again. And every economist that I have read says that with this economy in such a fragile state, with the country only at the beginning of recovery, and with far too many of our fellow Americans hurting, this is not the time to cut spending. It is not that I am against making prudent cuts to reduce the deficit, but the cuts I am hearing about so far will hurt those the President said should not be hurt: the most vulnerable, children, the poor, the majority of whom are racial and ethnic minorities, and our disabled and elderly. We in the Congressional Black Caucus have placed ourselves in the breach on behalf of those who would otherwise remain nameless because no one is willing to name them. They are Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian and Pacific Island Americans, and the poor and rural Americans of every race and ethnicity. As we do every year, we will develop a budget that treats all Americans fairly, does not leave anyone behind, but gives a helping hand to those who need it, and also reduces the deficit. We agree with President Obama that his budget must put the country on a firm path to winning the future, and we know that winning the future means creating opportunity for everyone who lives in this country. But the CBC is further committed to making sure that everyone means everyone, to making sure that those who have been most hurt by this recession and those who have long been marginalized even in the good times have the special help they need to be a part of creating that future and benefiting from it. I cannot believe that there could be one Member of Congress who does not support our country being number one, who does not want to win the future. But we can't win the future without ensuring that every child has access to a quality education and that those schools which have lagged behind because they lack resources and adequate and well-trained staff are helped to meet the standards that are required to do that. And we cannot win the future if we turn back all of the newly gained benefits and savings in the Affordable Care Act. We will never win the future if we allow the Republicans to pass a budget that causes us to lose those provisions which enable minorities, rural residents, and the poor to achieve better health, to be more productive, and to have a better quality of life. These health equity provisions will begin to end the inequality and injustice in health care that Dr. King called shocking and inhumane. And we cannot win the future if we don't do all that we can to make sure we address the mortgage crisis and help families keep the homes they need to raise their families in. We cannot win the future without jobs and more jobs. And I'm talking about good jobs. So we know that there will have to be limits of spending, but we want to make sure that it starts at the most effective time and that the sacrifice is fairly spread, that those who have sacrificed over the last decade while corporations and the rich made off like bandits will not be the ones that continue to bear the brunt of the cuts and continue to suffer while Big Business and the wealthy continue to amass more wealth at their expense. That is an affront to the principles of fairness and equity that this country was founded on. And so we want a realistic budget, not one that the Republicans are preparing that will cause us to lose more jobs, send more people into dire poverty, that will deny education and health care to those who need it most, that will continue the loss of homes, that will weaken programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security which so many depend on, and one that will decrease the deficit and continue to drive this country into decline, continuing what the Republican policies over the last decade have done. That is not what we want. That is not what the country needs. That is not the kind of budget that will win the future. And so we in this Congressional Black Caucus are willing to roll up our sleeves, put on our thinking caps and work with our President and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to pass a different, a better budget, one that will create jobs, that will give people the tools to lift them and their families out of poverty and keep them in their homes, one that will create an educational system that will put all of our children first, and a health care system that ensures quality health care to all Americans, a budget that will provide the retirement security our seniors deserve and keep our country competitive and strong and number one in the world, a budget that will win the future. We know it can be done because we have shown how it can be done every year with the CBC budget. Working together, I know we can create a budget worthy of this country, one that lives up to our ideals, one based not on political ideology, but one that responds to the needs of our country and the needs of the people who are waiting and depending on us.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, for everyone who has been listening to the dialogue and debate around health care reform, I want to make something crystal clear: regardless of the vote in the House, health care reform was not repealed today; and despite what some might be projecting and promising, all of us on both sides of the aisle know that this is true. We also know that the next step in the larger plan to repeal health care reform will involve directing committees of jurisdiction to revisit the health care reform law. Now, if this is going to be a process that includes meaningful hearings and honest dialogue about how to strengthen and bolster--not dismantle and obliterate--health care reform, then I would support that strategy. It would allow us to work together to build upon the many successes that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has already demonstrated: successes for our children, our seniors, the poor, and the already insured. That was the kind of process that led to the development and passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But, to be honest, that was then; and I do not believe that such a process will occur this time because those calling for repeal don't seem to be interested in socially, fiscally and medically sound public health strategies to solve our Nation's public health problems. Instead, the supporters of repeal have been steadfast in their efforts to minimize and even downplay the devastating steps backward that H.R. 2 would mean, not only for our Nation's most vulnerable residents--children and our seniors--but also for small businesses, the middle class, rural and low-income populations, and the financial as well as the physical health of our Nation. So I urge not only my colleagues here, but every American who wants a healthier and stronger tomorrow to be engaged and active and to be alert because the real health care reform repeal efforts begin, not with this vote, but in the months ahead. All of us, everyone in this country--the insured and the uninsured--have too much at stake to sit on the sidelines and remain silent. We know that there is an appropriations strategy to ensure that the health care freedoms in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are not adequately or appropriately funded, making their implementation an utter impossibility. We can't let that happen. We also know that efforts are under way that will allow the chairman of the Budget Committee to set spending limits on his own, without committee consensus and clearly without a fair, transparent, and democratic process. This is an assault on our democracy. Finally, we also know that all of the harsh realities that repeal will mean to millions of Americans and their families will not be highlighted or even mentioned. For example, those calling for repeal won't admit that repeal would mean more uninsured Americans--54 million uninsured by 2019. Those calling for repeal will never admit that repeal means an increase in the number of American families who will file bankruptcy, lose their homes and suffer other financial hardships because their health care costs are so high. Those calling for repeal will never admit that repeal means a loss of jobs, increased unemployment and an increase in the deficit, even though they know, as we do, that without health care reform the Federal deficit will explode by $143 billion over the next 10 years and by more than a whopping $1 trillion over the next two decades. Those calling for repeal will never admit that repeal will mean a drastic increase in the health disparities that we know leave racial and ethnic minorities and low-income and rural Americans in poorer health, who are more likely to die prematurely from preventable causes. A recent Joint Center study found that eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities would have reduced direct medical care expenditures by $229.4 billion in just 4 years. Finally, those calling for repeal will never admit that repeal, literally, could be a death sentence for thousands of innocent Americans every year. A recent IOM study suggests that more than 15,000 deaths per year could happen just because insurance was taken away. So repeal did not take place today, but the assault on our rights, our freedoms, our democracy, as well as our very lives are on the line in the planned committee process, the budgetary sleights of hand and a targeted appropriations process. So let's not find ourselves repenting for the silence of good people.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, and thank you for tying in to the constitutional issues, because we're going to be asked to provide constitutional references for every legislation that we introduce and the constitutional issue has been raised over and over again and I thank you for addressing that in your remarks. I would now like to yield to the gentleman from New York, Congressman Meeks.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, it's an honor for me to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus for this half hour or so to talk to the American people about the importance of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. For African Americans and other people of color, as well as rural Americans, who make up more than half of the uninsured, we cannot allow the law and the consumer protections to be repealed. Not when we have just gotten one foot in the health care door, some of us for the very first time. For African Americans, who have higher death rates from all causes than any other population group, the preventive services, the strengthening of the public health force, the diversifying of an expanded health workforce, the community health workers, the community health centers, the Offices of Minority Health, those equity provisions cannot be repealed. It's a matter of life and death for us. I know that the Republicans and their leadership who are calling for repeal won't ever say that they want to take away those benefits of the law that make sure sick children can be ensured, that allow families to keep their children who can't get jobs right away on their insurance until they are 26, or make sure that your insurance will be there for you when you need it most, when you get sick. They won't tell you that they want to take those away, but that's exactly what would happen if they are allowed to unravel this very carefully put together law. Moreover, it should cause concern to every freedom-loving and justice-seeking person in this country that two of the very first acts of this 112th Congress have been to take away rights, privileges, or benefits from United States citizens. They took away the vote in the Committee of the Whole from Representatives elected and sent here by over 5 million Americans. And now the leadership is trying to take away services and benefits that in effect would take away the right that everyone should have to health care. Whatever the leadership tries to take away next, good people must stand and speak and act to prevent them from doing so, as we must not let them repeal the job-creating health care reform law now. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who we remembered yesterday, spoke about the appalling silence of good people. So, my fellow Americans, what I am saying to you is we cannot be silent. I know it must be difficult for you, our constituents, you, our employers, to know what the Affordable Care Act does and what it doesn't do, because there is so much distortion of the facts. So to help explain what the bill, what the law does, and how devastating the repeal would be, I want to now yield to my colleagues. I will begin by yielding to the gentleman Georgia (Mr. Johnson).

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I want to thank you, Mr. Johnson, for helping to clarify some of the important areas that are provided for in the Affordable Care Act. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not everyone is entitled to creating their own facts. And I think what we're hearing tonight are the facts. I would like to yield now 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consents that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and add any extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order this evening.

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, there will be no repeal of the health care reform law, so let's be clear. The agenda that the Republican leadership has set for this week's floor activity and the committee work that follows is nothing more than an opportunity to bad talk and fuel the misinformation about the Affordable Care Act which is a good law that will help over 30 million people be healthier, create millions of jobs, make our country more productive and stronger, and reduce the deficit. So I am urging all of my colleagues, but especially those on the other side of the aisle, in the name of collegiality and honesty with the public we serve, to drop the charade and let us use the time the people of this country have hired us for to work together to create more jobs and make sure the health care law is implemented properly, to save the homes of families, and to create an educational system that will once again make our children the first in the world.