David Cicilline

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlewoman from New York. I rise in opposition to this rule and against this budget. This Republican budget no longer honors our commitment to our seniors and doesn't reduce our deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that the Republican plan will add $8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade because the proposed cuts in spending are outpaced by gigantic tax cuts for the richest Americans. You also can't say you care about seniors and then fight to enact policies that hurt seniors. Under their plan, they'll slash support for seniors in nursing homes while giving away tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas. And what else? American seniors will literally be paying more for their health care and getting less in order to finance additional tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, also reflected in this Republican budget. A budget is more than just about dollars and cents. It's a statement of our values and our priorities as a Nation. This Republican budget does not reflect the values of our great Nation. My friends on the other side of the aisle would rather cut benefits to seniors than cut subsidies to big oil companies and big corporations that ship our jobs overseas. They can quarrel with that argument, but these are the choices made in this budget. It ends Medicare as we know it. It slashes funding for nursing homes. It preserves tax cuts for the richest Americans and makes it even more generous. And it increases our debt. We have a responsibility to honor our commitment to our seniors. I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if we can't protect our Greatest Generation and keep our promise to them, what is next?

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the Disabled American Veterans, an organization representing our Nation's wartime disabled vets. Disabled American Veterans works to ensure our government fulfills its promise to those who so bravely served our Nation. And I am pleased to honor their service at their 67th annual convention this week in Rhode Island. The greatest tribute that we can pay to our disabled veterans is providing them access to quality health care and education and mental health services, housing, and employment assistance. For their courage and commitment, and for the burdens borne by their families, our disabled veterans and their loved ones must receive the support and the services they rightly deserve. These men and women of valor have made tremendous sacrifices in the name of freedom and in advancement of our Nation's security. We live in a free society today because of the service these men and women and their families have given our Nation. I applaud the work of the Disabled American Veterans for their dedicated service to our Nation's heroes and their families.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of our Nation's seniors, who are currently under attack. And the worst part about it is many of them are just waking up this morning to the nightmare that faces them. And why is that? Because the Republican budget proposal released this week is literally balanced on the fragile backs of our Nation's seniors. That's right. It ends Medicare as we know it. That's the simple truth. It no longer honors our commitment and our promise to our Nation's seniors. As Americans now know, we are in the midst of a serious budget battle, and the Republicans are even threatening to shut down government. And there are real differences between our approach to the budget and the Republican budget released earlier this week. The Republican budget replaces Medicare with a voucher system. Seniors will have to use this voucher to buy insurance from private insurance companies. Under the Republican plan, Medicare as we know it will end. And in the same budget proposal, the Republicans give away tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to big oil companies. And under their plan, they will slash support for seniors in nursing homes, while giving away tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas. And what else? America's seniors, more than 150,000 in my home State of Rhode Island, will literally be paying more for their health care and getting less in order to provide additional tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, also reflected in this Republican budget. To make matters worse, the Republican plan does not reduce the deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that this budget actually adds $8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade because its cuts in spending are far outpaced by the gigantic tax cuts for the richest Americans. Our seniors cannot afford this Republican budget. It would deny them health care, long-term care, and the benefits they've earned and deserve. The Republicans' choice to privatize Medicare, turning more power over to the insurance companies, will result in reduced coverage and exposure to greater financial risks for our seniors. The Congressional Budget Office determined that under the Republican budget seniors' out-of-pocket expenses for health care would more than double, and could almost triple. To put that into context, the Congressional Budget Office found out that by 2030 seniors would pay 68 percent of premiums and out-of-pocket costs under the Republican plan, compared to only 25 percent under current law. And it found that the Republican plan means seniors will pay more for their prescription drugs because it reestablishes the doughnut hole. Even Alice Rivlin, the former Office of Management and Budget Director under President Clinton, who worked with the Republican architect of this budget on a deficit reduction proposal, said she could not support his Medicare proposal because it eliminated the traditional Medicare choice and lowered the rate of growth beyond what's defensible. And the conservative Wall Street Journal concluded earlier this week, quote: The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills. Under the guise of deficit reduction, Republicans are recklessly attacking the vital supports for our seniors. We all agree that we have to address the deficit. The issue is not whether we reduce the deficit but how we do it. We can't cut what helps us create jobs, innovate for the future, and remain competitive in the global marketplace. And we cannot balance this budget on the backs of our Nation's seniors. The Federal budget is about more than dollars and cents. It's a statement of our values and priorities as a nation. Republicans in this budget have set the wrong priorities. They would rather cut benefits to seniors than cut subsidies to Big Oil or corporations that ship our jobs overseas. The Republican budget breaks the promise we made to our seniors to protect them in their golden years. I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: If we can't protect our Greatest Generation, I ask you, what's next?

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my Republican colleagues: Which child pictured here would you deny an early education? Why would I ask that question? I'll tell you why. As it stands now, the Republican budget proposal would kick 218,000 children out of Head Start and prevent them from receiving an education, some of these children right here on this poster. It will close 16,000 Head Start classrooms, classrooms in which these children learn. It will fire 55,000 Head Start teachers, teachers who teach these kids here. A budget document, my friends, is not just about dollars and cents. It reflects our priorities as a Nation. Our children are our future and must be our top priority. Head Start is a key investment in improving their educational outcomes. But if the Republican majority has their way, Head Start programs in my home State of Rhode Island will have to cut three kids from each classroom right now. So I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Which of these children would you deny an early education to?

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that we can address this important issue of currency manipulation and trade. Manufacturers in my home State of Rhode Island and those across the Nation are working hard and playing by the rules, and they are suffering disproportionately because their Chinese counterparts refuse to play by the same set of rules in the global economy. One way Chinese businesses cheat is by keeping their currency artificially low so that their imports are cheaper than U.S. goods. That is simply not fair, and this practice must end. Artificially low Chinese currency contributes greatly to the global trade imbalance, which puts U.S. businesses and workers at a significant disadvantage. China's unfair currency manipulation has destroyed millions of good- paying American jobs and jeopardizes the future of the American middle class. Employment in manufacturing shrank from 20 million jobs in 1979 to fewer than 12 million jobs today. In Rhode Island, we experienced the loss of more than 30,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decade alone. Despite these sobering statistics, the American manufacturing sector is in the midst of a resurgence. If this vital economic engine is to be sustained, Congress must continue its investments in programs that help manufacturers compete in the global economy, ending currency manipulation. And by doing that, we can level the playing field for American manufacturers, give them a fighting chance to compete, and speed up our economic recovery and create jobs. With so many factories shuttered, small businesses barely hanging on, and Rhode Island workers continuing to look for jobs, we can't afford to wait any longer for the Chinese to correct their unfair trade practices. That's why I am proud to cosponsor this legislation to end China's unfair currency manipulation, because in States like Rhode Island, we have to fight back against countries like China that won't stick to their obligations under international agreements and play by the rules. If our country is going to compete in the global economy, we have to guarantee that manufacturers are not disadvantaged by an uneven playing field in foreign trade. We must demand that China play by the rules.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center for their outstanding service to the heroic men and women who serve in our Armed Forces. The Providence VA Medical Center is an award-winning health care facility in Rhode Island providing personalized outpatient and inpatient health care to our veterans. Recently the Providence VA received the National Center for Patient Safety's 2010 Cornerstone Recognition Program Bronze Award for successfully providing high quality health services to our veterans. The men and women who serve in the Armed Forces put their lives on the line every day to protect the freedoms that we enjoy here at home. We owe our troops, veterans, and their families our utmost gratitude and respect, in addition to exceptional medical care for their great sacrifices on our behalf. I commend the Providence VA Medical Center for their excellent service to our veterans. Congratulations on your achievements, and thank you for your commitment to Rhode Island's veterans.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady from California. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1076 to defund National Public Radio. Overwhelmingly, my Rhode Island constituents agree, this legislation is no more than an ideological attack on public broadcasting masquerading as a fiscal issue. That is because Federal funding accounts for less than three-thousandths of one percent of the annual Federal budget. In addition to that, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this legislation will not reduce the deficit by a single penny. Without as much as a hearing, this legislation undermines public broadcasting, a system that 34 million Americans turn to weekly and in which Americans across the political spectrum place high trust. These funding restrictions will devastate the economy of public radio. It will harm local stations. It will inhibit their ability to attract audiences, develop stable local revenue bases, and, most importantly, their ability to continue to produce local programming. Public broadcasting gives voice to the smallest and most diverse communities in our country. I know firsthand the high quality broadcasting the NPR provides in Rhode Island and all across this country. It would also endanger 9,000 jobs at local public radio stations and communities across the country. I urge my colleagues to vote against this assault on the free exchange of ideas and instead support a democracy that continues to listen carefully to its people.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong opposition to the bill to end the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It is time for Americans to seriously question the Republican leadership's dedication to job creation. After 11 weeks in Congress, they've offered no jobs plan, no jobs bill. What's worse, by their own expert witness's testimony, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, supports 93,000 jobs nationally. In light of this estimate, I submitted an amendment to the NSP Termination Act that would require the Congressional Budget Office to study and report to Congress the impact of this legislation on job creation or job loss. However, my friends on the other side of the aisle prevented consideration of my amendment on the floor of the House. Last week, the Republicans waged an attack on American homeowners by voting to eliminate foreclosure mitigation programs that help underwater homeowners refinance their mortgage as well as assist temporarily unemployed Americans to remain current on their mortgage; all of this in the midst of one of the worst housing crises in the history of America. And now the Republicans are putting our most vulnerable communities at even greater risk. Terminating the Neighborhood Stabilization Program will damage our neighborhoods, devastate home values, and will slow our economic recovery. Now is the time to protect our most vulnerable neighborhoods, families who are struggling, and now is the time to invest in the future of our communities and help to restore the American dream of homeownership, recognizing that stabilization of our housing market is key to our economic recovery. I urge my colleagues to vote against the termination of this program. I've seen it work in Rhode Island. It's worked well. It's making a difference.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the rich history of the Italian American community in the United States as we celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph--La Festa Di San Giuseppe--on March 19. St. Joseph was credited with preventing a famine in Sicily in the Middle Ages, and the Feast of St. Joseph is celebrated widely among Italian Americans--including my family and many others across my home State of Rhode Island--and is an opportunity to recall the many contributions of Italian Americans to our country and to honor the patron saint of the family. Here in the United States, we recognize the powerful impact of the Italian American experience, which began five centuries ago with the explorations of Vespucci and Verrazano. Italian Americans represent some of this country's, and indeed the world's, foremost innovators--in health and science, business and industry, politics and government, arts and culture. In celebrating the many milestones of the Italian American heritage on this Feast of St. Joseph, we honor the lives, work, and rich history of Italian Americans throughout our Nation. Buona Festa Di San Giuseppe, Happy St. Joseph's Day, to everyone.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, today we will consider proposals to cut foreclosure prevention programs during one of the worst housing downturns in our Nation's history. A safe and affordable home is central to the American Dream and central to a strong neighborhood and a thriving economy. In Rhode Island, that dream has been fading because our State has been extremely hard hit by the national foreclosure crisis. Last year alone, there were more than 4,700 foreclosures in Rhode Island; and according to Housing Works Rhode Island, one in every 10 mortgaged homeowners was in foreclosure or serious delinquency by the end of last year. The fact of the matter is that we still face a serious housing crisis all across this country. Today, my friends on the other side of the aisle will cut mortgage relief and refinance programs that help the very homeowners who need them most. That will leave homeowners with no other choice than to turn to those who created these unfair and predatory mortgages that got us into this mess in the first place. At a time when our economy is beginning to recover, we should not be cutting from these programs because the housing sector is key to our economic recovery. These programs deserve increased funding because a successful housing sector will be one of the major factors that will pull us out of this recession.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman from California for organizing this Special Order. I'm new to this Chamber, I've been here 2 months, but I think the poll that was released today, the Bloomberg poll released this morning, again found that America's top priority is jobs and getting people back to work. We've been here 10 weeks and the Republican-controlled Congress has presented zero jobs. It hasn't presented a jobs bill. It has presented a spending plan that will cost 700,000 jobs. That's an analysis done by respected economists across the country. Rhode Island is a State that has a very rich manufacturing history. We are the place where the Industrial Revolution began, home to some of the greatest manufacturing. I think, like many States, we have suffered in this recent economy. Rhode Island has been particularly hard hit. But I think if we are going to remain a world economic power, we absolutely have to make things again in America. If you ask people who believe that we're losing that position as a world economic power, you ask them, who do they think is the world economic power, they say China. If you say, why China? They say, because China makes everything. I asked my constituents during my campaign, go into a store in Rhode Island, try to find something made in America. It's almost impossible. I really hope that the 112th Congress will be the Congress that revitalizes manufacturing in America. That means working hard to be sure we have a national manufacturing policy, to be sure that we provide manufacturers with the tools that they need to compete in the 21st century, to be sure that we have trade policies and workforce investments that allow them to compete globally, and to be really making the kinds of investments in manufacturing that are necessary not only to create jobs in the short term but to ensure the long-term economic health and prosperity of our country. What I am afraid the Republicans have proposed in their budget proposal, in an effort to make cuts now, are seriously compromising our ability to lead the world as an economic power. Look, we have to cut spending. We have to be responsible about managing this deficit. But we have to do it in a smart and strategic way that protects our investments in education, in innovation, in science and research so that we can make the new discoveries, develop the new products, and then manufacture them and lead the world as an economic power. This is an opportunity to really understand the urgency of supporting manufacturing so that we can start making things again in this country, start selling goods. That's how the middle class was built in America, was through manufacturing. That's what built this country, a strong middle class. And the ongoing decisions that have been made by my friends on the other side of the aisle are undermining the middle class, are weakening the ability for manufacturing to grow. And I think they are the wrong decisions for our country.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the creativity, effort, and resourcefulness of two local housing authorities in the First Congressional District of Rhode Island. At a time when Rhode Island and many other States across our country are experiencing unacceptably high foreclosure rates, there are some beacons of light in the housing sector, beacons like the Town of Lincoln Housing Authority and the Housing Authority of the City of Providence, which are both being recognized by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment officials as Awards of Merit winners for being well-positioned to meet the demand for safe and affordable housing for low- and very low-income families. The Lincoln Housing Authority has instituted innovative programming for seniors, and the Providence Housing Authority has put in place energy efficiencies and cutting-edge health and fiscal planning programs. These housing authorities are leaders in the development and maintenance of cost-effective approaches to responding to the variety of today's housing and community development challenges. Lincoln and Providence Housing Authorities not only effectively address local housing and neighborhood redevelopment challenges and concerns; they have also set a national example for similar organizations to learn from so they can meet the unique needs in their communities. I congratulate you for your leadership in our State's housing industry, which proves yet again that Rhode Island innovation can combat both our State and national housing challenges.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor The Meadows, an affordable senior housing community in my congressional district located in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. The Meadows excels as an elderly community by providing individual living with enhanced social services and high-quality care to approximately 100 Rhode Island seniors. The Meadows was built using a smart combination of Federal, State, local, and private funding. It has a green design which includes geothermal heating, Energy Star appliances, and energy-efficient lighting. For the commitment to providing our seniors a quality standard of living, I congratulate the Meadows. I proudly join the National Affordable Housing Management Association in honoring The Meadows as a ``community of quality'' for exemplary development for our seniors. Thank you for your work. Congratulations on your achievements, and thank you for your commitment to Rhode Island's seniors.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with serious concerns about the lack of a true jobs plan from the Republican majority as we seek to tackle our spending challenges. And as the race continues to find the next deepest cut, just who are the real losers? It seems to be the hardest hit. It's middle class families, our children, our seniors, our students, and women. This war on working families must end. Our people are our greatest asset. In order to move our country out of this recession, we must invest in their success. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are moving forward with yet another dangerous spending bill, one that continues to give rewards to the most successful among us and literally guts the initiatives most meaningful to middle class families. The work of reducing our deficit and controlling spending is, no doubt, hard. The fact of the matter is that we have to cut spending, but we have to do it responsibly. As we seek to make a compromise this week, let's remember that we cannot cut what makes us competitive and what helps us innovate, succeed in the global economy and, ultimately, create jobs.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I'm new to this body but I was just elected to the Congress of the United States and what I heard during the course of my campaign is the urgency to get people back to work, to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to deal with the deficit. We've just spent the last 3 hours under the cloak of deficit reduction. My friends on the other side of the aisle have pushed this very extreme amendment, which is targeting women's health care and women's health care providers. This ideological attack comes at the expense of our Nation's women. It's an attack on health centers and will put the lives of millions of women at risk--millions of women who seek and receive health care at Planned Parenthood centers all around this country. Every year, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses carry out nearly 1 million lifesaving screenings for cervical cancer and 830,000 breast exams. Its health centers provide contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients, and nearly 4 million patients are treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Planned Parenthood provides preventative health care, and that represents 90 percent of its work. We already have a Federal prohibition of using Federal funds for abortion. Not a single penny intended or targeted by this amendment is used to terminate a pregnancy. What we should be talking about is getting the American people back to work: creating jobs, responsibly dealing with our deficit, and doing everything we can to strengthen the middle class. That's what we were sent here to do. That's what we should be doing. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment so that we can get back to the important business of putting Americans back to work. I yield to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. I rise in support of this amendment but to oppose the underlying Republican continuing resolution. The spending bill before us is born out of an ideology that cuts right to the heart of our values as a country, and our priorities, too. Because that is what a budget is supposed to reflect: our values and priorities as a nation. Our priorities are to strengthen the middle class, to reduce the deficit, and to create jobs. And we can see very clearly where my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have placed their priorities. It's not in the well-being of our workforce, not in the effectiveness of our classrooms, not in the safety of our neighborhoods. The priorities of the majority party are not with the people who have worked hard all of their lives to earn a decent wage, buy a decent home, put their kids through school, and do what they can to keep their families and communities strong. The priorities of my friends on the other side of the aisle lay with America's most successful: the hedge fund managers, Wall Street financiers, and the investment bankers. Our Republican colleagues are pushing a spending bill that is irresponsible and ignores the needs of a healing nation. It cuts jobs, threatens American innovation, and diminishes investments in rebuilding America. And to what extent? Well, I can tell you, as a former mayor, I have seen firsthand the consequences of what is being proposed. Some of the most egregious cuts come at the expense of our most vulnerable and some of the most immediate job creators and economic growth engines that I know of. Our colleagues are gutting more than $340 million from the Community Service Block Grants and nearly $3 billion from the Community Development Block Grant program. These are real dollars that are putting Americans back to work and helping small businesses in communities all across this Nation. In addition, this budget slashes $1.6 billion in job training and cuts $120 million in alternative youth training that prepares kids for work in construction and other trades, critical skills that are necessary to help us make things again here in America. Our colleagues, since assuming the majority last month, haven't offered one single piece of legislation that would create jobs. My friends on the other side of the aisle, at the same time that they are cutting billions of dollars in jobs programs that will help put Americans back to work, are continuing to support hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to companies that are shipping our jobs overseas. While they cut 200,000 children from receiving early childhood education through Head Start, they are giving $43 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas companies. This Republican proposal cuts Pell Grants for 9 million students, making it difficult and, for some, impossible to continue to go to college while at the same time continuing to give large agricultural corporations billions of dollars in Federal subsidies. This is a question of priorities, and it's clear what the priorities of my friends on the other side of the aisle are. The Republicans are moving forward with a dangerous spending bill, one that continues to give rewards to the rich and literally guts the initiatives most meaningful to middle class families. The work of reducing our deficit and controlling spending will be hard, to be sure. The fact of the matter is that we have to cut spending and we have to be serious about it, but we have to do it responsibly. We cannot cut what makes us competitive and what helps us to innovate, succeed in the global economy, and ultimately create jobs. I know that the priorities that we have set are the priorities of getting people back to work. My friends, we owe it to the hardworking people of our Nation who are struggling to get by, who are playing by the rules but just waiting for someone to stand up for them rather than stand up for the rich guy on Wall Street. We owe it to America's hardworking people to have a serious and thoughtful debate with the hopes of producing a smart and sensible budget for our country. And that's why it's critical we ask our Republican friends: Just what are your priorities? Do we have the courage to stand with our country's greatest assets, our hardworking people? Or do we stand with the people who have enjoyed the most at the expense of everyone else? America's future depends on harnessing the innovation, education, and entrepreneurship of our fellow Americans. This budget proposal undermines that opportunity, endangers our recovery, and makes our future less certain. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, I rise today with great concern about the future of our country. And that's because in the past few days we've seen the valley between the hardworking middle class and the rich continue to grow wider and wider. It's a matter of priorities, Madam Speaker, and right now we can see very clearly where my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have placed their priorities. It's not in the well-being of our workforce, not in the effectiveness of our classrooms, and not in the safety of our neighborhoods. No, Madam Speaker. The priorities of the majority party are not with the people who have worked hard all their lives to earn a decent wage, buy a decent home, put their kids through school, and do what they can to keep their families and communities strong. The priorities of my Republican colleagues lay with America's most successful--the hedge fund managers, Wall Street financiers, and investment bankers. That's why they worked so hard to give those folks another tax break at the end of last year under the guise of extending unemployment benefits for many people who lost jobs through no fault of their own. But, my friends, you see, the rich didn't need another tax break--not now; not when their taxes are the lowest they've been since 1950, and a tax cut that added $800 billion to our deficit over the next decade. In addition to that, as part of the Recovery Act, Congress enacted the largest tax cut in American history and Democrats provided additional tax rebates for businesses that provide their employees with health insurance. Amidst these tremendous tax breaks for the past 2 years, the Republicans are moving forward with a dangerous spending bill, one that continues to give rewards to the rich and literally guts the initiatives most meaningful to middle class families. Simply put, the Republicans' spending bill is irresponsible and tone deaf to the needs of a healing Nation. It cuts jobs, threatens American innovation, and diminishes investments in rebuilding America. It makes devastating cuts to education--reducing Pell Grants by $800 per student and kicking more than 200,000 children out of Head Start. It reduces the competitiveness of our workforce by slashing $1.6 billion in job training and cutting $120 million in alternative youth training that sends kids to work in construction and other trades--critical skills that will help us make things again in America and put us on better footing to compete with the rest of the world. It derails $2.5 million in funding for high-speed trains, canceling 76 projects in 40 States, at the loss of 25,000 jobs focused on rebuilding America; and, at the same time, reduces our domestic security by eliminating 1,330 police officers and 2,400 firefighters, making our communities less safe. The work of reducing our deficit and controlling spending will be hard, to be sure. The fact of the matter is that we have to cut spending. But we have to do it responsibly. We cannot cut what makes us competitive and what helps us to innovate, to succeed in the global economy, and ultimately to create jobs. The President's budget makes some serious cuts to good programs--some I strongly object to. But as we work to cut spending, we have to be sure that it's not at the expense of continuing to support initiatives that create jobs, educate our children, and keep our communities safe. We have to be serious and smart about how we address America's budget challenges. This week, we will begin debate here in this Chamber on this budget challenge. I've heard from many of my constituents about the concerns that they have related to the Federal budget for this year. It's those conversations and the families I've met all across Rhode Island during the course of my campaign that I've got on my mind. I know what their priorities are. I've seen the circumstances and I understand the challenges that their families are facing. My friends, we owe it to the hardworking people of our country who are struggling to get by and who are playing by the rules but just waiting for someone to stand up for them rather than the rich guy on Wall Street. We owe it to America's hardworking people to have a serious and thoughtful debate in the hopes of producing a smart and essential budget for our country. Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have become captive to an extremist agenda that harms people who are already hurting the most. That's why it's critical we ask our Republican friends, Just what are your priorities? Do we have the courage to come together--not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans--and invest in our country's greatest asset--our people; the people who built this great Nation and who we must believe in, now more than ever, to move our country forward to a prosperous and promising future.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, America is the strongest Nation in the world, we hold our freedoms sacred--and we have fought to protect these freedoms for centuries, and many have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, there is a great and impending threat to that strength and freedom, a threat that imperils millions of Americans--the repeal of our Nation's Health Care Reform. As a new member of this Congress, protecting Health Care Reform is the first line in the sand. I was sent to Washington to fight for Rhode Islanders. As I have heard loudly over the past year, and witnessed first-hand as a Mayor for the last 8 years, families in my state have spent enough time awake at night worrying about where they'll find work, or the security of their current job. I will not support any action that places an additional burden on the people of Rhode Island. I will not have them lie awake at night, now having to once again worry that they will lose their health care when they need it most, or wondering how they'll pay for this month's prescriptions, or whether their child will be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Just yesterday I had the privilege of hearing from a Rhode Islander, Alex Lataille, who spoke at the one and only hearings Congress had, to discuss the negative effects of repealing the new health care law. Alex graduated last May with two bachelor's degrees, and while looking for a job after graduation, he is able to afford health insurance because he can stay on his parents' policy. Repealing this law means Alex and millions of Americans will lose their coverage. Recently while having breakfast in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, I met a young woman named Beth. She said she was going to be a constituent of mine, and she had only one request. For years she had been, and remains, an insurance sales agent. But for as many years, she has been denied access to health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Each and every day served as a painful reminder that while she was selling insurance to others, she was being denied the very same coverage. As someone well attuned to the health care industry and the Affordable Care Act itself, this young woman knew that health care reform meant hope, provided certainty, and would finally allow her to get the access to affordable health care she would need--relieving her of years of fear and anxiety. She asked for my commitment to defend health care reform. The Affordable Care Act establishes a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan--one that would provide new coverage options for Americans like Beth until 2014, when, finally, all discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions will be prohibited. Recently I also had the opportunity to speak with Susan, a mother of five from Rhode Island. Susan and her husband Ed are both middle-income earners. Recently their two sons, age 22 and 23, graduated from college. Both sons found entry level work, but neither receives health insurance from their employers. Under the current law, both sons will be eligible for coverage under their mother's health insurance plan when it renews in eight months. Susan went on to tell me that it would cost her more than $600 per month to provide coverage to her sons through COBRA. She said that with three children still at home, and despite the fact her and her husband are employed, they cannot support the added expense beyond eight months. With repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the temporary gap that Susan and her family face would become a permanent gap. We are sending a deplorable message to Americans, and indeed the world, if we abandon hard working men and woman like Susan and Ed, and let their two sons-- both college graduates, both duly employed, go without health coverage until they find jobs that provide health insurance. I come to this Congress to help bring common sense solutions to complex problems. When I look at the impact of repealing the Affordable Care Act, I think about the struggles of Alex, Beth and Susan, Ed and their two sons. I think about the number of Rhode Islanders who will once again find themselves saddled with greater financial burdens. I think about the many men, women, and children of my state who will once again face uncertainty over something as fundamental as their own health and well-being. When I think about these consequences, it is common sense, and an understanding of the struggles faced by so many Rhode Islanders that compels me to object so strongly to this proposed repeal. I was sent here to find practical solutions to solve the problems facing Rhode Island families. Let's work to improve this law, not repeal it.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, on January 25, 2011, I was listed as ``not voting'' for House Resolution 49, to provide Capitol-flown flags for recipients of the Medal of Honor. I intended to vote ``yea'' on this resolution, as I support the provision of flags flown over the Capitol for those who receive the Medal of Honor. I also wish to express my appreciation for Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta for his valiant and courageous service to our country.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a question for my friends on the other side of the aisle: When will we get down to the business of putting people back to work? My constituents in the First District of Rhode Island sent me to here to do everything I can to get our economy back on track, pave the way for sustained recovery, and get Rhode Islanders back to work. And that's why my colleagues and I in the Democratic minority are focused on job creation, economic development and debt reduction. However, the first actions by the new Republican majority during their first month have not been consistent with these principles. Unfortunately, my constituents, like Rhonda Taylor, for example, from North Providence, Rhode Island, whom I met with yesterday, do not have months and months to wait for my Republican colleagues to get their priorities straight. She's already been waiting and waiting. And that's because Rhonda lost her job in the information technology field due to outsourcing almost 3 years ago. And her unemployment compensation benefits were exhausted nearly a year ago. Rhonda is a mother of three. She's liquidated her savings and sold all of her possessions, and now she's afraid she'll become homeless. Rhonda proves why there is no time to spare. We need to focus on policies that create jobs today. The struggles of our unemployed friends and neighbors are heartbreaking and, unfortunately, all too common. People like Rhonda have no time to wait. The partisan games have to end. Unfortunately, Rhonda's story is not unique. I've been hearing similar messages for the past year from men and women all across Rhode Island. But instead of working on policies that will help real Americans like Rhonda, my friends on the other side of the aisle are playing politics with the Federal budget and the national debt, a budget that even Republican economists say could lead to double-digit unemployment and reverse the economic growth that is starting to take hold. Blind budget cuts my colleagues in the majority are pursuing won't help people like Rhonda but would, rather, do more to cut jobs than save or create them. What my friends fail to recognize is that partisan political games will not solve our Nation's unemployment crisis which plagues nearly 14 million of our friends and neighbors. The fact of the matter is the challenges facing us as a Nation are not Democratic challenges or Republican challenges. They are our challenges, and they require American solutions. The work is demanding, yes, and it will test the will of both parties to make difficult choices. But as a Congress, we need to both responsibly reduce the deficit, cut spending, but also make the smart investments that will create jobs now and guarantee the prosperity of our great Nation. Our Nation must make the investments in education, innovation, infrastructure, science and research that are critical to rebuilding our economy and putting people back to work because we cannot compete in the short term if we cannot innovate. And we cannot innovate in the long term if we fail to provide our children with access to a high- quality education. We cannot move goods and services throughout the economy if our infrastructure is crumbling. And America cannot make things again if we do not support the research, the entrepreneurs, the small businesses and manufacturers that transform ideas into new products. People like Rhonda back home in Rhode Island, and hardworking people all across this Nation, have suffered for too long. We must have the courage to set the right priority, cut what doesn't work or isn't needed, live within our means, and make the right investments that ensure our ability to compete in the global economy today and into the future. I call on my Republican colleagues to join me so we can focus on putting Americans back to work by developing commonsense solutions and focusing on jobs.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with serious concerns about the misguided agenda our friends on the other side of the aisle are pursuing. While Democrats continue to make job creation, economic recovery, and debt reduction top priorities, the majority continues to engage in political theater. In fact, their first actions after assuming control of the House haven't created a single job or protected a single American business. Instead, the other side's top priority has been to repeal the patient protections provided by the new health care reform bill; and their so- called ``budget resolution'' they have offered today is a one-page document with no specific cuts to reduce spending, no budget numbers and, most importantly, no ideas on job creation or on economic recovery. Mr. Speaker, we were sent here to create jobs and get the American economy back on track, both the Republicans and Democrats. Let's stop the political gimmickry, and let's get to the work of putting the American people back to work.

Mr. CICILLINE

Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my thoughts and prayers to the people of Colombia in light of the devastating flooding, heavy rain, and destructive landslides that, even as I speak, continue to ravage that country. This natural disaster, ongoing for several months now, has taken more than 300 lives and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 homes. In total, more than 2 million victims have been affected by the flooding, and some reports are calling this the worst natural disaster in Colombia's history. My district in northern Rhode Island is home to many wonderful Colombian families. In fact, Colombians make up the fourth largest Latino group in Rhode Island, most of whom have loved ones in the affected areas of their native country. So on behalf of the people of the First District of Rhode Island, I would like to express my sympathies to all of those who have been affected by this devastating flooding. We remember those who have died and express our sympathies to those who have lost loved ones, been injured, or lost their homes as a result of this destruction. I express my wishes for a rapid reconstruction of the damaged areas and return to safety for the families affected by this tragic natural disaster.