Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Ms. DeLAURO. If I might inquire, Mr. Speaker, how much time is left on both sides.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself 2 minutes. I rise in opposition to this concurrent resolution. It has nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with ideology. This is an attempt to turn back the clock on women's health and basic rights. The majority wants to impose their traditional view of a woman's role and take us back to a day when family planning was not available. With this resolution, the majority aims to exclude one specific health care provider, Planned Parenthood, from all Federal resources. This will needlessly put lives in danger. Planned Parenthood carries out millions of lifesaving preventative and primary care services every year. They deliver immunizations, routine gynecological exams, nearly 1 million screenings for cervical cancer, 830,000 breast exams, and nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections like HIV every single year. If this resolution passes, all of these services would be lost. Seventy-five percent of their more than 3 million patients live at or below 150 percent of the poverty level, make less than $33,000 for a family of four. One of every five women in America has gone to Planned Parenthood for access to health care. Sixty percent of these women consider Planned Parenthood their main source of care. And, in fact, even the number of men Planned Parenthood serves has doubled over the past decade. All of these women and men would lose access to these services if this should pass. This resolution guts a primary source of care for millions of American families. We all know this has nothing to do with Federal funding of abortion. Federal funds are already banned from going towards abortion services under the Hyde amendment. We should not be playing political games with women's lives. I urge my colleagues to oppose this dangerous resolution and to stand for women's health and, above all, to trust women to make the right decisions.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield myself the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the Democratic leader, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi).

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. DeLAURO. I am delighted to hear the gentleman from Montana say he opposes cuts to Medicare. That means, I am going to assume, that he will vote against the Ryan budget as well. With that, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Lowey).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time is left?

Ms. DeLAURO. I would ask the gentleman from Louisiana if he has additional speakers.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman).

Ms. DeLAURO. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, governing is about choices. Everyone in this body agrees that we need to get our fiscal house in order, bring down the deficit and cut programs that do not work. The question before us is how we choose to get there. Unfortunately, at almost every turn of this continuing resolution, the majority has chosen to keep special interest giveaways to big corporate lobbyists while making middle class and working families bear the brunt of the spending cuts. Instead of ending $40 billion in oil company subsidies that this country gives out every year--they are giving them out right now--this resolution cuts $1.6 billion from our attempts to protect the environment, prevent climate change; and it slashes education and infrastructure funding, biomedical research, and food safety. The chairman of the full committee said a moment ago that we are going to cut this deficit by $40 billion by cutting those programs. We could have made up that difference with the $40 billion in the subsidies that we give to the oil companies today. Instead of ending billions in subsidies to big agribusiness, it cuts funding for food safety inspections, women's health care under Title X and virtually eliminates the National Health Service. Instead of ending billions in tax loopholes for corporations who ship our jobs overseas, it slashes funding for vital job training services by a billion dollars. It ends education programs that our children rely on like Even Start and Teach for America. It ends literacy programs for children in the United States, and at the same time we are providing dollars in Afghanistan to train their youngsters in literacy by cutting it out in the United States of America. Instead of ending the billions in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, it guts community health centers by $600 million. It cuts funding for Women with Infant Children by $500 million. It shortchanges public safety. It cuts biomedical research and cuts the Centers for Disease Control by 11 percent. The American people expect better from us. They want our budget to reflect commonsense, mainstream priorities that are good for our country and good for the middle class. Instead, this resolution offers the status quo on special-interest waste, and that hurts people who are trying to do the right thing. This budget will hurt our economy, cost us jobs, and put the health and the safety of middle class and working class families at risk. It may be an improvement on the Tea Party budget that this House passed several weeks ago, but that was not the standard we should apply here. This resolution still gives oil companies and special interests a pass while hurting American families. These are not the right choices for the American people. I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided resolution. That would be the right thing to do. We can and must do better.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. It will cost money and endanger the health of the American people. We included the Prevention and Public Health Fund in the Affordable Care Act because we know preventive health care reduces health care costs. It dramatically increases Americans' quality of life. Preventable causes of death such as tobacco smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and the misuse of alcohol have been estimated to be responsible for 900,000 deaths annually, nearly 40 percent of total yearly mortality in the United States. Further, 7 in 10 deaths in America are from chronic diseases. And by 2020, the U.S. may spend $685 billion a year on these chronic diseases. This fund works to bring down these numbers and to help Americans live longer, healthier lives. Preventive care is fiscally responsible. One example that would be impacted by this misguided legislation is vaccines. Estimates indicate that we save up to $400 for every illness averted by vaccination. And that does not even take into account the costs of further transmission in the case of a serious public health epidemic. By supporting our public health workforce and building health infrastructure, by promoting exercise, reducing tobacco use, the Prevention and Public Health Fund will go a long way towards reducing the surging costs of health care for Americans families and for our Nation. It is shortsighted folly to repeal this fund now, especially when you consider all the oil subsidies and breaks for corporate lobbyists that the majority has included in their budget. We should not be putting political ideology before public health. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding organization, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., as they celebrate their 25th Anniversary. Founded and still led by the remarkable Judith Stein, since its inception the Center has grown into an invaluable resource for Medicare recipients as well as legislators and I am proud to say that it all started in Connecticut. Judy Stein dedicated her professional career to advocacy for the elderly from the very beginning. For 11 years, Judy was the Co-Director of Legal Assistance to Medicare Patients, LAMP, where she managed the first Medicare advocacy program in the country. Throughout her career she has developed and administered Medicare advocacy projects, represented Medicare beneficiaries, produced educational materials, as well as taught and consulted on a variety of Medicare issues. She has also served as lead or co-counsel in federal class action and individual cases challenging improper Medicare policies and denials. To be frank, there are very few in this country who have such a technical or personal understanding of the Medicare program and how it impacts our seniors. Twenty-five years ago, Judy took all of her experience and passion for advocacy and founded the Center for Medicare Advocacy--an organization that would be dedicated to providing a voice for older Americans and those with disabilities as well as a resource to ensure that they have access to health care financing, necessary care and Medicare. What began as a one-person, one office operation has grown into one of the leading Medicare advocacy organizations in the country. Since it opened its doors, thousands of people have counted on the Center to make sure that they were receiving the benefits that they deserve. Still headquartered in Connecticut, the Center also has an office in Washington, D.C. where they specialize in Medicare and healthcare policy, a data unit in Maine, and attorneys in Arizona, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Today, as they celebrate their first 25 years, the Center for Medicare Advocacy can be proud of how far the organization has come as well as the extraordinary impact they have had on our nation's health care policy and, more importantly, in the lives of the many who have sought them out for assistance. I have no doubt that the Center and its dedicated staff will continue in its innovative advocacy, working to both improve our Medicare system as well as the lives of those who turn to them for guidance and support. Happy 25th Anniversary and best wishes for many more years of success!

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. You're playing fast and loose with the lives of the American people, their kids, their families and with American businesses. No matter what those damaging effects are, because of ideological reasons and political base, and electoral votes, you are willing to put the United States and its people, above all, working families, middle class families and their children and our economy, at risk. Please read the Constitution. Understand how this democracy works, and take this bill and do away with it.