DeLauro Rejects Republican Games

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today rejected the latest Republican attempt to play games with the federal budget, women and children. The following remarks are as prepared for delivery on the floor of the House of Representatives: “I rise in opposition to this cruel political game the Majority is playing at the expense of American families. Let us get this straight: Ever since they took office, this Republican Majority has repeatedly tried to slash the Women and Infant Children feeding program. They tried it in 2011, 2012 2013. They will try it next year and the year after that. “I sit on the Agricultural Appropriations subcommittee. This past summer, on a party line vote, Republican Members voted to slash WIC funding by over 7 percent, and take nutritious food from 200,000 pregnant mothers and infants. I introduced an amendment to restore this critical funding, and this Majority shot it down. “When it mattered, when we all voted on this issue for real, the Majority cut this funding. And now they are trying to use these low-income families for a political message. This is disingenuous. It is duplicitous. And it is shameful. “I have strongly supported the Women and Infant Children Feeding Program my entire career and when I served as Chairwoman of the Ag-Appropriations subcommittee, the Democrats funded WIC at record levels, and expanded it as need rose during the recession. “We are talking about people’s lives. The Majority chose to shut down the government, and families across America are being affected in countless different ways. Furloughs are hitting private companies. Families and small businesses cannot get loans. Biomedical and scientific research has stopped. Food safety, food banks, flu tracking, federal economic reports, and immunizations have all stopped because of what the Republican Majority is doing here. “And now, after this Majority has repeatedly cut WIC funding, after they have shut the entire federal government down and taken the economy hostage, now we are meant to believe that they have all come to Jesus, and they want to do right by the families they have been actively trying to starve? Why, just last month, this Majority – on a party line vote – took food stamps from over four million low-income families, seniors, veterans, and children. “The gamesmanship is heartless and it is offensive. The government now been shut down for four days. Do not use hungry families as political pawns, and for this House to do its job. It is time to stop these bills and fund the entire government. I urge all of my colleagues to oppose this resolution.”