Napolitano’s Statement on Trump’s Devastating and Demoralizing Budget
(Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-El Monte) released the following statement on President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2018:
“President Trump’s budget is a horrible deal for San Gabriel Valley families and outlines the wrong vision for the future of our nation. From devastating cuts to Medicaid, an agency the President vowed not to cut, to eliminating HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the nation’s most vulnerable will suffer while the richest Americans and corporations make out like bandits. One in five of Medicaid’s 70 million beneficiaries who have a mental health or substance use disorder might have no other place to turn for lifesaving care if these sweeping cuts are enacted. Additionally, it inexplicably targets seniors who benefit from Meals on Wheels and takes food out of the mouths of hungry families by reducing nutrition assistance.
“This budget is also demoralizing for students and parents as it proposes inadequate funds for critical early childhood education programs like Head Start, which is already stretched thin to meet the needs of our communities. For our future leaders hoping to obtain a college degree and be able to afford it one day, they are offered no encouragement by this President, whose budget slashes Department of Education student financial aid and repayment programs. Our children are our future and deserving of every tool to help them succeed.
“The President's budget reduces the EPA’s operating budget by nearly 1/3, severely undermining the agency’s ability to protect the public and our planet from toxins in the air we breathe and the water we drink. It strikes funding for much needed new transit projects, even as the President pledges to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Instead of investing these dollars in shovel-ready projects, President Trump is wasting our resources on increased immigration enforcement. These efforts betray our values and will not make our nation more secure or our people feel safer.
“President Trump’s budget delivers a punch to the gut of generations of Americans from young students to seniors. It recklessly eliminates whole agencies and reduces Cabinet-level departments to levels where they can barely function. I strongly oppose President Trump’s budget proposal and urge my Republican and Democratic colleagues to protect hardworking Americans by ensuring these devastating cuts never see the light of day.”
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