With the Congress in another budget stalemate, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) put the blame on his Republican colleagues in a speech of the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday.
On Friday, automatic budget cuts will go into effect which will impact domestic discretionary spending and military spending.
The cuts — known as "sequestration" — were originally designed to be so awful that it would force Congress to come together and come up with a better solution.
Here is the text of Swalwell's speech:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong disappointment that the House Republican Leadership is committing such legislative malpractice by failing to do anything about the automatic spending cuts that will happen this Friday.
Here we are, on the brink of another economic crisis manufactured by Washington. And, just as before, this crisis will have real consequences, to real people.
In my district alone, schools will lose $11 million in federal funding. California will be losing $87.6 million in funding for primary and secondary schools. That means fewer students learning and more teachers out of work.
There's a rational way to approach balancing the people's budget, and this is not it. And, we can cut foolish spending without foolishly cutting spending.
H.R. 699, of which I’m a cosponsor, would replace this method of budgeting with a balanced approach. It would include additional revenue from multimillionaires and smart cuts to reduce unnecessary spending.
We may not agree on the right way to cut spending, but almost everyone agrees using broad, indiscriminate cuts is the wrong way to cut spending. Let’s come together to pass legislation to avert these cuts.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Do you think the Republicans are to blame for the lastest budget squabble? Do you agree or disagree with Swalwell's position? Let us know in the comments section.
