DELAURO STANDS UP AGAINST RYAN BUDGET

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement in reaction to the passage by the House of Representatives of Rep. Paul Ryan's spending bill for FY2012.

"The choices the majority has made in this budget are ill considered and wrong. Instead of working to reduce the deficit in a common-sense way, this budget chooses to end Medicare and throw seniors to the wolves. Instead of working to control surging health care costs, this Republican budget just shifts them onto seniors and families.

"This budget repeals health care reform and dismantles Medicaid, while providing giveaways to the insurance industry. It gives tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, while cutting critical investments in education, research, job training, and infrastructure; the critical foundations of our economy, needed to rebuild the middle class, create jobs and compete globally. It provides subsidies to big oil companies and other wealthy special interests, while cutting services to the most vulnerable Americans, such as Pell Grants, the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, and food stamps. It uses these funds to cuts taxes for the wealthiest, even while raising taxes on the middle?class. Millionaires and billionaires get a lower top tax rate and an extended estate tax giveaway. Everyone else sees valuable deductions and credits, like the child tax credit, eliminated. And despite all these cuts, the Republican budget does very little to reduce the deficit.

"This budget is Robin Hood in reverse: It takes from seniors, the middle-class, and working families and gives all that money to the rich and corporate special interests. I am deeply disappointed that this reckless budget has passed the House. We can, and must, do better."