GOP Tells Americans Education, Health, Labor Programs Do Not Matter

House Leadership Sends Congress Home without Funding Critical Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today as the House Republican Leadership began the August District Work Period without even writing legislation funding critical labor, health and education programs. DeLauro is the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for writing that bill. The Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill is the only one of the 12 appropriations bills to not even be considered at the subcommittee level.

“I wish I could say I am surprised by Republicans’ failure to even write a bill funding Head Start, job training, biomedical research and other crucial priorities. But this is now the second consecutive year they have refused to have even a subcommittee debate on their proposals for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments.

“If I were them, I would try and hide my intentions from the American public too. Since 2010 funding for the National Institutes of Health has been cut by over $1 billion. Job training programs have been slashed by roughly $700 million. Funding for low-income schools has been cut by over $100 million, and disabled children trying to get a quality education have seen over $30 million disappear from their budget. This Majority simply does not want to meet their most basic responsibilities to the American people.

“These programs do not exist in a vacuum. Less money for education hurts children trying to learn. Less money for scientific research means diseases like cancer continue to win. And less money for job training means fewer American workers with high-quality jobs to support their families.

“We should be debating these issues in an open forum and holding votes on what people think the best solutions are. That is what the voters sent us here to do. But my Republican colleagues have chosen to hide. The American public deserves better.”