Congressional Black Caucus on FY 2012 Budget Debates
For Immediate Release: April 15, 2011
Communications Director: Stephanie L. Young o: c:
Congressional Black Caucus on FY 2012 Budget Debates
Washington DC – Late last night, the Congressional Black Caucus debated the CBC Fiscal Year 2012 Alternative Budget on the House Floor. Today, the United States Congress took up the Cleaver/Scott Amendment—the CBC Budget. The final vote was 103 to 303. The CBC Budget focuses on our priorities of economic development and job creation, cradle to college and workforce education, and protecting the Affordable Care Act. It makes significant investments in education, job training, transportation and infrastructure, and advanced research and development programs that will accelerate our economic recovery. At the same time, the CBC Budget protects the social safety net without cutting Social Security, killing Medicaid, or making seniors contribute more to Medicare.
The Congressional Black Caucus has served this nation diligently for the past 40 years since 1971, and since 1981 we have offered an alternative budget. Today, on the 101st day in the 112th Congress of the United States, the Republican Leadership has not brought one jobs bill or solution to the table. Instead they passed a budget with draconian cuts that will critically wound and significantly impact vulnerable communities.
Our nation’s communities of color have been hit hardest by the effects of the recession. Even as our nation’s economy slowly rebounds, our communities experience disproportionately higher rates of unemployment, home foreclosure, educational disadvantages, and economic hardship. As a result, vulnerable communities increasingly rely on public programs to meet their basic needs, but these are the programs the Republican Leadership eradicates with their budget proposal.
The Members of the Congressional Black Caucus believe that budgets serve as a window into the moral compass of a nation’s conscience—and our nation’s compass is horribly off. Recklessly cutting vital programs like job training, education, and health care to millions of hardworking American families is not a roadmap to balancing the budget.
For more information on the CBC FY 2012 Fiscal Year Budget please visit: https://thecongressionalblackcaucus.com/issues/the-2012-budget/
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This statement does not necessarily reflect the views of all members of the Congressional Black Caucus
