Oakland City Wire

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12), Chair of the House Democratic Poverty Task Force and member of the House Appropriations Committee, on May 12 wrote to President Biden requesting that the administration reject any cuts to safety net programs proposed by Republicans in the ongoing debt limit negotiations. 

The letter is cosigned by Tri-Caucus leads Representatives Judy Chu (CA-28), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; Steven Horsford (NV-04),Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus; and Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as well as Poverty Task Force leadership Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29). 

“We are grateful for the principled public position you have taken that budget negotiations should not result in policies that would increase poverty or take away health care and food assistance from low-income Americans,” the lawmakers wrote. “Yet Speaker McCarthy once again has demanded policies that would impose or expand harsh and ineffective work requirements. Under his plan, up to 21 million Americans could lose their Medicaid, up to 1 million older adults could lose access to SNAP, and up to 1 million poor children could lose financial support through TANF.”

They continued, “These GOP proposals would have devastating impacts in our communities.  Decades of research and real-world experience show that taking basic assistance away from people who do not meet rigid work-reporting requirements does not improve employment.  Policies that create excess barriers to access social safety net programs only take away health care and food assistance away from people, which undermines goals to improve the strength and wellbeing of our economy and workforce.  Labor market discrimination already punishes too many workers, and rigid work-reporting requirements would punish them a second time.”

“We stand by you, Mr. President, in rejecting the House-passed proposals and working to ensure that Congress passes a clean debt ceiling and separately reach a budget agreement that allows us to move forward with critical investments in the appropriations process. “

The full letter text is here and copied below. 

Dear President Biden:   

We write to commend you for your strong stance in budget discussions that you will protect children, veterans, older Americans, and people struggling to afford their basic needs. We are deeply disturbed by Speaker McCarthy’s continued insistence on proposals that would increase hardship and raise costs for millions of Americans. We support negotiations for Congress to pass a clean debt ceiling and separately reach a budget agreement that does not undermine the social safety net programs that our communities need. 

We are grateful for the principled public position you have taken that budget negotiations should not result in policies that would increase poverty or take away health care and food assistance from low-income Americans. Yet Speaker McCarthy once again has demanded policies that would impose or expand harsh and ineffective work requirements. Under his plan, up to 21 million Americans could lose their Medicaid, up to 1 million older adults could lose access to SNAP, and up to 1 million poor children could lose financial support through TANF.  

These GOP proposals would have devastating impacts in our communities.  Decades of research and real-world experience show that taking basic assistance away from people who do not meet rigid work-reporting requirements does not improve employment.  Policies that create excess barriers to access social safety net programs only take away health care and food assistance away from people, which undermines goals to improve the strength and wellbeing of our economy and workforce.  Labor market discrimination already punishes too many workers, and rigid work-reporting requirements would punish them a second time.  

We stand by you, Mr. President, in rejecting the House-passed proposals and working to ensure that Congress passes a clean debt ceiling and separately reach a budget agreement that allows us to move forward with critical investments in the appropriations process. Thank you.

Congresswoman Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as Co-Chair of the Steering and Policy Committee, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chair Emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as Chair of the Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to House Leadership.

Original source can be found here