Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-21) issued this statement after the House of Representatives passed H. Con Res 96, the FY2015 budget proposed by former vice presidential candidate and Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Congressman Paul Ryan:

"The American people have consistently rejected Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to give the wealthiest Americans another tax cut and pay for it by dismantling the Medicare guarantee, hiking taxes on middle class families, and slashing critical investments in our nation’s future. Unfortunately, that has not stopped my Republican colleagues from once again embracing these dangerously misplaced priorities. 

"The Ryan budget is an assault on seniors, students, and families struggling to pull themselves out of poverty.  First, it makes radical cuts to vital assistance for low-income families, like anti-hunger programs for poor women with infant children, affordable childcare provided through through Headstart, and Pell Grants that help low-income students earn their degrees. Then, the GOP budget slashes the kinds of investments in research, infrastructure, and education that would create economic opportunity for these Americans. All told, at least three-quarters of the GOP budget’s 4.3 trillion in nondefense cuts target programs that hurt those who can least afford it all the while giving tax cuts to billionaires who don’t need them.

"Our deficit has dropped to its lowest level in half a decade and yet millions of Americans are struggling with long-term unemployment, historically-low wages, and poverty. What Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and his colleagues fail to realize is that we will never get our fiscal house in order without closing our jobs deficit, growing the paychecks of middle class families, and advancing economic opportunity."

For details on how the Ryan budget slashes vital investments in American jobs and opportunity, click here.