WASHINGTON - July 20 - Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement regarding the “Gang of Six” deficit reduction proposal released yesterday:

“We have serious concerns about the potential impact of the ‘Gang of Six’ proposal on working families. Specifically, the proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare would raise costs and limit availability of healthcare to the most vulnerable among us, including seniors, people with disabilities and children. These cuts would also lead to job losses that we simply cannot afford. We need to be putting people back to work, not cutting the programs that employ them. In addition, cuts to Social Security should be off the table. Any deficit reduction proposal, bipartisan or not, should not slash these programs that are vital for so many Americans.

“The proposal also falls short on revenue generation. Reducing tax rates for corporations and the wealthy and exempting foreign earnings, a job killing measure that would send more jobs overseas, is a backward approach to raising the level of revenue needed to really address our deficit.

“What Congress should be doing is helping get America back to work. That is the most effective way to get our economy back on track and provide the tax revenue we need.”