September, 23 2021, 01:54pm EDT
![Senator Bernie Sanders](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012641/origin.jpg)
Sanders Calls for $3.5 Trillion Reconciliation Bill
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Thursday delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the need to address the long-neglected crises facing the working class and pass the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I want to say a few words about some of the important budgetary issues that Congress is now facing.
WASHINGTON
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Thursday delivered remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the need to address the long-neglected crises facing the working class and pass the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below:
"As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I want to say a few words about some of the important budgetary issues that Congress is now facing.
"I want to focus on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill but before that I want to comment on the looming debt ceiling crisis. Republican leader Mitch McConnell this morning once again reiterated that the Republican Party will not vote to lift the debt ceiling and in extraordinarily irresponsible manner, will not pay the debts incurred under the Trump Administration.
"In his statement, as he has done time and time again, Senator McConnell implies that this debt ceiling has something to do with future spending. It does not. Like anybody who owns a credit card the payments that are made are for past spending, in this case spending incurred under President Trump. And let's be clear: if the United States, the largest economy in the world, defaults on its debt it will plunge not only our country but the entire global economy into a severe economic depression. That means massive unemployment, higher interest rates, severe reduction in government services and possible cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
"The irresponsibility of the Republican leadership is not just something that I worry about. According to press reports, former Republican secretaries of Treasury Hank Paulsen who worked under George W. Bush and Steven Mnuchin, who worked under Donald Trump, both visited with Senator McConnell to make the case about the need to extend the debt ceiling.
"They understand how important it is that the United States of America does not default on its debt and it is about time that my Republican colleagues listened to them.
"Now let's go to reconciliation. There has been a lot of talk about the need to compromise. Well, let me be clear. To a very significant degree that has already taken place. Of the 11 Democratic Members of the Senate Budget Committee, 9 understood the need for a $6 trillion bill which would finally address the unmet needs of the working families of our country as well as begin the process of tackling the existential threat of climate change. My guess is that at least 40 out of the 50 members of the Democratic caucus supported the $6 trillion proposal.
"We compromised - big time. We cut that proposal almost in half and agreed to a $3.5 trillion bill. That to my mind is a major compromise.
"And, as we go forward in this debate, let's talk about why we need every penny in that bill. And, let us, at this point, also make clear that this bill should not add a nickel to the deficit, and that it should be paid for by finally demanding that the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations in this country start paying their fair share of taxes. SO anyone who tells you that a $3.5 trillion bill is going to add to the deficit is not telling the truth. It should and will be fully paid for.
"So what's in this legislation? The corporate media has done a pretty bad job about talking about it so let me talk about some of the most consequential pieces in it.
"First, as a result of the extraordinarily successful American Rescue Plan, we cut childhood poverty in this country by over half. And for black and brown families that number is even higher. We must extend the $300 a month per child direct payment that working class families are now receiving. To not pass this reconciliation bill, and not continue those payments, would plunge those children back into poverty which is morally unacceptable.
"Furthermore, in the United States of America, every person in Congress should be outraged by the dysfunctionality of our childcare system. It is not a radical idea to say that every family in America should be entitled to high quality and affordable childcare. And under this legislation no working family in this country will be paying more than 7 percent of their income for childcare.
"On top of that, we are going to make pre-K education for 3-and 4-year-olds free. Yes, that is right--free. We are going to do what other industrialized countries do and understand that the most important investment we can make is in the little children.
"By the way, when we do that, we are going to allow well over a million women to go back to work because they no longer have to stay home because of lack of affordable childcare.
"In the midst of massive labor shortages in many part of the country creating a strong childcare system is a no brainer.
"Further, at a time when the pharmaceutical industry charges us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs we are going to demand that Medicare start negotiating prescription drug costs with the pharmaceutical industry. We're also going to significantly lower prescription drug costs for all Americans. And with those savings which should amount to at least $500 billion we are going to do what the overwhelming majority of the American people want us to do and expand Medicare to include the dental, vision and hearing benefits that senior citizens desperately need.
"This is America. Elderly people should not walk around with no teeth in their mouth and not be able to afford to go to a dentist. Grandparents should not be unable to communicate with their grandchildren because they cannot afford hearing aids. And seniors should not be unable to read their daily newspaper because they can't afford a pair of glasses. The need to expand Medicare to cover dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses is absolutely critical. Nobody denies that oral health, hearing and vision are essential parts of healthcare. We cannot continue to deny seniors these basic healthcare benefits.
"Not surprisingly, that out of all of the provisions in President Biden's Build Back Better plan, expanding Medicare to provide dental, vision and hearing aids is, by far and away, the most popular. According to a June 30th Morning Consult poll, adding dental, vision and hearing benefits to Medicare is supported by 84% of the American people including 89% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans. This is what the American people want and this is what we must deliver to them.
"Given that, it is hard for me to imagine that any member of the House or the Senate would oppose this very popular provision.
"Mr. President, it is a bit embarrassing that our great country is the only major country on Earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave.
"Imagine that. Every other country in the world, virtually, does that. In America, I have met with women, low-income women, who give birth, and then they have to go back to work in a week or two because they don't have the money to stay home. We are going to end that. We are going to have, as a nation, guaranteed paid family and medical leave.
"We are going to address the reality that many of our younger people are unable to obtain the good-paying jobs that are out there because they lack the higher education.
"Now, I myself will go further than this bill is going to go. I think time is long overdue to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and cancel all student debt. That is not what is in this bill. But what is in this bill says that, at the very least, every American will have the right to get 2 years of community college, and they can use that to get the training they need, to get the good jobs. Maybe it is nursing. Maybe it is something else. But they will also get the credits they need so they can transfer into a 4-year school, making a big step forward in getting young people the ability to get the training they need and the education they need to obtain the good-paying jobs that are out there.
"Mr. President, I know that you are aware that right here in this country, right here on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, you have people sleeping out on the street, and they are sleeping out on the street in every State in this country. In fact, we have almost 600,000 people sleeping out on the streets of the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Well, this legislation will create millions of jobs in housing and in other areas because we are going to build the low income and affordable housing that we need.
"It is not only homelessness. You have 18 million households spending 50 percent of their limited incomes on housing. We need to build low-income and affordable housing, and when we do that, we will create a heck of a lot of good-paying jobs.
"Mr. President, we are an aging society, and whether people have severe disabilities or whether they are just getting old, people would rather stay at home in many cases rather than be forced into nursing homes. What our legislation will do is significantly improve home healthcare in this country and make sure that those people who provide that important service, difficult service, are adequately compensated.
"I know that many of my Republican colleagues don't believe that climate change is real, don't believe that we should do anything about it, but they are dead wrong. And we cannot go home and look our children and grandchildren in the eye knowing what we know, knowing that in many ways, the climate crisis turns out to be worse than what scientists predicted it would be.
"We turn on the TV and we see the unbelievable fires in Oregon and California, and learn that the Siberian fire (the largest in the world) is sending smoke thousands of miles. We learn that July was the hottest month ever, and the climate change is exacerbating extreme weather disturbances like hurricane Ida which brought havoc on Louisiana.
"This legislation takes an important step forward. It doesn't go as far as it should, but it is a major step forward in transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
"I know we have heard from my Republican colleagues who are very upset that this will be a partisan bill, which it will be, but let me remind them that they use the so-called reconciliation process recently in two areas--two areas.
"No. 1, they thought it important to go forward in a partisan way, without Democratic support, for the enormously important goal of giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations which drove up the national debt by $2 trillion. That is how they used the reconciliation process.
"Well, we have a little different idea. We are going to use the reconciliation process and the 50 votes we have with the Vice President to protect the working families of this country, not the billionaire class.
"The other effort that they made in terms of reconciliation was to try--and they came within one vote of doing it; the late John McCain--they would have thrown up to 30 million Americans off of healthcare by ending the Affordable Care Act.
"So they have used reconciliation, and we will use it, except we are going to use it to protect ordinary Americans--the children, the elderly, the sick, and the poor--rather than just the very wealthy or the pharmaceutical industry.
"Mr. President, let me conclude by reiterating what has been said time and time again by the President, by the Majority Leader of the Senate and by the Speaker of the House: There are two extremely important pieces of legislation that we are dealing with and both must be passed together. We need to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill which will help rebuild our roads and bridges and wastewater plants and other physical assets. But even more importantly, we need to address the crises facing working families all over this country.
"When we go forward and do that, when we protect our children and the elderly and the environment, we are going to create millions of good-paying jobs, put people to work rebuilding this country in a way that is long, long overdue."
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"Trump's promises to Big Oil would sacrifice good-paying jobs that are driving an American energy and manufacturing boom," said the campaign.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday seized on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's close ties to oil executives, taking aim at the promises Trump has directly made to billionaires who have contributed nearly $26 million to his campaign.
Responding to a report from The Wall Street Journal about the record-breaking donations Trump has received from oil magnates for his 2024 campaign as he's pledged to help them "make an absolute fortune" by continuing to drill for planet-heating fossil fuels, Harris' newly launched presidential campaign put it bluntly.
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The spokesperson noted that Trump has offered oil billionaires the chance to all but control his energy policy should he win a second term, telling them directly at a dinner in May that he would dismantle the oil and gas regulations introduced by Harris and President Joe Biden if the industry raised $1 billion for his campaign.
The Democratic vice president launched her campaign this week after Biden, who had faced pressure to step aside due to his age and health, endorsed her.
"These Big Oil donations solicited by Trump are being investigated as a 'blatant quid pro quo' by Senate investigators," noted Harris in an email to supporters.
In addition, said Costello, "Trump's promises to Big Oil would sacrifice good-paying jobs that are driving an American energy and manufacturing boom, and instead give billion-dollar handouts to corporations at the expense of working families and a healthy future for our children."
"These Big Oil donations solicited by Trump are being investigated as a 'blatant quid pro quo' by Senate investigators."
As the U.S. Energy and Employment Report found in 2022, under the Biden administration, renewable energy jobs have grown faster than the overall U.S. economy, paying higher than average wages, and have made up for rising unemployment in the fossil fuel industry.
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The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund, the Sierra Club, and Clean Energy for America Action expressed confidence that if she wins the presidency in November, Harris will "raise climate ambition to make sure we confront the climate crisis in a way that makes the country more inclusive, more economically competitive, and more energy secure."
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Pesticides used on crops in the United States are increasingly laced with "forever chemicals," making it likely that they are being spread in common foods and waterways, according to a study published Wednesday.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first full review of the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in pesticides. The authors, from three nonprofit groups, found that 14% of the active ingredients in U.S. pesticides were PFAS—including 30% of the active ingredients approved by regulators in the last 10 years—as were an unquantified amount of the inert ingredients.
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New research from PEER, @CenterForBioDiv, and @ewg published today in @EHPonline found that more and more toxic PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” are being found in U.S. pesticide products, contaminating our food, our homes, our gardens, and our pets.https://t.co/fggGAYrafM
— PEER (@PEERorg) July 24, 2024
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The study authors themselves have been critical of the EPA. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), one of the three nonprofits that conducted the study, sued the EPA in February for failing to adequately disclose PFAS health and safety data.
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'Guilty of Genocide': Tlaib Protests Netanyahu's Speech to Congress
"I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians."
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Following her call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest during his visit to Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib protested the right-wing leader's Wednesday address before a joint meeting of Congress by holding up a sign reading "war criminal" and "guilty of genocide."
"They will not erase us. Palestinians exist and we deserve to live. Our presence today will be a reminder that we aren't going anywhere," Tlaib (D-Mich.) said on social media. "I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians."
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—brought a guest: Hani Almadhoun, "who has lost over 150 members of his extended family in Netanyahu's genocide" in Gaza.
"After witnessing his sister forced to eat animal feed, he and his family were determined to start a soup kitchen to feed their starving neighbors," the congresswoman said. "The Israeli apartheid regime is using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime."
More than 135 congressional Democrats, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) boycotted Netanyahu's speech.
"Netanyahu is not only a war criminal. He is a liar," Sanders said on social media. "All humanitarian organizations agree: Tens of thousands of children face starvation because his extremist government continues to block aid. Israelis want him out of office. So he came to Congress to campaign."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said, "Just so we're clear, Netanyahu has lost so many people that he is addressing just a fraction of Congress."
"When this happens, they fill the seats with nonmembers, like what they do at award ceremonies, in order to project the appearance of full attendance and support."
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) said on social media: "I won't attend Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech today. His military has reportedly killed over 39,000 Palestinians. He hasn't brought the hostages home. He hasn't made Israel any safer. We need tangible actions to end this war and all the suffering—not performative gestures."
"It's *because* of my Jewish upbringing and values that I cannot attend Prime Minister Netanyahu's address today," she explained.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in statement: "I am boycotting Netanyahu's address. Today, families of Israeli hostages called the prime minister's speech a 'PR stunt' intended to cover up his own failures."
"Not only has Netanyahu failed to safely return the hostages—he has killed, harmed, or displaced nearly every Palestinian in Gaza, has failed to keep Israelis safe, and is risking the United States' own security by trying to drag us into another endless war in the Middle East," he continued.
"The United States must end unconditional military aid to the Israeli government, and instead secure an immediate cease-fire, a return of the hostages, and long-term peace," Casar added.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wished Tlaib a happy birthday in a social media post saying, "To my sister Rashida: You were born for a time like this."
"The only Palestinan in Congress during a genocide of your people," he added. "Sitting through a speech of that war criminal as colleagues applaud. You stand strong. We love and honor you."
Stephen Miles, president of the peace group Win Without War, said in a statement that "we are grateful to the many, many members of Congress who chose to not attend Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress today."
"This was a political stunt dreamed up by a House speaker trying to score political points and embraced by the prime minister as a desperate ploy to try and blunt the massive global condemnation and domestic political opposition he faces," Miles added. "It's a speech that never should have happened."
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also the Senate president, did not preside over Wednesday's meeting. Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in the wake of President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race earlier this week, is scheduled to meet privately with Netanyahu on Thursday.
Netanyahu's speech—which was met with frequent uproarious applause from lawmakers and other attendees—took aim not only at Hamas "monsters," but also against "Iran's axis of terror," which he said "confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends."
"This is not a clash of civilizations, it's a clash between barbarism and civilization, between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life," said the leader of a nation whose armed forces have killed or wounded more than 130,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Netanyahu condemned what he called the "slanders that paint Israel as racist and genocidal" that are "meant to demonize the Jewish state and demonize Jews everywhere."
Taking aim at pro-Palestinian protests across the United States— many of them Jewish-led—Netanyahu lamented that "many anti-Israel protesters choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers."
"For all we know, Iran is funding the protests that are taking place outside right now," Netanyahu said, citing unsubstantiated Biden administration claims. "When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots."
"Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming, 'Gays for Gaza,'" he mocked. "They might as well hold up signs that say, 'Chickens for KFC!'"
"These protesters chant, 'From the river to the sea,' but many don't have a clue what river and what sea they're talking about," the prime minister added.
Hundreds of Jewish-led demonstrators were
arrested inside a congressional building on Tuesday while protesting the U.S. government's continued support for Israel's assault on Gaza and Netanyahu's then-forthcoming address. Thousands more protesters took to the streets of Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, where peace groups planned to surround the Capitol.
"There is a war criminal in town," Council on American Islamic Relations national executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech to protesters. "This war criminal Netanyahu has a long history of crimes against humanity."
During his speech, Netanyahu also thanked Biden "for his heartfelt support for Israel after the savage attack on October 7," which the prime minister said was "like 20 9/11s in one day."
Biden has expressed his "unwavering" support for the key Middle Eastern ally and has approved billions of dollars in new military aid and more than 100 arms sales to the country since October. The Biden administration has also vetoed several United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Netanyahu implored the U.S. to give even more, saying, "Give us the tools faster, and we will finish the job faster."
"The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms, and returns all the hostages," added the prime minister, who for years facilitated massive financial support for the militant resistance group—whose political arm rules Gaza—in order to weaken the Palestinian National Authority.
On Monday, Tlaib
said that Netanyahu should be arrested while in the United States.
"Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people," she argued. "It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court."
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including extermination committed on and after October 7.
During his speech, Netanyahu accused the ICC of "blood libels" against Israel, saying the tribunal "shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza"—allegations echoed by the South Africa-led genocide case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), United Nations experts, and human rights groups.
U.N. World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain
said in May that there is "full-blown famine" in Gaza, where dozens of Palestinians—mostly children—have died due to malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care, and hundreds of thousands of others are on the brink of starvation.
Netanyahu also accused the ICC of lying about Israeli forces "deliberately targeting civilians," over 39,000 of whom including 16,000 children have been killed since October.
The prime minister claimed that Israel "has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history, and beyond what international law requires."
"The ICC is trying to shackle Israel's hands and prevent Israel from defending itself," Netanyahu said. "And if Israel's hands are tied, America's are next."
"The hands of the Jewish state will never be shackled," he added. "Israel will always defend itself."
Netanyahu further claimed that civilian casualties during Israel's recent Rafah offensive were "practically none," ignoring hundreds of Palestinians including many women and children who died in Israeli attacks on the city and its environs, including multiple massacres of refugees in tent encampments.
Israeli forces "should not be condemned for how they're conducting the war in Gaza, they should be commended for it," Netanyahu asserted.
Israel Defense Forces troops have been accused of torturing, raping, and summarily executing Palestinian civilians, including children. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres last month added Israel to his so-called "List of Shame" of countries that kill and injure children during wars and other armed conflicts.
In addition to its ICC woes and the ICJ genocide case, the latter tribunal ruled last week in a separate case that the 57-year Israeli occupation of Palestine is an illegal form of apartheid that must end "as rapidly as possible."
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