SE Kansas City News

(Washington, D.C.) – On May 31, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) voted in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, otherwise known as the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, to pay America’s bills, protect Missouri families from the catastrophic consequences of default, and ensure our economic recovery from the global pandemic can continue unabated. The legislation will now go to the U.S. Senate, where it is expected to pass and then signed into law by President Biden, officially ending the Republican-manufactured default crisis.

“This is my second serving of a satan sandwich, and it’s not much better than my first. In fact, it is difficult to put into words how angry and frustrated I am that House Republicans manufactured this default crisis by openly taking Missouri families, workers, and our national economy hostage in one of the saddest displays of legislative extortion I’ve ever seen. It’s disrespectful to the constituents and communities we represent; it trivializes the real issues facing American families today; and it does lasting damage to our democracy and standing on the world stage” said Congressman Cleaver. “While I condemn the process the GOP took to arrive at this deal, it doesn’t change the fact that with Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives, a compromise on the federal budget was inevitable—and this is a compromise I am willing to support in order to protect families in my congressional district from a Republican-manufactured economic catastrophe.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act protects everyday Americans and our national economy by:

• Preventing a Devastating Default that would have triggered an immediate recession, cost millions of jobs, devastated retirement accounts, and reversed the economic progress made over the past two years, including achieving the lowest unemployment rate in five decades;
• Protecting Americans’ Health Care and Retirements by preventing Republican cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, ensuring health insurance and social security checks for tens of millions of Americans;
• Fully Funding Veterans’ Medical Care, including mandatory funding for the recently passed PACT Act’s toxic exposure fund;
• Defending Democrats’ Economic Agenda, ensuring key legislative accomplishments are protected from the GOP’s chopping block—including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Act, PACT Act, clean energy investments, corporate minimum tax, and Medicare’s ability to negotiate for lower drug prices.
• Locking in Two-Year Debt Limit Suspension and Budget Deal, which removes the default detonator from Republican hands, is consistent with recent bipartisan budget agreements, and rejects the 10-year spending caps proposed by House Republicans;
• Rejecting Extreme Cuts to Essential Federal Programs by locking in funding levels that President Biden and Congressional Democrats secured for 2023, following two years of substantial investments in public education, child care, social services, and public health;
• Rejecting Work Requirements for Medicaid and Adding New Exemptions for SNAP, exempting veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth through age 24 for the nutrition assistance program. While the bill also includes new SNAP work requirements for adults aged 50-54 without dependents—something Rep. Cleaver strongly opposes—the provision is phased in over time and sunset after 10 years. When accounting for the new beneficiaries, SNAP will receive an increase in funding;
• Supporting Continued Investments in a Clean Energy Future by protecting the Inflation Reduction Act’s historic climate provisions and investments in environmental justice, accelerating our transition to a clean energy economy, and maintaining environmental protections;
• Protecting Student Debt Relief, keeping in place the President’s plan to provide student debt relief for hardworking borrowers—most of whom make less than $75,000 per year;
• Protecting Key Public Health Funding that will help prepare for future pandemics and possible COVID-19 surges—including $5 billion to accelerate the development of Next Gen vaccines.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act prevents a disastrous default that would have killed millions of jobs; protects funding for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA; protects President Biden’s signature legislative accomplishments like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS Act; increases funding for SNAP while beating back extreme cuts to other critical federal programs; and it puts our nation on a stronger financial trajectory moving forward,” said Congressman Cleaver. “While I don’t agree with everything in the bill, I understand that democracy demands compromise—and this is a compromise that will benefit the people of Missouri’s Fifth District. However, once this bill is signed into law, the President must turn his focus toward eliminating the mechanism that enables the annual food fight over paying the nation’s bills. Whether it is through the Congress or the courts, we must get rid of the disastrous debt ceiling.”

A section-by-section analysis of the Fiscal Responsibility Act is available here.

Official text of the Fiscal Responsibility Act is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. 

Original source can be found here