Social Justice

"I voted against the 2012 Republican budget, because it does not reflect my values or the priorities of our great country. I for one did not come to Washington to destroy Medicare, an effective, affordable, and popular program that provides the peace of mind of quality health coverage to 47 million seniors and persons with disabilities....

"I cannot in good faith support this Continuing Resolution, because it makes unnecessary job-destroying deep cuts to roads and public transit, clean energy, flood prevention, and schools."

“Constraining preventative health care is a boon to emergency room vending machine stockers and flower merchants but a tragedy for every American who values public health, productivity, and deficit reduction,” said Congressman Garamendi. “Preventative medicine is cost-effective medicine and saves lives.”

“The House Republican proposal to destroy Medicare is a feeding frenzy for the insurance industry sharks, and every American that has ever hoped to retire with dignity is what’s for dinner. The hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare Americans previously set aside in preparation for our golden years is now being set aside for insurance industry profits."

Congressman Garamendi introduced an amendment to the bill that addresses one of the major underlying causes of the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession: Wall Street's broken bonus compensation system.

"Members of Congress need to go where We the People are, and that increasingly means social media platforms like Twitter," said Rep. John Garamendi (CA-10). "The Internet is tearing down the gates that used to divide representatives from the public. Community-wide open conversations are now possible online. Public research helped create the Internet; it’s about time public servants utilized it to its fullest potential. With my fellow House Democrats, it’s an honor to join the conversation."

"We need to Make It In America to create good American jobs. Instead, the House Republican spending bill, H.R. 1, makes reckless cuts to education, transportation, research, public safety, women's health services, and national security," said Congressman Garamendi. "I urge the President and Senate to reject this dangerous proposal, and I urge every member of Congress to serve the people they represent. We should be creating jobs and fixing our economy, but the House Republican spending bill destroys at least 800,000 jobs."

The House Republican continuing resolution cuts threaten to stifle job creation by gutting key investments. Instead of moving America forward, the GOP budget proposal would put this country in reverse. Under the House Republican plan, more than 200,000 children would be kicked out of Head Start and thousands of teachers would lose their jobs; 20,000 fewer researchers would be supported at the National Science Foundation, stifling the innovative research that creates next generation jobs; 25,000 new construction jobs would be lost and 76 projects in 40 states would be cancelled; there would be 1,330 fewer cops on the beat and 2,400 fewer firefighters on the job; AmeriCorps' effective services to our country would be eliminated; and needed food programs like WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) would be decimated.