El Paso Standard

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) voted to pass the Bipartisan Budget Agreement which protects Americans’ healthcare and retirements, rejects extreme cuts to vital programs, fully funds veteran medical care, and avoids a catastrophic default on our nation’s debt.

“Today I voted to pass the Bipartisan Budget Agreement to put an end to the dangerous political games Republicans are playing with our economy and the livelihood of millions of American households.

“This bill is a compromise that Democrats sought in place of the devastating H.R. 2811, the Default on America Act, that House Republicans passed last month to address the debt limit by cutting federal spending on Social Security, health care, housing, our veterans, student loans, and more, while adding punitive restrictions to Medicaid, SNAP and TANF. Today’s Bipartisan Budget Agreement is a reflection of the realities of a divided government through which Republicans lay bare their cruel priorities for America - a refusal to close tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy paid for on the backs of working families, a commitment to make Federal assistance programs like SNAP and TANF inaccessible to those who need them most, and an urgency to provide fossil fuel handouts to Big Oil while clawing back the hard-fought environmental protections Democrats have secured over the years.

“House Republicans manufactured a crisis and used the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip. These priorities and precedents are deeply troubling to me.

“Once again, it’s Democrats saving our economy from House Republicans, who are falsely touting themselves as the heroes in this situation. You can’t call yourself a firefighter when you started the blaze.

“I'm proud of the President's steadfast leadership in avoiding a Republican default, protecting critical benefits Americans have earned like Social Security and Medicaid, and safeguarding the historic investments of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

A section by section of the bill can be found here.

Original source can be found here.