Debt Ceiling Crisis

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on House Republicans to stop the partisan politics and pay our bills.

It is my top priority to ensure everyone in Ohio's 13th Congressional District feels safe and secure at every stage of their lives, but the Republicans' manufactured crisis, forcing an impossible choice between devastating cuts or devastating default, directly undermines the safety and security of the people of Ohio's 13th District.

House Republicans' demands would jeopardize Social Security payments for 110,000 seniors in places like Stow, Hudson, and Twinsburg.

It would cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Affairs health coverage benefits for 322,000 families in cities like Barberton and Akron.

It would threaten the retirement savings of 109,000 northeast Ohioans who worked so hard so that they could retire securely. That is over half of my district, Mr. Speaker.

Republicans' demands significantly cut Federal support to local law enforcement agencies and slash crime prevention grants heading into the summer.

Law enforcement agencies in my district, in Stark County, are already understaffed and struggling to fill more than 80 positions across the county.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. SYKES. Why, Mr. Speaker, do you want my people to suffer? Ohio's 13th District cannot afford these cuts. They will make our communities less safe.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. SYKES. I will not yield back while the Republicans are holding our communities hostage and making our communities----

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source