WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined fellow House Democrats, veterans, families, and local lawmakers to speak out against the MAGA Republican default crisis at a rally outside of the U.S. Capitol. Below are her remarks:
“Thank you so much, Laura. I am so grateful to be here with you. To be here with everyone who has traveled and taken time out of their week to travel here and speak out on this MAGA default crisis. To veterans like Don and Maurice and Brandon, who are defending the hard-earned VA benefits that are now under threat from the MAGA Majority. To leaders like Mayor Garcia, who knows that brinkmanship in Washington equals catastrophe in his community. To every American who has had to make their voice heard, all because a few extremist politicians refuse to do their jobs.
“It shouldn’t take a wave of grassroots action to avert a national catastrophe. Constituents shouldn’t have to deal with a disaster that is manufactured by their own GOP Representatives. But that is what it’s come to.
“This past weekend in Boston, we met in the pouring rain to demand an end to this madness. Because those activists, those members of communities across the Commonwealth are as terrified as other Americans – for their families, for their livelihoods, for their future, for the stability and credibility of our country.
“So, let’s be clear about what’s on the table. This is about Ideology vs. Responsibility. This about Politics vs. People. This is about Extremism vs. Common Sense. The MAGA Majority wants the American people to make an impossible choice: accept devastating cuts or a devastating default. They manufactured a crisis so they could bully and threaten the very people they were sent to Washington to represent. So they could hand them a ransom note that says: 300,000 kids will be kicked out of child care, 400,000 families out of their homes, 21 million people off of Medicaid, 30 million doctors’ appointments at the VA will be cancelled.
“And why? Why go after their own constituents? So they can stuff even more money into the pockets of billionaires. So they can help even more tax cheats dodge the IRS. This was never, and continues not to be, about a deficit, or a spending plan. Republicans racked up $8 trillion in debt under Donald Trump – a quarter of everything we owe in four short years. They don’t care about spending. They care whose pocket it all ends up in.
“If we don’t comply with their demands, if we don’t agree to put billionaires first, they’ll send America into freefall. What exactly does default mean? It means 8.3 million jobs lost, $1.6 trillion wiped from our economy, retirement savings gutted, kitchen table budgets decimated, prices sent skyrocketing – just to protect the very rich, the very wealthy from paying their fair share.
“So, here’s the thing: the American people don’t take well to being threatened. So, here’s my advice to Speaker McCarthy. Start listening to the people that we represent. Listen to the mayors who are telling you what the consequences of your actions will be. Listen to the parents depending on Head Start to get by. Listen to the seniors who would go hungry without Meals on Wheels. Listen to the heroes whose health care is on the line. Do your job. Honor your oath of office. Put People Over Politics. Put Democracy Over Extremism. Put the American people first. And, stop with this default crisis.”
Photos of the event can be found HERE, the full event can be viewed HERE.