Morris Leader

Washington, DC— Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement on her vote to reject the extreme debt ceiling proposal from House Republicans:

“I sought this job with a clear purpose: to build a path to opportunity, prosperity, and security for every New Jersey family. The manufactured crisis that the House GOP has created with the debt ceiling violates that purpose. House GOP leaders are threatening our economy. The GOP’s demands would halt our recent recovery and set families and our national economy back. And if they don’t get their extreme agenda, they are willing to push our country into default.

Congress must pass an increase in the debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default that would destroy millions of jobs and wipe out trillions in families’ savings. Deficit reduction should be handled through the normal budget process. Threatening the American economy shouldn’t be a political football to be thrown around. There are real life consequences.”

The House Republican debt ceiling plan would have the following effects on the American people and economy:

• Threatens pension plans for over 1 million retirees;

• Results in 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, including 219,000 in New Jersey, and 81,000 jobs lost across the Veterans Health Administration, resulting in vets being unable to get appointments for care, including wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, and substance use disorder treatment

• Eliminates almost every clean energy tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act, which will cost families about $500 per year in higher electricity and energy prices;

• Makes significant cuts to federal childcare programs that provide affordable access to care for families. These cuts will cause 200,000 children nationally to lose access to Head Start, including 3,900 New Jersey children, and 100,000 families nationwide and 2,900 in New Jersey to lose access to childcare;

• Cuts financial assistance for food purchases, housing costs, and college tuition assistance, all of which will increase costs for families by thousands of dollars;

• Impacts our national R&D and innovation budgets, with cuts to the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health;
  • This will reduce the level of high-impact innovation that is developed in the US, in sectors such as semiconductors, 5G, and AI.

• Significantly reduces access to workforce development, job training, and apprenticeship programs that are critical for creating a globally competitive workforce and reducing labor shortages that make it difficult for companies to grow and expand; and
  • The plan would result in 750,000 fewer Americans having access to workforce development programs and 100,000 fewer having access to Registered Apprenticeships.

• Directly targets New Jersey by clawing back over a billion dollars from New Jersey’s state and local funding delivered through the American Rescue Plan.
  • This includes $200 million for healthcare coverage, $100 million for affordable housing, and $10 million for K-12 education.

Original source can be found here.