KENNEDY: AMERICA CAN DO BETTER THAN PAYING FOR TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY ON THE BACKS OF THE WORKING POOR

Washington, D.C.- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy spoke on the floor of the United States Senate on the wrong priorities in the Republican plan to cut billions from critical programs while securing tax cuts for the wealthiest. Kennedy, ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, outlined the many programs in Massachusetts and across the country that would be slashed if proposed budget cuts and tax breaks are enacted. The Senator pointed out that the true meaning of Christmas should be compel us to do more for our fellow citizens than greater tax breaks for the rich and greater hardship for the poor and everyone else. “As families across America struggle to make ends meet with higher health costs, higher college costs, higher gas prices, higher heating costs, and higher housing costs, Congress is about to make things worse for them. What we face this week is a Republican plan in which billions of dollars will go from programs that assist low income families and senior citizens into the pockets of the already wealthy.Kennedy said. “The silent slavery of poverty is not so silent anymore. Katrina focused the nation’s attention on the immense hardships that low-income Americans face each day, and presented us with an historic and challenging opportunity to find better ways to lift up the most vulnerable among us.This is Christmas. Surely, the American people deserve better.” Below is a fact sheet that outlines the key cuts in programs and the text of Senator Kennedy’s floor speech.