Today, U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09), member of the House Budget and Ways and Means Committees, issued the following statement on President Trump’s 2018 budget request.

"President Trump has proposed a budget more cruel and extreme than I have ever seen during my time in the Congress. In total, this budget proposal would cut more than $1 trillion from important safety-net programs over 10 years, which would have a devastating impact on the middle class, seniors, children, and the working poor.  If there was any hope that President Trump would keep his repeated promises to lift up the middle class, this budget removes any doubt. More than $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid, a more than 20 percent cut to the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act puts health care for millions of Americans in jeopardy.

"On top of that, his budget slashes important investments in families, law enforcement, firefighters, schools, anti-poverty programs, and infrastructure. Cuts of $192 billion from food stamps, $6 billion from medical research, and $10 billion from public education take our country backwards. Even the tiny Traumatic Brain Injury program did not escape the hatchet with Mr. Trump cutting two-thirds from what was a modest $9 million budget item. The only winners are the richest 2,000 families who will save $174 billion by eliminating the estate tax.

"The whole program is based upon a budget fraud that assumes that passage of a nonexistent and unpaid for tax cut plan adding $2 trillion in revenue. Instead of decimating programs that build up the middle class to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, we need to make the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share and guarantee basic protections for all Americans. This budget should never see the light of day and as long as I’m in Congress I’ll fight to stop such draconian and destructive budget cuts."