UnidosUS Denounces Foot-dragging by Republicans on Key Provisions for Children
WASHINGTON, DC— UnidosUS (formerly NCLR) President and CEO Janet Murguía issued the following statement in response to the passage of the continuing resolution to fund the federal government through January 19, 2018, and the House-passed disaster relief package:
“It is clear that the war on Latino children goes on. Here’s what Republicans did before the end of the year: Pulled out all the stops to pass an obscene and needless tax cut for corporations and the wealthiest of Americans that hurts most working families and blows up the deficit. Here’s what they didn’t do:
- Failed to help the kids who depend on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which insures nearly 9 million children, many of them Latino. The $2.8 billion included in the continuing resolution for CHIP will only give states another month or two before they have to freeze enrollment and force millions of children off their health insurance.
- Failed to help the people in Puerto Rico, and the 60% of children who live in poverty there. More than 90 days after Hurricane Maria, millions of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are still without power and the death toll there could be as high as 1,000. The package passed in the House falls woefully short of adequately addressing the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, and provides only a fraction of what the island needs to fully recover.
- Failed to help DREAMers. Inaction on a clean DREAM bill means the lives of 800,000 youths will continue to hang in the balance until next year.
The warped and craven priorities of the Congressional Republican leadership and the Trump administration mean that those who have the most will have a very Merry Christmas. Meanwhile, those who are worried about having enough to eat or getting sick, or losing their ability to work and go to school will have absolutely nothing under the tree. Our Republican leaders truly need to be reminded what the true meaning of this most holy of days is.”