http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150111861960969
Hey everyone, HR 1 was passed by the House of Representatives 235-189. I want to urge everyone right now to write to your state Senators to stop the passage of HR 1, legislation to cut government spending ~$100 billion below the President's budget for 2011. HR 1 is a "continuing resolution" to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year that stand in direct opposition to the proposals introduced by President Obama's administration for the 2011 and 2012 fiscal year budgets. In light of this recession, less government spending seems like a tempting solution, but the consequences will be dire. If HR1 is passed by the Senate, among the many things that will be seriously disadvantaged are: -*HEALTH*: HR 1 proposes to cut 46% in Department of Health and Human Services funding to Community Health Centers, which provide primary care in rural/undeserved communities. It also prevents cleanup of mercury, soot, sulfur, and ash from coal-fired power plants. "The current avoidable death toll from the sulfur emissions alone is running at 14,00 Americans a year. Living downwind from coal-ash pile, as hundreds of thousands of Americans do, is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day--and HR1 prohibits cleaning up those coal-ash sites. Right now, one in six young American woman has enough mercury in their body to threaten the health of any child she bears." -*FAMILY PLANNING*. Millions of women in the United States will lose access to basic reproductive health and family-planning services and sex education, including cancer screenings (Pap smears for HPV) and STI prevention. Planned Parenthood needs your help: http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/ -*CLIMATE/ENVIRONMENT. *HR 1 includes an amendment that would bar the EPA from using any funds to implement, administer, or enforce any statutory or regulatory requirement pertaining to emissions of carbon pollution and other green house gases. It also seeks to "forbid the federal government from reducing pollution from any chemical that threatens the climate, even if its toxic for other reasons. It eliminates all funding for research to answer the remaining scientific questions about climate change. And it forbids the government from monitoring how much climate pollution we are creating." -*MEDICAL RESEARCH. *Centers for Disease Control will be cut by 25%, and billions of dollars will get slashed from National Institutes of Health. -*EDUCATION. "*HR 1 slashes the Pell Grant, which over nine million low-income students use to attend college by, 15 percent. HR 1 lsashes $25 Million from TRI, a federal program that reduces economic, social, academic and cultural barriers to higher education for traditionally underrepresented and disadvantaged youth. The legislation also eliminates the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, a program in which federal funds promote access to postsecondary education by providing critical support to students with the lowest Expected Family Contribution, and the Liberal Education and America's Promise Campaign." This in addition to the major budget cuts happening to public schools across the nation would be crippling for students all across America. -*NET NEUTRALITY. *The House agreed to an amendment from Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the Energy and Commerce's Communications and Technology's Subcommittee, that would prohibit funding for the Federal Communication Commission's recent regulations pertaining to ensuring non-discrimination by broadband Internet access providers, which would prevent the FCC from supporting net neutrality, and thus infringe on our first amendment rights! This is serious, folks. There is so much at stake, and so much that can be lost. HR 1 directly affects our nation's ability to bounce back and move towards economic growth and prosperity. We are the people in this democracy. Our voices are meant to be heard. It's up to us to be proactive in affecting change in our future--to create a better tomorrow, and that won't happen if HR 1 passes. We need to invest in our country to have a brighter future. Please show your support. Write to your Senator. Thank you.
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