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“Last year, the Pentagon budget was 90 times the budget of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This year — in the midst of a pandemic — that gap has widened further, with Congress proposing $8 billion in funding for the CDC, while the proposed Pentagon budget has ballooned to a record-breaking $740 billion. Congress’s priorities are so severely unbalanced that — even as millions of people across the country fall ill from the novel coronavirus — our leaders refuse to muster the political will to reinvest wasteful Pentagon spending in programs that will keep Americans safe and healthy,” said CPC Co-Chairs Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07).“Congress has allowed runaway Pentagon spending to the detriment of other vital programs — including food assistance, housing aid, public health initiatives, and more. In the midst of a pandemic, just days before unemployment benefits expire for millions across this country, it’s obscene to lavish more spending on endless wars, failed weapons systems, and handouts to defense contractors.”

“For far too long, Congress has been locked into a false choice of parity which underfunds human needs in this country while rubber-stamping a skyrocketing Pentagon budget. We urge our colleagues to support the Pocan-Lee Amendment in the House, and the Sanders Amendment in the Senate, which would cut 10 percent from the Pentagon budget,” added Representatives Pocan and Jayapal. “This should serve as a basic starting point as we reimagine what a sustainable defense budget looks like, ahead of the expiration of the caps deal next year.”

The Progressive Caucus’s FY2018 People’s Budget, which was supported by 108 members of Congress, reduced the Pentagon budget to $573 billion. 

The text of the Pocan-Lee amendment is available here.

“For far too long, corporate profits and special interests have been prioritized above the health and safety of our planet and communities. American families are experiencing the consequences of decades of inaction on the climate crisis – from historic wildfires and prolonged droughts to record-breaking storms and once-in-a-century floods,” said CPC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan and Pramila Jayapal. “We do not have any time to waste. The Climate Action Plan from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis sends a powerful message that the time for transformative change is now, and we are prepared to meet the moment with a bold and comprehensive response.”

The Select Committee’s Climate Action Plan included more than 37 proposals and bills recommended by the Progressive Caucus, including:

• The Environmental Justice for All Act, which centers environmental justice and redress for frontline communities in climate action efforts.
• A prohibition on legal immunity for polluters and a requirement that fossil fuel companies will not be able to claim liability relief for contributing to the climate crisis.
• Workplace rights as a cornerstone of climate justice, including protections for workers organizing a union to negotiate for higher wages, safer working conditions, and better benefits.
• Ending egregious tax breaks for large oil and gas companies.

“We applaud the work of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and appreciate the inclusion of so many of our progressive priorities in the final Congressional Action Plan,” continued Representatives Pocan and Jayapal. “This comprehensive document provides Congress with a critical roadmap for addressing the climate crisis, centering impacted communities in our response, and building a sustainable future for us all.”

A copy of the Progressive Caucus climate recommendations is available here.

“We’re pleased that, at our request, this bill has been expanded to include health care access for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. As the Supreme Court affirmed earlier this month, Dreamers are home. At minimum, Congress should ensure that DACA recipients –including more than 200,000 who are bravely serving as essential workers during this pandemic – have equal access to quality, affordable health care. We’re grateful to the leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus for working with us to ensure the inclusion of this critical provision in the final bill. Congress should continue to build on this progress by eliminating the discriminatory and harmful five-year waiting period for lawful residents —including green card holders who are on their way to citizenship — to access key health programs. This is both a taxpayer equity issue and vitally necessary, especially during this health pandemic when so many are struggling and need access to these critical programs.

“More must be done to guarantee universal health care as a human right for all people. We support the important improvements that this legislation makes to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, but until we address the profiteering, exploitation, and inefficiencies in our health care system that make healthcare unaffordable for tens of millions of Americans, our work is not done. As the pandemic has shown clearly, we must untether healthcare from employment and take on our corrupt, for-profit health care system that has widespread and damaging ramifications for public health. Now, more than ever, we need Medicare For All to guarantee quality health care to every person living in the United States.”

“For far too long, the epidemic of police brutality has gone unaddressed in this country, while our loved ones, neighbors, and communities have been oppressed, abused, and murdered by those sworn to protect them,” said CPC Co-Chairs Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02). “Congress must act. We are pleased to endorse the Justice in Policing Act, which takes critical and long overdue action to address systemic racism in police departments and bring justice to Black communities.”

“We are particularly pleased that this comprehensive legislation includes critical provisions long championed by members of the Progressive Caucus, including ending qualified immunity for police officers, limiting transfers of military-grade equipment to local law enforcement, banning chokeholds, and creating a binding national standard for the use of force,” the co-chairs continued. “While we recognize that this legislation, on its own, will not end institutional racism in this country, it is our hope that this legislation can serve as a guidepost as we continue the essential work of dismantling racist systems and reinvesting in Black communities.”