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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Due to the failure of policymakers to reach an agreement on how to avoid the sequester, automatic budget cuts will start today, gutting critical programs for Latinos in areas such as education, housing, health care and job training. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) is outraged that these arbitrary and harmful cuts will be allowed to go into effect, at the risk of the nation’s economic security as well as the health and safety of children and vulnerable communities.
“Hardworking families have already paid their fair share of deficit reduction. It is unconscionable to once again ask them to disproportionately shoulder the weight of more spending cuts by defunding vital programs such as foreclosure prevention and mental health assistance, which they need to get by,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “There is no reason that 70,000 kids should get kicked out of Head Start preschools or 600,000 poor pregnant women and their babies should have to go without nutrition assistance. We are shooting ourselves in the foot every day that we allow these cuts to continue.”
In addition to Head Start and nutrition assistance, some of the other critical programs scheduled to be cut by 5.1% include job training, rental assistance, child care and education support for low-income public school children.
“Massive spending cuts will do nothing but slow down our still-too-fragile economy and bring job creation to a screeching halt,” said Murguía. “The Congressional Budget Office has already put out estimates that these cuts are going to cost us 750,000 jobs this year. If policymakers are concerned about our economy and future prosperity, they should be investing in quality education, health care and job training, not cutting off access to these programs.”
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
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