CHC STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ‘SHARED RESPONSIBILITY’ SPEECH

(Washington, DC)- Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech at George Washington University:

“The President is absolutely right: reducing our deficit is a shared responsibility. The balanced approach he described to tackle our economic future is not only fiscally responsible, but morally right. Deficit reduction should not increase poverty or inequality by violating the basic principles of fairness which we have a responsibility to uphold. Neglecting the responsibilities we have to our senior citizens, to students who seek to further their education, and to infants and mothers who need basic health services, is not consistent with our values, and is not a path we can afford to take.

We look forward to working in a bipartisan fashion to tackle our deficit in a responsible and balanced manner. Although we all must make compromises and ‘tighten our belts,’ the most vulnerable among us should rest assured that in this time of great financial difficulty, we will work tirelessly to protect them and help them succeed.”