Markey Rails Against Republican Budget Proposals
PHOTO/MATT PILON
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Malden.
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Malden, warned members of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce that federal budget proposals by Republicans would cut at the very strengths of the region's economy.
Markey, who is the longest current-serving Massachusetts member of Congress, said Republican budget proposals would cut spending on clean technology, Medicare and education and are "antithetical to the values we have as a nation."
Such cuts would stifle the MetroWest region, which he called "the heart of the new Massachusetts economy."
Markey, whose district stretches from the North Shore into western portions of MetroWest, spoke at a luncheon gathering of the chamber at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham on Wednesday.
Technology Investments
People could not have imagined 30 years ago that Framingham and the surrounding area could be economically viable without the city's General Motors plant, which shut down in 1989, he said.
But the region is thriving because a new economy has sprouted up in its place, Markey said.
"There's been a dramatic transformation in our economy," he said.
For example, decades ago no one could have imagined that nearly everyone today would be carrying a cellphone in their pocket, he said. Nor could they have imagined that the Internet would be as pervasive as it has become.
Yet those transformations happened because of investments, he said.
Today, similar investments are needed to ensure continued innovation in the future, Markey said.
Money is needed to fundamentally change the electric grid, he said, and to increase the number of electric cars on the roads. The United States needs investments to be able to compete with China and India decades from now.
"If we don't move, we'll end up importing solar from China," he said.
Investments in education will ensure that Americans will continue to win Nobel Prizes in the future, Markey said.
If a cure to Alzheimer's disease is not found, he said the disease will cost the federal government $1 trillion per year by the year 2050.
Markey railed against proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health, which funds research for such cures. Companies are born out of NIH funding, Markey said.
Several months ago, Republicans proposed cutting the NIH budget by as much as $1.6 billion, but recent news reports suggest that after a compromise with Democrats the cut could be reduced to $260 million.
"You slash that and you slash us," Markey said about the MetroWest region. "You have to invest in this biotech sector."
Asked by an audience member where he thinks Congress should trim the budget, Markey said that the Bush-era tax cuts from the former president should be allowed to expire. He also said that the Department of Defense cannot be immune from cuts.
The congressman also said he supports cutting costs in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
"But you can't use a machete," he said.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments