Rep. Kelly condemns Trump’s recissions package that steals from PEPFAR, Sesame Street, American people

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) condemned the Trump administration's recissions package that requests Congress to cancel $9.4 billion already appropriated by Congress.

Rep. Kelly offered a Motion to Recommit, which would have allowed her amendment to protect the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from the $400 million cuts in the recissions package. PEPFAR is the most successful global health program to combat HIV and AIDS and has saved 26 million lives since 2003 when President George W. Bush signed it into law.

WATCH REP. KELLY'S FLOOR REMARKS HERE

"President Trump wants to claw back $9.4 billion dollars that were already appropriated by Congress. For years, my Republican colleagues have claimed Congress's constitutional power of the purse - but after one call from the President, they bend the knee and forked over $9.4 billion that belonged to the American people," said Rep. Kelly. "President Trump continues his attack against PEPFAR, a program cornerstone to global health and US diplomacy. By refusing to fund PEPFAR, President Trump and his House Republicans have handed a death sentence to people around the world facing HIV and AIDS. He also weakens America's global standing, abandons our moral responsibility, and opens an opportunity for China to take advantage. Rescinding these funds won't solve our country's deficit problem but rather destroy lives in the US and abroad."

The recissions package also cuts $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including NPR and PBS programming like Sesame Street.