FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Congressional Democrats are in an uproar Tuesday over President Donald Trump's new proposed budget strategy.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) along with U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) were very vocal Tuesday at a news conference at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Both touched upon a variety of topics beginning with this administration's repeal on former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Under the new proposed House Republican health care bill, 14 million Americans would lose medical insurance by next year, according to the congressional budget office, and in nine years, 24 million more people would be uninsured.
That's something Wasserman Schultz said is detrimental for Floridians since the state has seen a surge in people signing up for insurance.
"This one fact would be devastating for Florida, especially for those who could least afford it," she said.
The congresswoman and Deutch also mentioned that the proposed cuts would threaten other agencies and would harm the safety and security of all Floridians.
For instance, she said the Homeland Security budget would be slashed in order to pay for the border wall, despite claims by Trump that Mexico would pay for the wall.
Other agencies that would face cuts would be the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which would face an 11 percent cut.
Wasserman Schultz went on to reference airport security and the shooting that took place at FLL just two months ago, saying that TSA funding would be cut by $187 million. She calls all of the cuts devastating for Floridians.
"This is a double whammy straight at Florida. A $54 billion proposed increase in the defense budget coupled with devastating cuts that disproportionately hurt Floridians, because Trump wants to pay for this border wall with American taxpayer dollars," Wasserman Schultz said.
The congresswoman will head to Washington, D.C., Wednesday, where she said she will begin to challenge the proposed cuts.