Weinberg Questions Kyrillos on Differences Between Actions and Words

July 13, 2012

Weinberg Questions Kyrillos on Differences Between  Actions and Words

(Teaneck) – New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg today called out her Republican colleague Joe Kyrillos for comments he made on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Wednesday. As Kyrillos dodged a question on why a presidential candidate or any American would keep money in the Canary Islands for any other reason than to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, he said: “We all want the same things, right? We all want people to have a place to work on Monday mornings, a way to make sure that their kids are provided for, a way to make sure that we have good schools, we all want good health care.”  Senator Weinberg responded to Kyrillos' comments:

“Of course people want jobs. But Senator Kyrillos supports Congressman Paul Ryan’s proposed federal budget, which could potentially kill Amtrak’s Gateway tunnel project across the Hudson River and the 6,000 jobs it would bring to New Jersey.  People want to be treated fairly at work. But Senator Kyrillos, only weeks ago, failed to support paycheck equity to make sure New Jersey’s women breadwinners can provide for their families with the assurance of receiving equal pay for equal work.

People want good health care. But Sen. Kyrillos wants to repeal the constitutional Affordable Care Act, which has already benefitted 985,000 seniors, 73,000 people younger than 26, and is improving women’s access to the health care services we need. And he voted against the bill that I sponsored that would have restored $7.5 million for family planning services. 

Senator Kyrillos is talking the talk, but he’s nowhere close to walking the walk of the middle class. As his record shows, Senator Kyrillos is out of touch with the concerns of the vast majority of New Jersey residents. Senator Menendez is fighting back against the same Republican extremism that Kyrillos represents for New Jersey’s middle class.”

###