On the issues: Rep. Young Kim and Asif Mahmood on abortion, inflation and immigration
Washington, D.C. – House Minority Whip Young Kim (D-South Korea) testified to a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Department of Defense Defense Capital Program on June 29, 2013.
The following are excerpts from her prepared remarks on the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Defense Program.
The United States of America was built on the belief that our greatest strength lies in the way we treat the weak and the weak become stronger.
It is the belief that each and every one of us, regardless of background, is capable of achieving the highest levels of success in life and we are all capable of achieving excellence.
And even more so, a belief that we, here in the United States have an opportunity to excel not only in ourselves, but also in the people and society we choose to share our lives with.
Today there is a great gulf between the United States and some of its oldest and most cherished ideals.
At the same time, there has been progress. We are now as a nation making great strides towards becoming a strong, moral and prosperous nation, one of the most prosperous on Earth.
It’s a testament to the hard work and determination of the American people that our country has had such success.
But we are not a perfect nation. We have our flaws. In fact, many in our country see us as being not as the best of nations.
The most prominent flaw in our society is the glaring disparity between the richest and the poorest, men and women.
When the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans own as much as the 40 percent of the population, our country has come close to being a socialist society.
We have come around to the socialist ideal with regards to our economic system, which has been very successful to bring us to where we are today.
Today, the average American makes an income, on a very modest $25,000 salary, $45,000 more than in 1990, $65,000 more than in 2000, $50,000 more than in 2008.