Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi takes aim at Trump's proposed cuts during forum in SF's Japantown

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Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said President Donald Trump's proposed cuts could have a devastating impact on the Bay Area's AAPI community.

The comments came as Pelosi took part in a roundtable discussion in San Francisco's Japantown.

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Community leaders outlined the cuts their programs have already suffered under the Trump administration but also the double whammy of proposed cuts on health care, housing and education. Pelosi called Trump's proposal "Robin Hood in reverse."

"This is criminal," she said. "It’s not only criminal, it’s illegal, in terms of what the law requires them to do."

Cally Wong, executive director of the API Council, said many cuts target long-established community programs.

"What we see at stake is really targeting of systems – systems that we've built over the years for decades, systems that we've built to be culturally competent," she said.

JCYC Executive Director Jon Osaki pointed out the cuts would dramatically impact their program that has helped 60,000 students get to and through college.

"We’re living in a country that I don’t recognize anymore, that may require a revolution just like the 60s," he said.

Dr. Jian Zhang, the head of the Chinese Hospital, said independent safety nets are at stake.

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"Today we are actually at a tipping point," she said. "And not just us, all the independent community hospitals."

Pelosi provided advice and emphasized public input and community involvement will be the key to fighting what she called the administration's heartless policies.

"This is cruel and evil," she said. "Lincoln said public sentiment is everything. With it you can accomplish almost anything, without it practically nothing."

Pelosi said she would keep community leaders in the loop as the budget process proceeds, emphasizing it’s difficult to keep up on proposed cuts when those proposals keep changing.

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