As Congressional Republicans take every chance to chip away at the social and economic proposals of President Barack Obama, their actions seem to be having the worst impact on the middle and lower classes.

The latest bill under review continues this trend, seeking to cut funding for a number of critical social programs. The House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012 (which begins in July 2012), now under review by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, proposes to cut a massive $3.6 billion. This extremely critical bill finances the Departments of Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services' programs that deliver core social services. If the bill takes effect, several programs will be affected.

According to reports, the bill, if successful, would prevent the Obama administration from spending more money to execute the new healthcare law until all legal challenges are resolved. The plan also stops federal funding on the government's main family planning program, Title X of the Public Health Service Act, which provides a wide range of health services to more than five million women annually at some 4,500 clinics. Congress will not fund the clinics unless they certify they will not perform abortions.

The bill would also cut funding for one of the Obama administration's foremost program to improve the standard of the nation's public schools – the Race to the Top program.

Another of the bill's most detrimental impacts on education for lower income families is the proposed $896 million cut in Pell Grants. While the bill would preserve the maximum $5,550 grant per eligible student, a new list of eligibility criteria could reduce grants for over one million college students.

As colleges across the U.S., including several in Florida, raise their fees, the majority of students from the average low income family, (in today's economy that includes middle-class families), pay for college with Pell Grants. Some nine million of these students, including a large percentage of minority students, are attending colleges through these grants.

Some House Republicans would prefer eliminating the Pell Grant program altogether. Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana has famously dubbed the grants as "the welfare of the 21st century."

To meet an estimated shortfall of $1.3 billion to fund, the Pell Grant budget of $37.4 billion for award year 2012-2013 and maintain the maximum award of $5,550, the House bill proposes cutting awards for students whose families earn between $15,000 and $30,000 per year, students who work part time and students whose families benefit from safety net programs. The plan would also eliminate awards for students who take longer than six years to finish their degree and for students who attend college less than half time.

Meanwhile, the Senate has a plan to meet the $1.3 billion shortfall by eliminating a subsidy on student loan interest, during the six month moratorium period, rather than cutting Pell Grants – something that would be more favorable to the lower income groups.

Cutting Pell Grants would have a disastrous effect on students from our community who are pursuing or plan to pursue college education. These grants are an absolute necessity in an economy failing to generate the jobs that allow families to meet the rising cost of college education. Pell Grants are not a welfare program, but a crucial program for improving the quality of America's manpower.

With the mindset of Congress, it might very well be up to the beneficiaries of these grants and advocates of social welfare to work to protect these critical programs, including those in healthcare and education, as well as benefits to assist people who continue to be unemployed while Congress dithers.