[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 818 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 818

  To expand the middle class, reduce the gap between the rich and the 
poor, keep our promises to veterans, lower the poverty rate, and reduce 
  the Federal deficit by repealing tax breaks for the wealthiest one 
percent and eliminating unnecessary Cold War era defense spending, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2007

  Mr. Sanders introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To expand the middle class, reduce the gap between the rich and the 
poor, keep our promises to veterans, lower the poverty rate, and reduce 
  the Federal deficit by repealing tax breaks for the wealthiest one 
percent and eliminating unnecessary Cold War era defense spending, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Priorities Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Senate finds the following:
            (1) The United States has the highest rate of poverty and 
        the highest rate of childhood poverty among 17 major countries 
        in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 
        including Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, 
        Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the 
        Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
            (2) 36,950,000 Americans are living in poverty, an increase 
        of 5,400,000 since 2000.
            (3) 12,896,000 children in the United States under the age 
        of 18 lived in poverty in 2005, and the number of children 
        living in extreme poverty rose by 87,000 from 2004 to 2005.
            (4) In 2005, an estimated 33 percent of the homeless 
        population were children and an estimated 1,350,000 children 
        will experience homelessness in a year.
            (5) The number of uninsured Americans rose to 46,577,000 in 
        2005, 1,272,000 more than in the previous year, and the number 
        of Americans without health insurance has risen for 4 
        consecutive years.
            (6) The United States Government must provide the funding 
        necessary to ensure that our Nation's veterans receive the 
        health care and other benefits they deserve and have earned in 
        a timely fashion.
            (7) Millions of middle class American families are finding 
        it increasingly difficult to afford the escalating cost of a 
        college education with average tuition and other costs 
        increasing by more than $4,300 at 4-year public universities 
        and over $8,000 at 4-year private colleges since 2001.
            (8) The Surgeon General of the United States has reported 
        that tooth decay has become the single most common chronic 
        childhood disease--5 times more common than asthma and 7 times 
        more common than hay fever.
            (9) Surveys have shown that dental problems cause children 
        to miss more than 51,000,000 hours of school and adults to miss 
        more than 164,000,000 hours of work each year.
            (10) In 42 States, child care fees are higher than tuition 
        at a 4-year public university.
            (11) Seriously investing in renewable energy, energy 
        efficient appliances, public transit, and high speed rail would 
        create millions of decent-paying jobs, reduce our dependence on 
        dirty fossil fuels, and reduce global warming.
            (12) The Department of Defense's increasingly large budget 
        provides for total defense spending that is greater than that 
        of the other 192 countries in the world combined.
            (13) The Government Accountability Office estimated in 2003 
        that the Department of Defense could not account for over 
        $1,000,000,000,000 in funds appropriated to the Department of 
        Defense.
            (14) The United States has the largest gap between the rich 
        and the poor of any major industrialized country.
            (15) The wealthiest 400 Americans saw their combined net 
        worth increase by $120,000,000,000 from 2004 to 2005.
            (16) The richest 400 Americans have a combined net worth of 
        $1,250,000,000,000 equaling the annual income of over 45 
        percent of the entire world's population or 2,500,000,000 
        people. Of the world's 793 billionaires, over 400 are 
        Americans. In 1989, we only had 66 billionaires in this 
        country.
            (17) According to a December 2006 report by the 
        Congressional Budget Office, the average after-tax income of 
        the richest 1 percent of households rose from $722,000 in 2003 
        to $868,000 in 2004, after adjusting for inflation, a one-year 
        increase of nearly $146,000, or 20 percent. This represents the 
        largest increase in 15 years, measured both in percentage terms 
        and in real dollars.
            (18) Median household income for working age families has 
        declined for 5 years in a row.
            (19) During the presidency of George W. Bush, the United 
        States has experienced the 3 largest Federal deficits in 
        history, and the national debt has skyrocketed, attributable in 
        large part to tax breaks to the wealthiest 1 percent.
            (20) The United States has a moral responsibility to expand 
        the middle class, reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, 
        keep our promises to veterans, lower the poverty rate, and 
        reduce the Federal deficit by repealing tax breaks for the 
        wealthiest 1 percent and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse at 
        the Pentagon.

SEC. 3. RECISION OF 2001-2004 TAX CUTS FOR TOP ONE PERCENT OF INCOME 
              EARNERS.

    With respect to any individual whose gross income for taxable year 
2008 exceeds $400,000--
            (1) section 901(a)(1) of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief 
        Reconciliation Act of 2001 (relating to sunset of provisions of 
        Act) shall be applied by substituting ``after December 31, 
        2007, and before January 1, 2009'' for ``after December 31, 
        2010'', and
            (2) section 303 of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
        Reconciliation Act of 2003 (relating to sunset of title) shall 
        be applied by substituting ``after December 31, 2007'' for 
        ``after December 31, 2008''.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide such forms as necessary to 
carry out the purposes of this section.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE AT THE PENTAGON.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Federal funding 
appropriated for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2008 shall 
be reduced by $60,000,000,000. The Secretary of Defense is authorized 
to make such reductions by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and 
weapon systems and other programs that are determined not to be a 
priority for current national security needs since the end of the Cold 
War. None of these reductions shall be made that harm the basic needs 
of United States military personnel or their quality of life, including 
necessary pay increases and health care.

SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF INVESTMENTS FOR MIDDLE CLASS, VETERANS, SENIOR 
              CITIZENS ON FIXED INCOME, AND LOW-INCOME FAMILIES WITH 
              CHILDREN, AND DEFICIT REDUCTION.

    From amounts made available under sections 3 and 4, for fiscal year 
2008--
            (1) $575,000,000 shall be made available for consolidated 
        health centers under section 330 of the Public Health Service 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 254b);
            (2) $140,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services for the workforce, capital, and 
        equipment needed to establish or expand oral health services at 
        community health centers and other community-based sites 
        pursuant to subsequent authorization;
            (3) $15,000,000,000 shall be made available to carry out 
        State child health plans under title XXI of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.);
            (4) $4,000,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary 
        of Veterans Affairs to ensure that veterans receive the health 
        care and other benefits that such veterans were promised 
        without being put on a waiting list pursuant to subsequent 
        authorization;
            (5) $2,200,000,000 shall be made available to carry out the 
        Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
        9858 et seq.);
            (6) $7,200,000,000 shall be made available to carry out the 
        Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.);
            (7) $14,900,000,000 shall be made available to carry out 
        the grant program under part B of the Individuals with 
        Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.);
            (8) $16,200,000,000 shall be made available for the 
        Secretary of Education to increase the maximum Pell Grant 
        pursuant to subsequent authorization;
            (9) $500,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary 
        of Education to carry out the Federal TRIO programs and Gaining 
        Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program under 
        the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.);
            (10) $27,085,000,000 shall be made available to the 
        Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Transportation, and the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for 
        programs to increase energy efficiency and conservation and to 
        increase investment in sustainable and renewable energy 
        alternatives, public transit, and high speed rail pursuant to 
        subsequent authorization;
            (11) $5,000,000,000 shall be made available to the 
        Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a 
        national affordable housing trust fund for the construction, 
        preservation, and rehabilitation of at least 150,000 affordable 
        housing rental units in mixed-income locations in order to 
        create 180,000 jobs pursuant to subsequent authorization;
            (12) $7,200,000,000 shall be made available to the 
        Secretary of the Treasury to expand the earned income tax 
        credit under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        pursuant to subsequent authorization; and
            (13) $30,000,000,000 shall be made available to reduce the 
        Federal deficit.
                                 <all>