[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 138 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WHAT ARE THE PRIORITIES OF CONGRESS?

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DIANA DeGETTE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 13, 1999

  Ms. DeGETTE.  Mr. Speaker, what are the priorities of this Congress? 
Today, the House voted on the Defense Appropriations Conference Report, 
the final vote to determine funding for the Department of Defense. The 
Defense Appropriations, Military Construction, and Energy and Water 
Appropriations bills together have provided $289 billion in defense 
funds, which is $8 billion more than was requested by the 
Administration. In addition, the Defense Appropriations Conference 
Report allocates $1 billion for the procurement of ``test'' F-22 
fighters and an additional $275 million has been provided for the 
purchase of five unrequested F-15 jets. Extra funding, well beyond what 
is needed to maintain a strong defense, is being allocated to the 
Defense Department at the same time as programs that help the neediest 
Americans are being severely cut. Millions of children across the 
country are without health care, programs to help improve our 
children's education are being cut, and millions of people are living 
in poverty at a time when affordable housing is consistently 
decreasing. This Congress must better prioritize in order to provide 
for the needs of Americans.
  Currently, 11 million children in the United States go without health 
insurance and 150,000 of them are in my home state of Colorado. Eight 
million children without health insurance could be insured using the 
excess $8 billion in defense funding.
  Several ``test'' F-22 fighters will be purchased by the United States 
at a cost of $300 million per plane. Every uninsured child in Colorado 
who suffers because he or she cannot receive health care could be 
covered at half the price of a single F-22 fighter. Instead, the 
fighter jets will be produced while children in every state across 
America suffer due to a lack of needed health coverage.
  Education is another area where deep funding cuts will harm our 
nation's children. Approximately $3 billion has been targeted for cuts 
from the education budget for fiscal year 2000. These cuts damage 
education programs intended to assist over two million children. This 
proposal would cut programs that provide needed after school care, 
reading and math help for low-income children, and technology support 
for schools. Under current proposals, states would not receive grants 
to assist in School-to-Work programs and funding would be denied for 
drug and violence coordinators in middle schools across the country. 
The cost of a single F-22 fighter would provide approximately 750,000 
low-income and needy children with lunches at school for a year through 
the National School Lunch program. In addition, about 675,000 needy 
students could be provided with school lunches at the cost of the five 
unrequested F-15 fighters provided for in the Defense Appropriations 
Conference Report. Instead, 2.9 billion dollars' worth of education 
programs are in danger of being underfunded.
  Finally, even in today's booming economy, millions of Americans 
suffer from homelessness and poverty. According to a Congressional 
Research Service report by Morton J. Schusseim, ``Housing the Poor: 
Federal Housing Program for Low-Income Families,'' on any given night, 
600,000 people sleep on the streets because they have no home. In 
addition, 12.5 million people are classified by the government as 
having severe housing problems such as substandard and crowded living 
conditions. In recent years, there has been a 15.8 percent increase in 
the number of very-low-income households in the United States and the 
number of affordable housing units has decreased by 42 percent between 
1974 and 1995. Severe physical deficiencies such as bad wiring, broken 
heating and dilapidated structures affect 3.1 million families that 
rent homes.
  So, what are the priorities of this Congress? The answer lies in its 
actions. When defense is provided with billions of dollars more than 
what was requested, when too many kids remain uninsured, and when 
education initiatives and affordable housing programs are in danger of 
being cut by millions, it becomes crystal clear that the priorities of 
this Congress are grossly out of sync with those of the American 
people.

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