[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E426]]


         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 23, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the concurrent resolution 
     (House Concurrent Resolution 290) establishing the 
     congressional budget for the United States Government for 
     fiscal year 2001, revising the congressional budget for the 
     United States Government for fiscal year 2000, and setting 
     forth appropriate budgetary levels for each of fiscal years 
     2002 through 2005:

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong 
support of the amendment offered by my colleague John Spratt, the 
Democratic alternative to the FY 2001 Budget Resolution. This 
Democratic alternative is a budget plan that strengthens Social 
Security, provides a voluntary prescription drug benefit for all 
seniors, and provides more debt reduction than the Republican budget. 
The choice is between fiscal responsibility sustaining economic 
prosperity and large risky tax cuts for the wealthy.
  Our national budget is a statement of our national values, and it is 
hard to say that the Republican budget reflects the values of many hard 
working families. The Republican budget requires that we cut 310,000 
low-income women, infants, and children off WIC assistance; cut 1,000 
FBI agents and 800 Drug Enforcement Administration agents; provide 
316,000 fewer Pell Grants to low-income students; and eliminate more 
than 40,000 children from the Head Start program. All this for the 
politics of special interests and vast tax cuts.
  On the other hand, the Spratt Democratic alternative supports the 
values of America's families. It is fiscally responsible by providing 
investment in families first; proposing targeted tax cuts, and 
allocating more funds to pay down our national debt. Specifically, the 
Democratic alternative extends the solvency of Social Security by 15 
years and Medicare by as much as 10 years; protects the Social Security 
surplus and devotes $365 billion of the non-Social Security surplus 
over 10 years to reduce additional debt; allows military retirees to 
use Medicare benefits at military treatment facilities; provides 
Medicare prescription drug coverage for all and protects low-income 
seniors from any cost-sharing requirements; and allocates additional 
funding for paying down the national debt.
  Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has warned that Congress 
should not legislate large tax cuts before security measures to pay 
down the national debt and sustain economic expansion. The Republican 
budget grants large tax cuts on money that simply is not there to pay 
for it. The Spratt alternative secures on-budget surpluses for the next 
10 years, unlike the Republican budget. Under the Spratt alternative 
the entire national debt would be eliminated by 2013.
  I support the values of America's working families, fiscal 
responsibility, and the preservation of economic expansion. In short, I 
encourage us all to vote in favor of the Spratt Democratic alternative.

                          ____________________