[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE AMERICAN PARITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to join the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) and my other colleagues to talk about some 
of the choices that we now face in this country as illustrated by this 
chart. I know that all of us were pleased to see the reaction by the 
people of Baghdad today as the regime of Saddam Hussein crumbles. I 
know that all of us are so proud of the men and women of our Armed 
Forces who have conducted themselves with courage and character. And 
while it is certainly true that many difficult and dangerous days may 
lie ahead, it is important that as a Congress and as a country, we now 
begin to think about the future.
  We have made a promise to the people of Iraq that we will not abandon 
them, that the United States will continue to provide security and help 
them to rebuild their country. We must and we will fulfill those 
promises. But, Mr. Speaker, what about the promises made to the 
American people? After all, American soldiers are fighting this war and 
the American taxpayers are funding it. Does it not make sense that the 
American people should not be forgotten in all of this?
  Last week this Congress approved $1.7 billion to fund the rebuilding 
of Iraq from schools to roads and bridges to hospitals to clean water, 
$1.7 billion. Meanwhile, in the Republican budget for 2004, the 
American people are being shortchanged. While Iraq will receive 
hospitals, maternity care, and access to health services, not one new 
dollar is spent on 42 million uninsured Americans. While Iraq will have 
nearly 3,000 miles of their major roads repaired, the Republicans cut 
the American Transportation budget by $6 billion. And perhaps most 
outrageously, while we pay to rebuild or renovate 25,000 Iraqi schools, 
the Republican budget contains not one dime for school construction or 
modernization in the United States. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, we do not even 
have a school construction and modernization program in this country. 
The Republicans keep voting it down. Meanwhile, here in the Alice in 
Wonderland House of Representatives, the Republicans are insisting, 
insisting, on keeping their $750 billion tax giveaway to the wealthiest 
Americans. Tax cuts for the wealthy while our deficit is exploding, 
while veterans' benefits are slashed, while millions of Americans lose 
their jobs, while States are facing their worst fiscal crises since 
World War II, while millions of seniors struggle to pay for their 
prescription drugs, while local communities across the country are 
laying off police officers and teachers and firefighters.
  Mr. Speaker, the priorities of the majority leadership of this House 
are just wrong. I am pleased to be an original co-sponsor of the 
gentleman from Illinois' (Mr. Emanuel) bill, the American Parity Act, 
which attempts to restore some balance to our budgetary process, and I 
believe that this bill is a better expression of the priorities of the 
people I represent in Massachusetts. Indeed, I think it is a better 
expression of the priorities of the majority of people in this country.
  It is important for us to live up to our promises to help the Iraqi 
people. America must be a Nation that keeps its word, and we will, as 
this chart points out, and as we voted last week by approving the 
supplemental appropriations billing. For example, also, as co-chair of 
the Congressional Hunger Center, I am especially concerned that the 
necessary food and other humanitarian assistance gets to the Iraqi 
people who need it as quickly as possible, and we need to be there to 
make sure that that happens. We must rebuild Iraq, but we must rebuild 
America as well, and I will continue to work with my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to make sure we do that.
  Mr. Speaker, we can do much better for the people of this country 
than the Republican budget puts forward. Our people in this country 
deserve the same attention to the issues of education, healthcare, 
infrastructure, transportation that we are giving to the people of 
Iraq. Again, we support rebuilding Iraq. We support keeping our 
promises, but we are also insisting that we keep our promises to the 
American people.

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