[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 60 (Saturday, April 12, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

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                               speech of

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the concurrent resolution 
     (H. Con. Res. 95) establishing the congressional budget for 
     the United States Government for fiscal year 2004 and setting 
     forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2003 and 
     2005 through 2013:

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Chairman, in his State of the Union 
address to the Nation in January, President Bush acknowledged that the 
country faces many challenges and rightly said that ``(w)e will not 
deny, will not ignore, we will not pass on our problems to other 
Congresses and future generations.'' These were noble words that spoke 
to the true spirit of America.
  Unfortunately, the budget conference report denies or ignores many of 
the challenges we face and passes them along to our children and to our 
future leaders.
  By insisting on new tax cuts for the wealthiest that we simply cannot 
afford, the budget blueprint will explode Federal deficits and debt for 
years to come. These piles of debt will be passed on to future 
generations and will severely weaken our ability to meet the funding 
challenges facing Social Security and Medicare because of the 
retirement of the baby boom generation.
  This budget projects record deficits while paving the way for up to 
$550 billion in new tax cuts. This budget agreement marks the worst 
deficits in our Nation's history. This historic achievement is at the 
same time that Republicans control both the Congress and the White 
House. What a sad legacy that is.
  The result of this budget will be higher interest rates, the crowding 
out of private sector investment, and a reduction in long-tern economic 
growth. Amazingly, in just two and a half years the $5.6 trillion 
surplus that was projected when President Bush took office has been 
eliminated.
  And not surprisingly, to make room for the latest round of non-
stimulative tax cuts, the budget conference agreement again proposes 
cutbacks in domestic priorities like education, health care, 
transportation, and law enforcement--cuts that would have a significant 
negative impact on the vast majority of Americans.
  I am not here just to condemn the Republican plan. In fact, I voted 
for an alternative, as did a few Republicans who objected to the 
Speaker's budget plan. The Democratic resolution would have adequately 
provided for education, would have provided $528 billion for Medicare 
prescription drug benefit, and would have provided some tax cuts. We 
wanted to put some money in the pockets of American consumers likely to 
spend it to give this economy a boost, a jump. We wanted to give some 
money to businesses to encourage them to invest, some tax cuts to 
businesses to encourage them to invest. We had tax cuts too, just not 
as massive as those included in the president's proposal. Our proposal 
would have been balanced in the year 2010. We accumulated a trillion 
dollars less debt than the Republicans. We had a budget that was 
commendable. It was rejected.
  Mr. Speaker, the sad truth is that this budget takes us further down 
the wrong path. This policy threatens the long-term fiscal health of 
our nation.
  I am proud to vote against this flawed policy.

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