[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 11, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H495-H503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gingrey). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to join my colleagues from the 
Congressional Black Caucus to discuss the President's reckless, very 
reckless budget for fiscal year 2005 and to really examine the terrible 
toll that it will take on our country as a whole and specifically 
African Americans. And, Mr. Speaker, I would now like to yield to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), our distinguished chairman of 
the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to raise serious concerns about the 
Bush administration's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal, along with my 
colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus.
  This budget contains misplaced priorities that leaves all Americans 
behind. In the first place, this budget adds $521 billion to our 
national debt for the next fiscal year. This is on top of $7 trillion 
national debt that our Nation has already incurred. That is roughly 
$2,000 for every woman, man, and child in America today.
  This is extremely disappointing, Mr. Speaker, given that at the 
beginning of the Bush administration we had a $280 billion surplus, and 
we were expecting record surpluses for years yet to come.
  Many economists say that increased deficits signal danger for our 
economy because increased deficits cause or result in higher interest 
rates, slow economic growth, lower national savings, and reduce 
economic productivity. Given this, I am appalled that the Bush 
administration's budget fails to account for spending in Iraq and 
Afghanistan in its proposal and also plans to implement further tax 
cuts.
  In fact, just today, it was reported that the military chiefs are 
saying that the $87 billion we have just appropriated for the war will 
run out by September 30.
  Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office has said that if the $1.7 
billion tax cut were allowed to expire in 2011, the budget would be 
balanced by 2014. However, it is my understanding that the 
administration still plans to introduce its permanent tax cut proposal 
and press for continued defense spending while cutting or eliminating 
Federal programs that will also strengthen our Nation.
  Again, this budget has misplaced priorities that leave all Americans 
behind.
  Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues may be aware, the White House released 
its annual economic report of the President this week, which stated 
that 2.6 million jobs would be created by the end of 2004. It seems as 
though the President is promising that he will spin straw into gold, 
which is an impossible task. It is impossible because every year since 
President Bush took office this report has been completely wrong.
  In 2002, the administration estimated that 800,000 new jobs would be 
added to the economy; but, instead, the United States economy lost a 
net total of 1.9 million jobs just in 2002. In 2003, the administration 
projected that the tax breaks would add 510,000 additional jobs by the 
end of 2003. Instead, 53,000 jobs were lost. All together, since 
President Bush took office, 3 million jobs have been lost; and the last 
President to have a net job loss during his administration was 
President Herbert Hoover.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot grow as a Nation with 9 million Americans out 
of work, 43 million without health insurance, and a future generation 
that lacks the educational resources to compete in the 21st century 
global economy; yet this budget proposes to cut more than 60 programs 
that would uplift this Nation. But tonight I would like to specifically 
highlight one Federal program that has made a tremendous impact in my 
district. Although the program is fully funded in my district, the 
President's current budget will keep this program from starting in new 
communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I am specifically referring to the Empowerment Zone 
Program administered by the United States Department of Housing and 
Urban Development. Created under the Clinton administration, this 
Empowerment Zone Program creates economic development in the Nation's 
most distressed urban communities through public-private partnerships.
  In my district, this program has created 12,000 jobs in neighborhoods 
that were previously deteriorating, abandoned, and had high crime 
rates. With the $100 million Federal grant, the Baltimore Empowerment 
Zone provided customized job training to thousands of residents and 
helped them obtain jobs in health care, biotechnology, manufacturing, 
retail, and hospitality. Many of these jobs provided higher pay, 
benefits, and career growth that were not previously available to these 
residents.

  In one particular instance, a former Army veteran who could not find 
a civilian job received training through the Empowerment Zone. Today, 
he works in an operating room at the world-renowned Johns Hopkins 
University hospital.
  The Empowerment Zone also helped thousands of families to buy their 
first home, as well as provide small business loans. This is a classic 
example of how the Bush administration should be stimulating the 
economy. However, instead of expanding this program to other cities, 
the administration has decided to completely cut all funds to this 
program by fiscal year 2005. This would essentially dissolve the 
program.
  Like the Empowerment Zone, 65 other programs are being abandoned 
through the President's fiscal year 2005 budget. While looking at the 
list of 65, I notice that all Americans in some way or another would be 
affected by these cuts.
  Programs for homeland security, the environment, women, people of 
color,

[[Page H496]]

children, the disabled, microloans for small business, the HOPE VI 
housing program, and health care are all being targeted for cuts in 
this budget. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, this budget should be called the 
Leave All Americans Behind budget.
  Before I conclude, Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to think about how these cuts will have an impact on 
their constituents. While I strongly support giving our troops the 
funding and the resources they need to do their jobs and while I 
support increasing homeland security, I strongly urge that we maintain 
a balance and continue giving America all it needs to remain a 
superpower.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership 
and for conducting this hour for the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the chairman again for his 
diligence, vigilance, and really helping the Congressional Black Caucus 
educate the public and hopefully many of our colleagues on the other 
side about the most pressing issues confronting our constituents and 
our country. I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) 
for his leadership and for, once again, I will say helping us to wake 
up America.
  Mr. Speaker, let me just say a few things about this budget tonight. 
First of all, no documents are more important to the health and the 
welfare of American people than our Nation's budget. It can give the 44 
million Americans without health insurance access to affordable health 
care, including the 7.4 million African Americans without health 
insurance. It can put the millions of unemployed people back to work, 
including the 1.7 million African Americans and the 1.4 million 
Hispanics seeking work. It can honor our commitment to veterans instead 
of raising their health care costs, including over 2.6 million African 
American veterans, and the list goes on and on.
  Instead of sending us a budget for the American people, this 
President has sent us a budget that turns its back on people and on our 
future. It sacrifices our children, our senior citizens, our security, 
our veterans, our environment, our economy in order to advance special 
interests and to promote tax breaks for the wealthy.
  Incredibly, the budget does all of this damage to Americans at home 
and does not even include the cost of our operations in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, a clear failure, a very clear failure to come clean with 
the American people about the staggering costs of the war.
  I think we all know, and we heard that today, that we can expect 
another very large supplemental appropriations request for the war 
after the November election. The President, I believe, needs to really 
stop playing politics and to start paying attention to our needs right 
here at home.
  To merely call this budget a reflection of misplaced priorities 
really does not go far enough in describing the injustices that it 
promotes. It represents nothing less than an assault on the American 
people. The Bush administration is at war with the working poor, the 
middle class, working families and, yes, people of color. This budget, 
I tell my colleagues, is proof of that.
  The repercussions of this budget will be felt in cities and towns and 
rural communities across America. They will certainly be felt in my 
district in northern California where the high-tech economy has 
struggled and where housing costs are sky high, where seniors and 
veterans are struggling each and every day just to pay medical costs 
and grocery bills, where crime is taking the lives of our young people 
and threatening our communities, where infrastructure is crumbling, 
where our first responders and our ports are still not receiving the 
Federal funds that they need to keep our homeland safe and prepared, 
and where the State budget is being squeezed and slashed, and the 
repercussions of this budget will be felt for decades to come due to 
the record deficits that it creates.
  It is truly mind-boggling to think how the administration turned a 
$5.6 trillion surplus, projected just 3 years ago, into record deficits 
as far as the eye can see. Our children and our grandchildren will be 
paying off the reckless tax cuts for the rich, the lavish breaks for 
offshore corporations, and the huge overpayments to HMOs that are in 
this budget. They will be paying for this for the rest of their lives. 
This $4 trillion deficit will haunt our children for years to come.
  These outrageous and very reckless breaks for special interests and 
the wealthy help explain why this budget leaves so many behind. It 
explains why this President decimates housing programs in his 2005 
budget. It represents a $350 million cut compared to last year's 
funding level.
  The budget cuts are again focused on section 8 and public housing, 
the program that serves the Nation's poorest families, seniors and the 
disabled. The budget is $1.6 billion below the level needed to renew 
all section 8 vouchers; and it proposes to block grant the voucher 
program, dismantling low-income tenant protections.
  It eliminates funding for HOPE VI programs, a program that Congress 
reauthorized last year on a bipartisan basis; and it cuts the McKinney-
Vento homeless prevention grants by $2 million.
  Mr. Speaker, instead of spending billions on missile defense and 
other Cold War inventions, we could put more resources into housing, 
which is a national emergency and a national disgrace; and instead of 
spending $1 trillion in tax breaks, we could put more resources into 
our communities by providing the tools that they desperately need to 
combat crime and to deter crime.
  Let me just tell my colleagues for a minute a little bit about 
violent crime in my own district. Last year, in Oakland, 114 lives were 
ended in senseless killings, and 17 people have already been killed in 
the first 6 weeks of this year.

                              {time}  1915

  It is not unlike any other urban area where opportunities just do not 
exist. It is a vicious and deadly cycle, and it must end.
  But to end the bloodshed and the pain, not only in Oakland but 
throughout our country, we must have a comprehensive approach and put 
the resources to address the root problem that fuel the cycle. We know 
many of the factors that contribute to violence among young people: 
drugs, the lack of job training, employment opportunities, and a lack 
of options. The hard truth of the matter is that young people have no 
hope, and homelessness breeds anger, despair and crime, so we need to 
offer hope.
  By sending jobs offshore, out-sourcing, moving manufacturing, 
technology and service jobs offshore, today I asked Mr. Greenspan in 
our Committee on Financial Services, what do we tell our young people? 
What do they go to school for and for what jobs? These jobs are 
nonexistent, so what are our options for our young people?
  What does the President offer to our law enforcement agencies to help 
them combat and to deter crime? The administration has offered cuts, 
cuts and more cuts. The budget cuts juvenile justice and delinquency 
prevention grants by 43.9 percent, and it eliminates the Edward Byrne 
formula and discretionary grants, the State criminal alien assistance 
program, and local law enforcement block grants. The budget cuts $655 
million from the COPS program which provides grants and other 
assistance to help communities hire and train and retain police 
officers and improve law enforcement technologies.
  I can say that this directly harms our community where every night 9 
out of the 35 beats in Oakland are not covered because they simply 
cannot afford the staff.
  In addition to community policing, we need to make a local and a 
national investment in violence prevention. We need a real plan, a real 
plan for the reentry of ex-offenders. There are 1.4 million inmates in 
America's State and Federal prisons, and more than 600,000 will be 
released to return to their communities this year. These inmates are 
parents to 1.5 million children. If adults recently released from 
prisons and jails and those on parole are included, the number of 
affected children more than doubled to an estimated 3.2 million.
  Clearly, the President's meager offering of a $300 million 4-year 
program, or $75 million a year for reentry, is a drop in the bucket. We 
could use that just in my congressional district. This program amounts 
to about $125 per inmate leaving prison this year. What in the world is 
that about?

[[Page H497]]

  Mr. Speaker, the Bush budget underfunds our communities and our 
country. We need a jobs program. The unemployment rate among African 
Americans rose to 10.5 percent last year, significantly higher than the 
unemployment rate at the beginning of the Bush administration. The 
unemployment rate for Hispanics rose from 6.6 percent to 7.3 percent in 
1 month. This rate is 24 percent higher than when Bush took office. 
Despite these realities, the Bush budget squanders an additional $1 
trillion over the next 10 years on additional tax cuts for the wealthy. 
The President's budget does nothing to create jobs, to create good-
paying jobs here at home.
  We also need job training, yet the President's budget contains $286 
million in cuts for job training and employment services. These cuts 
come on top of $1.5 billion in cuts to job training and related 
services already enacted that President Bush has proposed since he took 
office.
  We need to invest in education and after-school programs. But, 
instead, this President's budget underfunds Leave No Child Behind by 
about $9.4 billion.
  It leaves 40 percent of children eligible for Head Start out in the 
cold, and it provides only half of the funding promised to after-school 
programs, meaning the 1.3 million children who were promised after-
school services just will not get them.
  We need to invest in basic health and mental health services, but, 
instead, this budget freezes funding for the Maternal and Child Health 
Block Grant title 10 family planning program and also the Healthy Start 
program. It freezes all of this funding.
  It also proposes an additional $25 billion in tax breaks for health 
savings accounts, a proposal which benefits the healthy and the wealthy 
and will raise premiums for most Americans. The President's association 
health plans will raise premiums for about 20 million Americans and 
reduce benefits for millions more.
  Mr. Speaker, this President is really more interested in the future 
of the bank accounts of the rich in this country than he is about the 
future of our communities. It is really about choices. We could choose 
to invest in the future, grow our economy, enhance our security, look 
out for our children and our seniors and those who are struggling 
economically, the poor. Or we could provide tax cuts for 
multimillionaires and special interests. That is the choice the Bush 
budget offers; and, unfortunately, the choice is very grim in terms of 
this budget, which is a road map, which is a budget that speaks to, 
really, the values of this administration which I believe are very 
unAmerican values.
  I urge my colleagues to continue to spread the word about this 
dangerous Bush budget and to let them know in November what we think 
about his budget priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Ballance).
  Mr. BALLANCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Lee), my leader, before I got to Washington; and I thank the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the chairman of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek), 
who will speak later on.
  I am proud to stand here tonight as an American, indeed, an African 
American. I am proud to live in America, the land of the free and the 
home of the brave, the land of opportunity. But there is a problem. 
There are some for whom the promise of America is not being realized. 
They are the unemployed, the laid off, the jobless, those whose 
unemployment has run out, and those who have been looking for a job so 
long that they have given up.
  America can do better. Why are we not doing better? I submit it is 
because we have the wrong priorities, and I submit that the budget that 
our President presented to us last week has the wrong priorities.
  I want to talk just briefly about a section of the country, North 
Carolina, a section of North Carolina, rural, poor, eastern, that I 
represent. It is called the First Congressional District. It is largely 
rural, largely African Americans, Native Americans, facing devastating 
job losses and obviously sweeping economic concerns. I am deeply 
concerned about the well-being of thousands of families, thousands of 
unemployed, thousands of laid off who live in my district.
  During the President's State of the Union address in January, I 
listened carefully and I heard nothing that would tend to address the 
needs, the hopes and desires of those of whom I speak. Yes, after 
reviewing the proposed budget, my concerns continue to grow. With a 
staggering 31,767 people unemployed in the First District as of 
December 1, 2003, additional plant closings and layoffs threaten to 
raise that number even higher and to stress and distress an already 
unstable economy.
  In fact, just last week Rubbermaid of Greenville, North Carolina, 
announced plans to lay off another 315 workers this coming month. They 
join the ranks of other plant closings, dozens in my area, since the 
summer of 2003.
  During his State of the Union address, the President promised more 
tax cuts, more permanent tax cuts. He had already promised that those 
would generate jobs. We have heard that pitch before. It has not 
materialized, and we do not believe it is going to materialize this 
time around, so that is why we are here tonight. We have to continue to 
speak out and cry out and make a plea that we will change our policies 
and provide opportunities for families, for jobless, for people who are 
hurting, people who are losing hope.
  Since 2001, this Nation has lost 2.9 million jobs. Locally, in Vance 
County, one of the counties I represent, they suffer an unemployment 
rate of 12.5 percent, more than double the national unemployment rate. 
The President's priorities do not appear to match those of working 
families in eastern North Carolina. We have a few millionaires in 
eastern North Carolina, but they are very few.
  With jobs continuing to disappear, despite 3 years of promises 
through tax cuts, our families want to enjoy the same quality of life 
afforded every other family throughout the Nation. They want to live in 
a sound economy, free of the fear of losing their jobs. They want to 
raise their families, have good health care, and to continue to express 
their patriotic values as Americans.
  This budget relies on tax cuts which sacrifice priorities for funding 
at home for those items that I just mentioned. On last year's tax cuts, 
the poorest 20 percent of North Carolinians received a mere $69. We 
know about the theory, if you give it to the rich, it will trickle 
down, but it is not working. We are losing jobs.
  I sent the President a letter last week inviting him as he travels to 
please come to northeastern North Carolina, please visit Roanoke 
Rapids, Henderson, and Rutherford, North Carolina, to see what is 
happening when people lose their jobs, lose their hope, are standing in 
the unemployment line, and finding that their unemployment has run out.

                              {time}  1930

  As I said earlier, America can do better. We have the ability. We 
have the technology. We simply have to get our priorities straight in 
order to help those who are most in need. I thank the gentlewoman from 
California so very much for this opportunity.
  Ms. LEE. I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his 
very eloquent and very clear statement. One thing that the gentleman 
from North Carolina pointed out was that this unemployment and the fact 
that poverty is rampant now speaks to rural, as well as to urban, 
communities. This is something that I do not think the President has 
recognized in this budget. I do hope he accepts the gentleman's 
invitation to come to his district because maybe then we will see a 
revision of this budget to speak to some of those issues.
  Mr. BALLANCE. I thank the gentlewoman. I look forward to that.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my good friend from Florida (Mr. 
Meek), a leader in the Committee on Armed Services, who has truly and 
is truly making his mark here in the House of Representatives.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I want to thank the gentlewoman from California 
for her comments earlier about what this budget is doing to America 
versus for America. I think it is important in our democracy to be able 
to outline not only the pitfalls but where we can play offense, moving 
forward, moving this country forward.

[[Page H498]]

  As I speak about moving our country forward, it is important that we 
have a budget that is going to reflect our qualities and our values 
here in the United States. When I see a budget such as the President 
has sent here to the Hill, I cannot help but question the priorities of 
the administration versus the priorities of families that are living 
here in the United States, those that are working and those that are 
looking for work.
  I must say that being a past creature of State government, I think it 
is important that we understand when the Federal commitment is cut, 
then the State commitment has to be cut. And when the State commitment 
is cut, then the local government commitment to communities and 
families is cut also. When I am talking about local government, I am 
not just talking about your counties or your parishes or just a city, I 
am talking about school boards. We call it devolution of taxation here 
in Washington, D.C. We cut it here, and they raise it there. Property 
taxes have gone up throughout this country, in all communities, not 
because local governments are saying that we like to raise revenue 
locally; they are doing it because the Federal Government is no longer 
supporting and helping and assisting local communities in vital 
programs that put forth the quality of life in America that we enjoy.
  I just want to share a few figures. I am going to speak briefly 
tonight. States are currently facing their worst fiscal crisis in 
decades, with 41 States facing a cumulative budget gap of $48 billion 
for 2004 alone. States are facing budget deficits of approximately $40 
billion for States in fiscal year 2005 and nearly $200 billion. How are 
they going to make up that gap? They are going to make up that gap by 
raising tuition on students and working families, individuals that are 
going to community colleges trying to better themselves, prepare 
themselves as it relates to having an educated and prepared workforce 
which makes this country strong; also as it relates to making sure that 
we do not spend billions and millions of dollars in incarcerating 
individuals since we cut the COPS program.
  I was so glad to hear my colleague speak of the cuts that are in the 
COPS program. Not only am I a member of the Committee on Armed 
Services, as was mentioned earlier, but also the Select Committee on 
Homeland Security. I think it is very, very important that we protect 
the homeland, and I know it is important that we defend our country. 
But at the same time I must say that we are going to fall short in 
having young people who may make youthful indiscretions due to the fact 
that its government and its local community failed them by making sure 
that we have vital direction programs to be able to build the kind of 
integrity and the kind of culture that we would like to build here and 
continue to maintain here in the United States.
  Let us talk just for a moment about local governments. Being a past 
State trooper, I have a great appreciation for what police chiefs are 
trying to do in this country, and sheriffs, all of them. I believe that 
all sheriffs and all police chiefs genuinely would like to see a 
community that works towards harmony and also works towards making sure 
that they do not have to carry out the act of having to arrest 
individuals in a given community. If we continue to follow the track of 
this budget that has been sent by this administration to the Congress, 
and I am speaking to my colleagues here because we have to really man 
up and woman up and go see the wizard not only to get courage but also 
to get heart and making sure that we stand up on behalf of those 
individuals who cannot stand for themselves. We see a rural housing and 
economic development program that is cut by $25 million, and we also at 
the same time see dropout programs that are also cut. We also have a 
HOPE VI revitalization for severely stressed public housing that is cut 
by $149 million. Someone may say, well, we have to cut spending; but, 
ladies and gentlemen, we are not cutting spending. We are going further 
into spending, away from what we may say are mom and apple-pie issues 
here in the United States.
  As we start looking at our democracy and as we start looking at what 
we must do as Americans, and all of us have been elected to lead, doing 
common things uncommonly well in this country, of making sure that we 
do not hand a mandate to local governments to where they have to 
fulfill that mandate by raising taxes on everyday working Americans. 
Yes, we may receive a $400 check or a $300 check in the mail; but also 
on the other hand, out of our left pocket money is being pulled out, 
through property taxes, money is being pulled out on local referendums 
and bond referendums because the Federal commitment has been cut.
  I just want to say, ladies and gentlemen, as we look at this deficit 
that has grown under this administration, as we look at our commitment 
as Americans of making sure that we stand up for our children's future, 
as we make sure that children that are born, newly born in a hospital 
as I speak now already owe the Federal Government $24,500, and dollars 
that are not in a deficit, and paying on a deficit that we are 
creating, that this administration is creating, then we are going to 
find ourselves in a very sad situation looking at the abuses of 
contracting and all of these things that are going on as relates to the 
war in Iraq.

  I just want to say that it is important that we continue to share 
these bread-and-butter, literally, bread-and-butter issues with 
Americans about where this administration is falling short as it 
relates to providing the kind of leadership. It is just something 
fundamentally wrong, if you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, 
socialist, whatever you want to be a member of, the Green Party, you 
name it, for a President to speak passionately on making sure that we 
make tax cuts permanent on behalf of the wealthiest Americans and not 
speak passionately about making sure that we provide the necessary, not 
the funding that it deserves but the necessary funding to educate our 
children, to be able to provide a health care system that is going to 
make our country healthy and to be able to help local governments as it 
relates to their commitment of protecting the home front and our local 
communities. Because with the defensive budget that the President has 
sent to the Hill, it leaves very little room for us to play offense in 
solving and hopefully stopping some of the issues that are going to be 
far more expensive than it would be if we were able to prevent them.
  I thank the gentlewoman so very much, and I want to commend my 
colleagues for coming to the floor and sharing with America about what 
is going on and what we are going to fight against to make sure that we 
maintain the America that we celebrate today.
  Ms. LEE. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida for really laying 
it out in terms of his very clear presentation. As I was listening to 
him explain the relationship between the Federal budget, local budgets 
and State budgets, he was really talking about the dismantling of 
America as we know it. I think that his voice and his breaking it down 
like that helps the public understand that what this budget does is not 
what America is, is not what we stand for. I just want to thank the 
gentleman for coming this evening and for being a part of this.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. I am so glad once again that the Congressional 
Black Caucus saw fit to share with all Americans what is happening to 
them versus for them, because we are here to make sure that good things 
happen in America and that we push programs that are putting people to 
work and that are making sure that our children are not left with a 
bill, that we are willing to eat steak and have a good time right now, 
so that we dismantle our future in America. We want to have it better 
for them than it was for us.
  Ms. LEE. Let me now yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-
Lee), a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, someone who is a 
strong fighter in terms of protecting our Constitution, who works 
tirelessly not only for her constituents but for children and families 
throughout our country and throughout the world.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I want to thank the distinguished 
gentlewoman from California. First of all, I want to thank her for her 
determinedness. Some would wonder why we would spend time on the floor 
late into the evening trying to dissect, whether it is HIV/AIDS and the 
funding that she worked so hard for and we are

[[Page H499]]

finding now that the funding is falling short, working on questions of 
war and peace, and they would simply wonder why we are here at this 
time of night speaking to our colleagues and debating an issue. I want 
to thank her for always being ready to educate not only Americans but 
our colleagues on these issues that are so particularly sensitive and 
important to many people who cannot speak for themselves. I thank her 
for allowing me to join in this evening with my colleagues from Florida 
and North Carolina and Maryland. I want to read the roll tonight, 
because this is, I think, the way to shock a lot of us into realizing 
what has happened when you begin to spend moneys that do not have 
priority, are not prioritized.
  I know that the gentlewoman did not call me to the floor, and I did 
not come to the floor, to begin a debate on the question of Iraq and 
the expenditure of $87 billion and the mounting billions, I guess we 
are up to $175 billion, going up to 200 at this point because we are 
spending, as I understand it, I know we are spending a billion a month 
in Afghanistan. I know we need more troops in Afghanistan; and I think 
none of us, if I can just repeat the statement that I make all the 
time, are divided amongst our support to the troops, and we respect the 
young men and women that are on the front lines in Afghanistan, Bosnia, 
Germany and Iraq. But I think many of us made the point that we 
questioned the value of going to war in the first place, and now where 
we find ourselves as we look toward the future, one, in an unsolved 
resolution of the conflict in Iraq. It is unsolved, there is no 
resolution to it, there is no plan; and so we continue to spend money 
in Iraq, and we have many ills and problems with it which really has 
created, where I am going, the $551 billion deficit that we now face 
and that is because we have not made priorities, we have not had an 
administration that has been willing to make the hard choices.

  I heard a discussion of the President and I always tell my 
constituents, I respect the office, I respect the person, but I heard a 
discussion, I think, this past Sunday where there was no reason given 
for going to war and there was no reason to give response to the state 
of this economy. It was that we will get jobs, or they are coming; and 
it does not really address the fact that as the Commander in Chief and 
the CEO of this Nation, you have to sit down and make hard decisions. 
Are you going to put together a domestic spending budget that addresses 
the needs of our people, all of our people, the hurt, the pain of the 
people? Or are you going to say, it is going to fix itself? And I think 
what I heard in the President's presentation is, it will fix itself. 
We'll go ahead and put $1.1 trillion in permanent tax cuts, mostly to 
both the richest of Americans and also to corporations. In doing that, 
we will then put ourselves in a position to see the $551 billion 
deficit continue to grow, and as well we will see it grow into 4 to $5 
trillion.
  The gentlewoman and I were together over the weekend in a very 
important meeting, and we heard the point being made that what that 
symbolizes, what that means is that the President and the Vice 
President are sitting late at night and, like me, have their glasses 
on, I imagine, and looking over Social Security checks that need to be 
going out to our constituents and literally endorsing them to pay our 
bills and to pay the permanent tax cuts, taking your Social Security 
fund, if we do not put a stop to it, and literally endorsing them for 
this increasing deficit and the tax cuts that are now being made 
permanent, or at least proposed to be permanent. That is what I say 
when I am talking about priorities.
  We are now facing a 10-year deficit of at least $4 trillion. We have 
about $551 billion in deficit right now, $146 billion more than we 
projected in 2003. So what has happened is, let me just begin to read 
the roll. In the budget proposals, here is what is happening to 
programs that Americans have become used to depending on. I am not even 
listing the crisis that we have with the Medicare prescription drug 
question where we started out saying it was $400 billion, now it has 
risen to $534 billion, and we have got a lot of complaining in the 
United States Congress. I think we have said that when we debated on 
the floor of the House, we needed a precise, narrow bill that dealt 
with giving a guaranteed prescription drug benefit to seniors.

                              {time}  1945

  We did not need an investment in our good friends in the 
pharmaceutical industry. We did not need an investment in the HMOs. We 
did not need to tell this government that it could not even negotiate a 
cheaper price, but that is a whole other story.
  But listen to this: No moneys for the advanced technology program. 
That is a program that typically, $171 billion, used to help, if one 
will, put together programs and technology programs for the benefit of 
small companies. That is gone.
  Technology opportunities programs. We have talked a long time about 
digital divide. That is now gone. We will not get that.
  Programs dealing with alcohol abuse reduction. We used to have a 
program that would help deal with alcohol abuse in our systems. Let me 
tell my colleagues that is important. More teenagers are drinking now. 
That is gone.
  Arts in Education. That helps to, if one will, expose our children to 
art of many kinds. That is gone.
  Community Technology Centers. Gone, no money for it.
  Dropout prevention programs. Texas has one of the highest dropout 
rates among Hispanics and African Americans. I was just at a school 
this past week, and they said one of their major issues was dropout 
among middle school students. That is gone.
  Elementary and secondary school counseling. I recall when we were all 
concerned about the number of shootings in our schools, and what did we 
do? Pass a lot of bills dealing with enhancing school counseling 
opportunities so we would have more school counselors. Gone.
  Literacy programs for prisoners. Many of our incarcerated persons 
from our neighborhoods are illiterate. That is gone.
  State grants for incarcerated youth offenders. Gone.
  Women's educational equity. Gone.
  National youth sports. Gone.
  Empowerment zones. Funding not needed.
  As I recall, I think I heard even the chairman of the Congressional 
Black Caucus get up and speak about the value of empowerment zones and 
what lives have been changed, how lives have been changed and how 
neighbors have been changed and how valuable they were.
  Brownfields redevelopment. In my community alone we are still 
fighting to clean up brownfields, and I see that we have zeroed that 
out with an explanation, accomplishments not reported. What do they 
mean, ``not reported?'' We are still working to clean up brownfields, 
and I can assure the Members what that means to inner-city communities.
  Let me cite Acres Home in my congressional district that has been 
working and working, the community has been working to get their 
brownfields cleaned up, and we are still going back in there with the 
EPA to see what has been done. That is gone.
  COPS hiring grants, $119 million, gone. They say that it has merged 
with other programs. I do not know how one can do that. If it is 
merged, it is gone, and it means there is no money.
  For those who come from areas where there are migrant and seasonal 
workers, there were moneys in order to enhance their quality of life. 
This is our farming industry that needs migrant and seasonal workers. 
We have eliminated resources that can help them with their better 
quality of life.
  Let me conclude with the Microloan program from the Small Business 
Administration. Gone. Microloan program. Gone.
  As I show this picture to our friends and colleagues, it seems to me 
that we have got a Swiss cheese here, a budget with a lot of holes. It 
seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that what happened is that the priorities 
were disproportionately weighted toward those who already have, and if 
they can come up with a budget to the floor of the House or to the 
Congress and tell us that they have cut arts education and so many 
other things that impact people's lives, then I think that it is now 
time for us to rally and to be able to address needs of the American 
people.

[[Page H500]]

  I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me to come. I am going to keep 
this somewhere visible in my office to know how many people have been 
hurt by this budget and to suggest that this Congress is obligated to 
fix the problem on behalf of the American people.
  I thank the gentlewoman for allowing me to share this list of the 
have-nots, because I think the only way the have-nots will gain their 
rightful place is for us to begin the fight and to be able to write a 
budget that makes sense on behalf of the American people.
  I rise today once again begin disappointed with this Administration's 
efforts to truly represent the values of average Americans and of the 
African American community. President Bush's latest efforts in the form 
of his 2005 national budget continues his irresponsible economic 
policies that have resulted in so many Americans suffering. This 
Administration has a credibility crisis. President Bush has said his 
tax cuts would act as a stimulus for our flagging economy and create 
jobs, this clearly has not happened. Instead of adopting more inclusive 
policies this President has decided to give even more tax cuts to 
benefit the wealthy. This Administration has misplaced priorities that 
are leaving average working Americans and our community in a bind.


                               Education

  We all know that education is one of the most important priorities 
for our African American community. Our children's success or failure 
will be the true indicator of our effectiveness in this body. The 
generation of African American leaders who preceded us spent their 
lives making sure that we were able to get educated and have the 
ability to succeed that every American was entitled to. This 
President's budget threatens that very core principle. This is more 
than rhetoric; this idea is based on staggering facts. Of the 65 
programs cut completely from the Bush budget, 39 of them were education 
programs. This President believes America will be better off if the 
richest Americans get $66,000 tax cuts, but he doesn't believe our 
children will be better with programs like Dropout Prevention, Even 
Start and School Leadership, all of which are now obsolete. This 
President has a different set of priorities when he believes that 
hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts for our children's education 
will be better for America. We as a united community and an integral 
part of this Nation can not allow this flawed budget proposal to stand. 
Our children's future and in turn the future of the African American 
community is at stake.


                                Deficit

  The most disturbing aspect of President Bush's flawed budget proposal 
is the soaring deficits that will result from his policies. This 
administration has tried to say that deficits don't matter; we know 
that this is simply not true. History has proven that chronic deficits 
threat our economic strength by crowding out private investment, 
driving up interest rates, and slowing economic growth. Indeed foreign 
investment in the United States has dried up because foreign investors 
have no confidence in the Bush economic agenda. This Administration's 
irresponsible budget policies have turned a surplus into a large 
deficit that is choking off growth in the American economy.
  President Bush likes to say his budget is geared towards tax cuts for 
all Americans. When in fact the average American won't receive a 
substantial tax cut, but will instead be hit with a tax hike in the 
form of an ever-growing deficit. A large deficit means taxpayers have 
to shoulder the costs of paying the interest on this new national debt. 
The end result will be a debt tax on the great majority of Americans. 
This will be a tax on lower and middle class Americans; it will be a 
tax on our heroic war veterans; it will be a tax on the elderly and 
most unfortunately it will be a tax on our children. The truly sad part 
of the President's budget is that while it is bad for America today it 
is even worse for future generations of American taxpayers.


                                Tax Cuts

  I want to highlight some of the most egregious examples of this 
Administration's misplaced priorities. President Bush believes we can 
spend tens of billions of dollars a year to provide $66,000 tax cuts to 
the top 1% of tax payers, but he does not feel we can afford many vital 
programs many of which are tied to our national security.
  Perhaps the most blatant example of this Administration's 
irresponsibility is the fact that the FAA budget was actually cut. At a 
time when our national security is under such great scrutiny I can not 
think of too many agencies that face greater pressure than the FAA to 
keep our nation safe. How can this President spend so much time and 
effort stressing the importance of homeland security and then cut the 
budget of the agency on the front line of stopping terrorists from 
attacking our nation? The irresponsibility does not stop there; the 
President's budget fails to provided the U.S. Postal Office with $779 
million needed for biodetection technology that guards against anthrax-
like attacks. After the Ricin incident in the Senate Office Buildings a 
few days ago, how can anyone in this body in good conscious approve a 
budget that does not address our vulnerability for bioterrorism attacks 
through the mail? This is where President Bush lacks credibility, he 
has taken drastic and some would say unconstitutional measures in the 
name of national security, but now when it comes to fully funding our 
most sensitive security concerns he decides it is more important to 
appease the richest 1% of Americans with irresponsible tax cuts.
  Unfortunately the misplaced priorities do not stop with our national 
security. The ``No Child Left Behind'' initiative is left under funded 
by $9.4 billion a full 27% less than Congress authorized. Funding for 
America's veterans will be cut by $13.5 billion over the next five 
years. Its truly sad how this President not only doesn't fully fund 
sensitive security issues, but he is also cutting funding to two of our 
most sensitive constituencies; our children who are our future and our 
veterans who in the past have sacrificed so much so that we may live 
freely. Instead of supporting those constituencies this President 
believes that the richest 1% of Americans deserve yet another tax cut. 
These misplaced priorities are evident throughout the President's 
budget and demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about the 
needs of the average American.


                                Job Loss

  President Bush has been one of the worst Presidents ever to take 
office when it comes to job creation. Simply put, our economy can never 
truly be considered successful until Americans who want jobs can find 
jobs. This is simply not the situation that the average American faces 
today. Under the Clinton Administration job growth continually 
improved. In contrast, under the Bush Administration the rate of 
unemployment has soared. In his State of the Union Address the 
President stated that jobs are on the rise, unfortunately the rise in 
employment he spoke of amounted to 1,000 jobs created over the last 
month. At that rate of job growth, it will take 192 years and eight 
months for the economy to return to the number of jobs at the beginning 
of President Bush's term of office. We are 8.4 million jobs behind 
where we are supposed to be at this point. That is a staggering number 
and it should be unacceptable to every member of this body. The Bush 
Administration assured the American people that tax cuts would result 
in job growth. The American people are still waiting to see this 
growth, too many of them are waiting unemployed and fearing for their 
prosperity. This Administration has argued that deficits do not matter 
and that job growth is not an economic priority. I can't think of too 
many Americans who would agree with that assessment. This President is 
not in touch with the needs and aspirations of the American people. 
This budget continues to reflect his irresponsible agenda based on a 
few special interests.


                          Iraq and Afghanistan

  It's unfortunate that this Administration does not understand the 
necessity of proper planning and vision. It has become painfully 
obvious to many of us in this body that this President did not have a 
plan to deal with post-war Iraq and Afghanistan. That point is once 
again made obvious by the fact that in this entire budget there is no 
funding included for the 2005 costs of ongoing military operations in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. This is truly irresponsible, our brave fighting 
men and women are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and this 
President can not even provide figures for the costs that these 
military operations will incur. Does this President want us to believe 
that the costs for this War on Terror have disappeared? Or is he 
telling us that he plans to pull our troops out of Iraq and 
Afghanistan? Once again, this President's irresponsible agenda is being 
exposed; he does not have the credibility to allow yet another flawed 
budget to pass this body.


                                  NASA

  I was there a few weeks ago at the White House when President Bush 
announced his new NASA initiative to return America to the moon and 
eventually man missions to Mars. The funding for NASA has been 
increased in this budget, but it only begins to pay for future 
exploration efforts, a detailed plan on how the President plans to 
achieve his NASA initiatives is still needed. I believe the President 
when he says he has the aspiration to get America back to the moon, its 
just unfortunate that he does not have the proper planning to do so. 
His actions in Iraq and Afghanistan leave him no credibility in this 
body to believe that he can achieve his ambitious agenda. This entire 
budget in fact is riddled with false promises and under funded 
ambitions.


                               Conclusion

  This President has spent a great deal of time while in office talking 
about patriotism. He has stood in full gear on board an aircraft 
carrier in an effort to show the American people how patriotic he is. 
However, in my mind a patriot is a person who stands with their nation.

[[Page H501]]

In submitting this flawed budget this President has shown that he does 
not stand with real average Americans. It is not patriotic when you 
bring your nation from a point of success to the point of failure in 
the form of an enormous federal deficit. It is not patriotic when you 
side with the interests of the richest one percent of Americans and 
then cut or eliminate the programs that serve the great majority of 
Americans. It is not patriotic when our children are left behind 
without the proper resources to truly succeed. It is not patriotic when 
you ignore the wishes of an entire community in order to push through 
your own ideological agenda. This President talks about patriotism but 
when it comes to standing with average Americans and standing with the 
African American community to serve the interests of the entire nation 
this President has consistently failed.
  This President has time and again asked for patience from this body 
and from the American people to allow time for his policies to start 
showing progress, unfortunately time has run out. Too many Americans 
are suffering and it is clear that President Bush's vision for America 
is not one that coincides with that of the average American or with the 
African American community. I hope we will continue to stress the 
danger of this budget, together we will be the ones to push the true 
interests of our constituents, to push for a real vision of America.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for really 
calling the roll and for putting it out there and for reminding the 
country that, yes, the President did indicate that, for the most part, 
that the economy and our job crisis would just about fix itself. How do 
we tell young people that as we encourage them to go to school to 
develop skills and knowledge to get a job when, in fact, the economy 
does not allow for that?
  Again, I must repeat that today we talked with Chairman Greenspan, 
and his response in essence was the same thing. It will just have to 
fix itself.
  How do we allow a government as great as ours to just give those 
kinds of responses when we know that tax cuts for the wealthy are 
there, we know that the war, as the gentlewoman indicated earlier, is 
being funded to the tune of billions and billions and billions of 
dollars?
  I think that what the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) talked 
about tonight shows us that it cannot just fix itself. It is a matter 
of misplaced priorities, and we have got to demand that our priorities 
be reordered.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if the gentlewoman would 
yield, I see the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), and I 
know she is going to pick up on this because I know anything that helps 
her district she has already gotten. So I know she is an empowerment 
lady, she is a Hope VI lady, and I just want her to know that we are 
struggling.
  I see this, and I did not mention it because I am a little bit 
confused. I was trying to be factual before I said it, but I am going 
to read this. Hope VI revitalization of severely distressed public 
housing, I know, in fact, my community is saying they are getting ready 
to send an application for Hope VI moneys, and I see that that has been 
deleted $149 million, and it says ``goals achieved.'' I did not want to 
call it because I thought maybe I had missed something, but it just 
came to me that my community was doing that.
  I guess one other point I want to bring in about what the gentlewoman 
said about Mr. Greenspan is that there are some people who have been 
unemployed so long that they are not even in the system. They are not 
even getting unemployment. They are not even in line to get it. So we 
are looking at a budget that has to address those needs and to address 
this big whopper of a number, and it tells me that goals are achieved 
when I just left home and I have a community that is applying for a 
Hope VI grant.
  Ms. LEE. Yes, Mr. Speaker, and Hope VI is being dismantled based on 
the President's budget.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), member 
of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, a member of the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, who fights each and every day for the 
protection of our democracy, for our veterans, for jobs, for the 
economy, for children and families throughout, again, our country and 
throughout the world.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me 
commend both the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) and, of 
course, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) and the chairman of 
the Congressional Black Caucus and other Members for forging these 
kinds of debates and discussions on the floor of the House of 
Representatives, the people's House.
  I have got to just take a moment to remind everyone that I am the 
congresswoman from Florida, the Third Congressional District of 
Florida. I, along with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and 
Carrie Meek, was the first Member of African American descent that was 
elected to Congress in 129 years. So we have a tremendous amount of 
responsibility.
  I have to mention just for a moment the 2000 election. I do not think 
I can ever come to this floor and not mention the 2000 election, 
because I want the American people to know that it matters who is in 
charge. I want everyone to know that not just 500,000 people nationally 
voted for Gore, over 50,000 people in Florida voted for Gore. And if we 
are not careful, and if we look at the reports, the same thing will 
happen again. We can have another election stolen from the people, and 
the people will not have a voice in this House.
  We have three separate branches of government. We have the 
administrative branch. We have the House and the Senate. It is a real 
honor to serve in the people's House, but the people do not have a 
voice in the people's House. The House voted against privatizing FAA. 
The House voted, the Senate voted, and it came back in the 
appropriations bill. The House voted against doing away with overtime 
pay. The Senate voted against it. It came back in the appropriations 
bill. We can only vote up or down.
  So we do not have a dictatorship in this country, but we have a void, 
and that void needs to be taken care of in November.
  One can tell something about a country, something about an 
organization, something about a church by their budget, the priorities 
of that budget. Just think about it. If one is in a church and they are 
concentrating on building and if they are in an organization that is 
just building and building, that tells one something about the 
organization. But if the organization is interested in the children, 
the senior citizens, the elderly, that tells one something about that 
group.
  I can tell the Members that this budget is what I call ``reverse 
Robin Hood,'' robbing from the poor and working people to give tax 
breaks to the rich.
  I want to extend that a little further because it is more than tax 
breaks to the rich. It is the rich that contributes to the Bush 
campaign re-election fund. All one has to do is follow the money. I say 
follow the money.
  If we look at the budget, what has been cut? Veterans' programs, 
homeless, public education. And that is the real joke. They stole this, 
just like the election, ``Leave No Child Behind,'' but this 
administration are not only leaving the children behind, they are 
leaving their grandmothers and everybody else.
  Public transportation, seven out of the 15 Cabinet-level agencies 
cut; EPA cut; HUD cut; Department of Agriculture cut; Commerce cut; 
Health and Human Services cut; Justice, Transportation, and Treasury, 
to give huge tax breaks to those who have contributed to the 
President's reelection campaign. And I stand by that. All one has to do 
is follow the money.
  What is most disturbing to me, and there are many things that are 
disturbing, but how the veterans' budget is being cut. When the 
President made this great discovery that he wanted to go to Mars, and I 
guess he is going, it comes out of the VA HUD budget. They are already 
cutting up HUD, and now they are going to squeeze the veterans' budget 
even more. So that additional money for NASA is going to be taken right 
out of the hides of the veterans in this country. Misplaced priorities.
  There is one area that I want to ask questions in before we end, and 
I will turn my statement in. Under the area of homeland security, in 
Florida I guess we have got some kind a scheme. I have talked to mayors 
on both sides of the aisle, first responders. They have not received a 
dime under homeland security. I have talked to other Members

[[Page H502]]

of Congress. They have received the moneys in the area, but they have 
taken off a portion for administrative. But in Florida they come up 
with this list and in Tallahassee they can decide whether or not to 
send any of that money to the community. They are not sending them 
money, but they may send them flight suits or something. But the 
community is using COPS programs and they are using additional police 
or fire as first responders because that is where the money is needed.
  We are not checking the ports. We are not checking the containers 
that are coming in. So homeland security is a failure under this 
administration, just like so many other areas.
  But would the gentlewoman respond to what is happening in her area 
under homeland security?
  This budget is another clear example of reverse robin hood: robbing 
from the veterans, the homeless, public education, public 
transportation, and 7 of the 15 Cabinet level agencies (the EPA, HUD, 
The Departments of: Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, 
Justice, Transportation, and the Treasury), to give away huge tax 
breaks to those who contribute to President Bush's re-election 
campaign.
  Once again President Bush came out with a budget that is too little, 
too late. It is a budget that short changes the middle class, a budget 
that does nothing for minorities. And it is mind blowing that the 
Administration is going ahead to make the trillion dollar deficit they 
created even worse by building another budget around more tax cuts, and 
making them permanent! As is obvious from the budget introduced today, 
President Bush is the president of special interest groups.
  Time and time again our veterans get the shaft. The fiscal year 2005 
budget is a perfect example of how the Bush administration is failing 
to treat our veterans with the respect that they have earned. We show 
potential and current members of the armed forces how America honors 
their sacrifice by how well we treat our veterans. We owe it to the 
soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines, who have served as a source of 
pride in our Nation, to begin enrolling Priority 8 veterans into the VA 
healthcare system; increase the VA home loan guaranty to 90 percent of 
Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac's conforming limit so that the guaranty keeps 
pace with the rising cost of housing; maintain VA staff at an adequate 
level so that already backlogged claims can be processed; and fully 
fund concurrent receipt for every eligible veteran. This budget is not 
adequate to meet the needs of 25 million of our nation's finest 
individuals.
  Ironically, the President's budget plan, which rhetorically proposes 
to strengthen our economy and our national defense, will only weaken 
them. Economically, the huge budget deficits are more than just an 
accounting problem, they will be injurious to our children, and our 
children's children, who will be forced to repay the record amounts of 
debt we are borrowing today. And it is not necessary to be an economist 
to know that chronic deficits threaten our economic strength because 
they crowd out private investment, drive up interest rates, and slow 
economic growth.
  The budget proposed today makes it quite evident that the Bush 
Administration does not have any plan to eliminate the budget deficits, 
and in fact, is pushing headlong toward expanding the size of the 
deficits. The $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus projected when the 
President took office has been replaced by deficits year after year. 
For 2004, the budget proposes a record deficit of $21 billion--$146 
billion more than the 2003 deficit, which was also a historic record. 
Deficits for every year are worse than projected a year ago.
  Moreover, it is mind blowing that the Administration, in the face of 
these deficits is only making them worse by building its budget around 
yet another set of tax cuts! These tax cuts will reduce revenues by $1 
trillion, and driving the budget further into the red. And what's more, 
the President is doing everything he can to make them permanent!
  This budget is completely unrealistic because it leaves out countless 
items. Once Administration initiatives like additional costs for 
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Medicaid giveaway and 
space travel to Mars are included, the Nation's deficit will spiral 
even higher. This is an administration that is not only without a plan 
to erase the deficit, but by proposing to make their tax cuts 
permanent, they will push the current deficit to sky high levels.''
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, first of all, for a 
very powerful statement.
  Secondly, just to paint a picture very quickly, my area is an area 
that is a very vulnerable area. We have a great port. We have a major 
transit system. We have laboratories, universities, a very high-risk 
area.

                              {time}  2000

  We are severely underfunded. Our first responders do not have the 
resources, our schools do not have the resources, our ports still do 
not have the resources. We need to be able to check containers before 
they are put on the ships and brought over to our country. Our police 
officers are getting cut. We do not have the funding for police 
officers. Our county submitted an excellent application 2 years ago. It 
is still not fully funded. I believe for the most part the majority of 
California has not been funded in terms of homeland security.
  This budget I do not think steps up to the plate. Domestic security 
should be our first priority in terms of the fight against terrorism. 
Again, I do not believe that our budget and this budget reflects that.
  So I say to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), we are 
going to have an uphill battle this year. But I think the American 
people are waking up and understanding that we do have some issues with 
regard to national security. But those issues should be prioritized in 
terms of our domestic security, and this budget and last year's budget 
did not fund our first responders, our firefighters, police officers 
and homeland security efforts in my arena.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. As the gentlewoman said, as far as HUD 
is concerned, with the cutting out of the programs, prevention programs 
that were supported, and in addition we are cutting the COPS program 
that helped the community.
  Ms. LEE. That means that crime will increase.
  I thank my colleagues for joining me tonight.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, as we honor Black History Month fifty years 
after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, one would 
think that we would be able to celebrate the end of the ``separate but 
equal'' doctrine and laud the accomplishments of America's black 
community.
  There is no doubt that we have come a long way from the days of Jim 
Crow and segregated schools, but the ``separate but equal'' doctrine 
did not disappear with the waving of a magic wand by the courts fifty 
years ago.
  Today, in some instances, it seems to be one accepted by the current 
White House. The President's Fiscal Year 2005 Budget released earlier 
this month is a potent example of this Administration's willingness to 
tolerate two Americas. But now, like then, the doctrine is better 
characterized as ``separate and not equal.''
  Instead of celebrating the achievements of black entrepreneurs like 
Madame C.J. Walker, Earl Graves and Bob Johnson, I am obligated by the 
economic plight of many black Americans to discuss how the President's 
economic policies are failing minority communities.
  Under the President's budget the White House seems to believe that 
``separate but equal'' is acceptable in our nation's economy.
  The President did not make job creation a priority in his budget. 
While he increased funding for some job programs as a campaign ploy, he 
cut funding for other programs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among 
African Americans increased last month to 10.5 percent, more than 
double that of white Americans. When the President assures Americans 
that the economy is getting better and that jobs are being created, he 
certainly can't be addressing black America.
  In addition, the Bush budget cuts nearly $80 million in funding for 
the Small Business Administration, which plays a key role in helping 
minority owned small businesses grow.
  Finally, the SBA programs targeted at low-income and minority 
communities--the Microloan Program, the New Markets Venture Capital 
Program, the Business Information Centers, and others--received no 
funding.
  This month should also be a time for celebrating the black Americans 
who have contributed to education. Carter G. Woodson was a visionary 
who established Black History Month. Woodson realized that white and 
black America knew little of African Americans' accomplishments and he 
was determined to educate America on those achievements.
  Instead, I am forced to talk today about the fight against a budget 
that will shortchange America's children, including African American 
children who disproportionately attend poorly performing schools. The 
President's budget would fail to provide $9.4 million in promised 
education funding, eliminate the Even Start program and freeze funding 
for Pell grants and cut the funding of Perkins loans by nearly $100 
million, shutting the door on college for many minority students.
  We should also laud this month the pioneering efforts of Dr. Charles 
Drew, whose groundbreaking medical work with blood and

[[Page H503]]

transfusions have saved lives around the world. Instead, we must focus 
our hearts and minds on the 7.4 million African Americans without 
healthcare insurance and the millions more who can barely afford to pay 
their premiums. The President makes no serious attempt to address these 
issues in his budget.
  In addition, the President's budget cuts by 15 percent funding for 
the Office of Minority Health. This office supports disease prevention, 
health promotion, and educational efforts in minority communities. 
Black Americans suffer proportionally higher rates of heart disease, 
obesity and diabetes and are in need of such services.
  The disparities between the lives of many African Americans and the 
rest of our country are unconscionable. Whether one looks to jobs, 
education and healthcare the President's budget fails to address 
problems facing the African American community at virtually every turn.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to be here today speaking of African 
American contributions and achievements. Instead, I am compelled to 
talk about the persistence of ``separate but equal'' in our society, 
and the sad fact that the President's budget does little to confront 
this entrenched separation in our country.

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