[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 109 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1618-E1619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5006) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2005, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Chairman, each year the Labor-HHS-Education 
appropriations bill is one of the most difficult measures for this body 
to complete. One reason is that it is often the costliest of our 
spending bills. Another is that the programs it funds are the most 
critical to the well-being of our citizens.
  I want to thank the members of the Appropriations Committee, 
particularly Chairman Young, Ranking Member Obey, and Subcommittee 
Chairman Regula for their hard work on this measure, particularly in 
light of the budgetary limitations on what we can accomplish for many 
vital domestic programs.
  I am pleased that the House has increased by $22 million the bill's 
funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and 
I want to thank the gentleman from Vermont, Mr. Sanders, for his 
leadership and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their 
support of his amendment.
  I also want to thank Mr. Obey for his leadership on the key issue of 
overtime pay. American workers deserve to be paid fairly for the work 
they perform, and I am proud that the House has voted to eliminate 
damaging aspects of the Labor Department's rule.
  This is a bill that in many ways improves upon the President's budget 
proposals, and I intend to support it. However, I am concerned about 
the low funding levels in several areas that I hope can be improved 
upon in conference.
  In the area of education, this bill does not do enough for our 
Nation's elementary and secondary school students. In my home state of 
Maryland, more than 100 schools do not

[[Page E1619]]

meet state standards required by the No Child Left Behind Law. Even 
though many school districts find themselves unable to meet the goals 
of the law, the bill before us today provides $9.5 billion less than 
the funding promised. Today's bill also falls $2.5 billion short of the 
$13.6 billion promised last year for special education when IDEA was 
reauthorized last year. I would also hope that we can improve upon the 
higher education funding, particularly in the areas of Pell Grants and 
Perkins Loans, so that lower and middle-income students can continue to 
enroll in public and private colleges across the Nation.
  This bill also shortchanges Americans already in the labor market. 
Eight million Americans who want to work cannot find jobs, but the job 
training funds do not keep pace with inflation. In fact, compared FY 
2001, it cuts job training funding in real terms by over $700 million. 
I would hope that we can improve upon these levels in conference.
  Finally, we must increase funding for several programs in the 
Department of Health and Human Services. Last month, we learned that 
the number of uninsured Americans reached 45 million, yet this bill 
reduces Maternal and Child Health Block Grants that fund care for 
uninsured women and children, and it eliminates the Community Access 
Program, which has funded grants across the Nation for preventive and 
primary care. This bill also cuts vital Ryan White AIDS Care programs, 
and it does not adequately fund the lifesaving NIH research that 
Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, and other 
debilitating diseases are depending upon. Unfortunately, this bill 
contains an increase of only 2.6% in NIH funding--less than medical 
research inflation.
  I hope, as this House bill moves forward in conference, that the 
funding levels for these critical needs can be increased to a more 
realistic level.

                          ____________________