[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S11739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PROVISIONS IN THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I expect that before long we will have 
the opportunity to get into the discussion of the omnibus proposal that 
has been referred to earlier this evening. I want to just bring some 
matters in the omnibus bill to the attention of our colleagues in the 
Senate and also to those in our country who are interested in where we 
are going to end up in the education provisions of this budget, and to 
also speak briefly about where we will be on the questions of health 
care as well.
  In this omnibus proposal, as we said--it has been mentioned here--it 
is really a question of priorities and choices. What we are going to 
see is real cuts in the Head Start Program. It is a program that is a 
lifeline for millions of our children to help prepare them to enter 
grades K-12.
  We have strengthened the quality of Head Start Programs in recent 
years, but we are going to see a real cut in the Head Start Programs 
under this budget. It is not even going to keep up to the current 
services. What we are going to see is a real loss to thousands and 
thousands of children across this country.
  The most important programs we have in terms of educational 
achievement and accomplishment are the afterschool programs that make 
such a difference to children who may be falling behind, to help assist 
them to keep up with their classmates, and to also give them the help 
and assistance that makes a very important difference in terms of their 
own achievement and accomplishment.
  This program is vastly oversubscribed. It is one of the most 
oversubscribed programs that we have in our educational arsenal. The 
reason it is oversubscribed is because it has had such success in 
helping and assisting needy children in our country. That program is 
going to be further cut under this proposal.
  One of the key aspects of the No Child Left Behind was a recognition 
that what we needed in our schools across the country were smaller 
class sizes, well-trained teachers, curriculum reform, parental 
involvement, and afterschool programs. But one of the things we needed 
was going to be well-trained teachers. We made a commitment in the No 
Child Left Behind Program that we were going to enhance the teacher 
quality for the high schools in our country. That program is going to 
be cut in terms of teacher quality in upgrading the skills of teachers 
in our high schools.
  Our vocational educational programs, which are so important in 
permitting young people to acquire skills to be able to compete in an 
increasingly complex economy, those programs for vocational education 
are going to be cut.
  As well, some 28 percent of the technology educational funding for 
programs that are in our schools to help our young people develop the 
insight into the new kinds of technologies which are so important for 
them to be able to succeed in their own education and to carry on their 
education will be cut.
  Finally, the Pell grant remains at $4,050 for the fourth consecutive 
year, while we have seen public college tuition has gone up more than 
35 percent over the last 4 years. This is going to mean that tens of 
thousands--hundreds of thousands--of young students, who have the 
ability to be able to go on to college, will be denied that opportunity 
because the Pell grant is falling further and further behind.

  If we are talking about an education budget, this is not the 
education budget.


                              Health Care

  Mr. President, I want to make a brief comment, as well, on the health 
care crisis that we are facing. I think all of us understand the 
explosion of health care costs, the increasing number of the uninsured 
that exists in our society.
  We know we passed a Medicare bill for prescription drugs that was 
more help and assistance to the pharmaceutical industry and the HMOs 
than it was to our senior citizens.
  But it has been against that background, if we look at where we are 
in terms of the health care budget in this proposal, we have cut a 
quarter of a billion dollars in real terms from NIH.
  Mr. President, this is the age of the life sciences. This is the age 
of the life sciences, with the human genome project, the increasing 
opportunities we are going to have with stem cell research, other types 
of research. We know the extraordinary progress we made out at NIH. We 
have the real possibilities of breakthroughs in so many different areas 
of health. If we were to solve the problems of Alzheimer's, we would 
empty two-thirds of the nursing home beds in my own State of 
Massachusetts. We are seeing a reduction in the NIH.
  We have seen that the support for bioterrorism readiness in our 
Nation's hospitals is going to have a significant cut. The recruitment 
for the National Health Service Corps is cut by a third. That is a 
program that serves the underserved communities of this country. And 
the Office of Minority Health is cut by 10 percent.
  Mr. President, the list goes on. Those who are strongly committed to 
having opportunities in education and also opportunities in the health 
care field recognize this budget really does not address the needs and 
the opportunities we have in these areas. I will have an opportunity to 
get into greater detail at another time about these underfunded 
programs on this particular proposal.

  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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