[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 29 (Friday, March 11, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2505-S2506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE BUDGET RESOLUTION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have, in effect, agreed to use 5 hours of 
the time on the budget today. The real work on

[[Page S2506]]

it will start Monday at 10 o'clock in the morning. It is one of the 
rare instances in this body where we have a set time. That time is 50 
hours. We are now down to 45 hours. It is also unique in that the time 
for voting does not count against the budget resolution. So there is a 
lot of work to do on this budget, and there will be a lot of amendments 
offered.
  A couple of days ago I met with a group of ministers from a host of 
Protestant denominations. The reason they came to meet with me is they 
are extremely concerned about President Bush's budget. They shared with 
me their observations of it, and they based their presentation to me on 
a story from the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament.
  In this story, there is a rich man and a poor man who lived in the 
same vicinity, and the poor man, Lazarus, was very poor. In life, the 
rich man lived a grand life and paid no attention to the poor man, or 
poor people generally, refusing to come to the poor man's aid when he 
should have. But in death, we are told in Scripture, it was Lazarus who 
went to Heaven and the rich man who did not.
  Their purpose in sharing this story with me was to point out the 
immorality--that was their word: ``immorality''--of turning a blind eye 
to economic injustice. And they wanted to make a larger point about the 
Bush 2006 budget, which, as they put it, has ``much for the rich man 
and little for Lazarus.''
  When you examine the Bush budget through a moral lens, as they were 
doing, you can clearly see the injustice and the lack of values in this 
budget.
  The President is proposing that we make deep cuts in many programs 
that are important to working men and women, for those in real need. 
And why? To pay for large tax breaks for the very wealthy and to 
provide a variety of giveaways to special interests.
  In his budget, the President is ignoring the lessons of the Gospel, 
the lessons there of the rich man. For example, the President's budget 
cuts health care for the most vulnerable citizens. The budget would cut 
Medicaid, which ensures that more than 50 million children, pregnant 
women, elderly, and people with disabilities have access to the medical 
services they need. At the same time, the budget maintains a slush fund 
with billions for HMOs. That is not right.
  The President's budget also calls for cutting education. More than 48 
education programs will be affected, with the cuts exceeding $1 
billion. So our children will suffer. At the same time, the budget 
calls for opening a precious wilderness area in Alaska for the oil and 
gas industry. That is not right.
  The budget cuts benefits for veterans. The men and women who served 
our Nation with such bravery and courage over the decades, the people 
who have put their lives on the line on behalf of this Nation, are 
going to have to pay more for their health care. At the same time, the 
administration wants to protect the drug industry by denying Medicare 
the right to bargain for lower prices. That is not right.

  The budget cuts the COPS Program. It is an over 90-percent cut. That 
is the program that helps communities hire police officers to keep 
streets safer. So our men and women in uniform and the neighborhoods 
they serve will suffer. At the same time, the budget does little to 
close the special interest loopholes that are allowing big corporations 
to avoid paying taxes. That is not right.
  The budget underfunds environmental protection. At the same time, it 
lets big polluters off the hook from paying the cost of cleanups. That 
is not right.
  The budget fails to adequately fund the National Family Planning 
Program, which provides critical health care services to low-income 
women and helps reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. At the 
same time, it continues to support so-called health savings accounts, 
which are tax shelters for the wealthy that fail to meet the needs of 
those of modest means. That is not right.
  America is a country that values everyone, the worker just as much as 
the CEO of the largest company in America. And most Americans would 
agree it is not right to cut health care for children and the elderly, 
cut education, cut benefits for veterans, cut law enforcement, while 
handing out a wide variety of giveaways to special interests and the 
powerful. That is not just bad policy, it is wrong, it is immoral.
  Unfortunately, the budget resolution approved yesterday by the Budget 
Committee, with a few changes in the margins, is based largely on the 
President's deeply flawed budget. I think we can do better. I think we 
can create a budget that is as good for Lazarus as it is for the rich 
man.
  Next week, we will take up the budget resolution, as I have 
indicated. We will work to make it better. But if the last couple weeks 
is an indication, there will be marching orders given to the majority, 
and they will march down here and vote against veterans, against 
children, against women, and against education generally.
  So we will do our best. We will present these issues to the American 
people, and the American people will see what is happening in this 
country. The programs that are important to this country are being 
starved, starved at the expense of the American people. And the tax 
cuts go on.
  Our goal is to turn this budget into a moral document for which we 
can all be proud, a document that truly reflects our Nation's 
priorities and the values of the American people.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, I understand we are in morning business.

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