[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 134 (Thursday, October 20, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H9015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CUTS IN THE BUDGET AMENDMENT

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, there was a phrase they used to use 
around here during the Reagan years called ``take from the needy and 
give to the greedy.'' Well, we are back in session with that same 
thought going.
  These cuts in this budget amendment we just heard about, the 
gentleman from South Carolina said we were not willing to make the 
cuts. Let me tell my colleagues just what one of those cuts was so we 
get a feeling for what they are up to.
  There was a rule in many States that if you were from a poor family 
and you went to a rich family as a foster kid you did not get any 
money. If you went to a poor family, you would get some money. They 
went into court, and the court said it did not make any difference what 
kind of a family you were living in; it was what the child had access 
to and every child ought to receive foster child payments in the United 
States, no matter where they were or what situation they were in.
  What the Republicans want to do in this bill is repeal a court 
decision. They do not like what the courts did. The same thing is true 
about kinship care. If a child is picked up by a foster home, they get 
money; but if they are picked up by their grandmother, they are not 
entitled to it, no matter what the circumstances are. That is the 
family friendly Republican budget cuts.

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