[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H10047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1030
BUDGET RECONCILIATION
(Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, the Federal budget is about priorities.
And with this budget, Republicans have their priorities all wrong. As
an example, The Washington Post reports that young people from rural
America are shouldering a disproportionate burden of the war in Iraq.
Why? Rural Americans are increasingly willing to risk dying in this
Iraqi quagmire to improve their chances of paying for college and
getting a decent paying job.
More than 44 percent of military recruits now come from rural areas.
Only 14 percent come from American cities. Also, many military recruits
are financially strapped. Nearly 50 percent of them come from lower-
middle-class to poor households. In 2004, nearly two-thirds of Army
recruits came from counties in which median household income is below
the U.S. median.
Why do I tell you this? Because the response of this Republican-led
Congress is to impose $14.5 billion in deeper budget cuts in student
aid. How does that add up?
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