[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2410-E2411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                     HON. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2005

  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, there is so much wrong with this legislation that I do 
not know where to begin.
  This ``deficit reduction act'' is a tool for the majority party to 
justify their tax cuts that are poorly timed and do not benefit the 
American citizens who need help the most. It is irresponsible to cut 
funding for vital programs in order to make up for lost revenues due to 
tax cuts that benefit the wealthy. If we do not fix this deficit, we 
are forcing future generations to pay for Congress's fiscal 
irresponsibility. There are no useful deficit reduction measures in 
this bill.
  This budget reconciliation bill cuts essential government programs 
that serve the most vulnerable members of our society. Society and 
government are judged by how we take care of those in need and we must 
do better. All totaled, the bill cuts spending by $53.9 billion dollars 
which includes cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, student loans, and child 
support.
  The cuts to the Medicaid program total $11.9 billion or 22 percent of 
all of the cuts in this legislation. These cuts will result in premium 
increases for all participants and a reduction in benefits that will 
cause millions of children to lose some preventative and treatment 
services. At a time when health concerns are at the forefront of many 
people's minds, we should not be making cuts to Medicaid that will make 
it harder for people to afford the care they need.
  The cuts to the Food Stamp Program total $844 million dollars. These 
cuts would be the result of new limitations on who is qualified to 
receive food stamps. Under this legislation, some families receiving 
other types of federal assistance would be ineligible to receive food 
stamps. It is outrageous that we are cutting this and other programs 
that have been proven to help those who are the most in need.
  The reductions in funding to child support programs total $4.9 
billion or 9 percent of all of the cuts in this legislation. This is 
just plain wrong. States rely on this funding to aid their efforts in 
establishing and enforcing child support orders; orders that are 
necessary if families and children are ever going to receive the 
support owed to them.
  According to the Census Bureau for the most recent year that data is 
available (2001), only 45 percent of custodial parents have received 
the full amount of child support owed to them. There are an estimated 
13.4 million parents with custody of 21.5 million children under age 21 
whose other parent lives elsewhere. About 5-in-6 of those 13.4 million 
parents are mothers.
  Twenty-five percent of single mothers with children in the United 
States are below the poverty level. We must do all that we can to

[[Page E2411]]

help mothers and their children receive the child support that is owed 
to them. Cutting funding to States for child support enforcement is 
obviously moving in the wrong direction.
  As Members of Congress we cannot continue to allow ill-timed and 
badly targeted tax cuts for the wealthy while at the same time cutting 
government programs that help people improve the quality of their lives 
and their wellbeing.
  If we continue along this path we will be shortchanging our children, 
our grandchildren and their children to come. They will inherit a 
government and a country that turned its back on the people who needed 
them most and they will be forced to pick up the pieces.
  We cannot let this happen. I am committed to serving the people of 
the Second District of Maryland and I will not support legislation such 
as this that will negatively impact my constituents or the United 
States as a whole.
  This legislation is just plain wrong and I urge my colleagues to 
oppose the bill.

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