[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. CAROLYN C. KILPATRICK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2005

  Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, some of the cuts proposed in 
this ``Deficit Reduction Act'' include Medicaid, student loans, child 
support enforcement, child foster care, supplemental security income, 
farm conservation, and many more.
  Republicans have offered over $50 billion in cuts to much needed 
programs for America's families. The pretext of the these program cuts 
is to bring down the deficit, but all they do is offset the cost of a 
$56.6 billion tax cut package that will come to the floor of the House 
soon. Do not be misled into believing that the budget cuts being 
contemplated are to cover the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast states. 
They are being used to offset the raid that is taking place on the 
Treasury.
  The Republicans are employing a two-pronged strategy for this fiscal 
charade. Today they want us to vote on $50 billion in spending cuts and 
later they will ask us to vote on a $50 billion tax cut for the 
wealthiest top one-tenth of one percent of Americans. It is their hope 
that the American people will not see the connection between the two 
actions. Show the people that you are cutting spending on one hand; 
then cut taxes for your supporters with the other. That is their game. 
I am appalled the Republicans will cut programs for children, the 
hungry, the sick and the vulnerable for tax cuts to the healthiest and 
wealthiest Americans.
  Since 2001, the Republicans have done an excellent job of spinning 
their tax cut packages. They said we could have it all: Medicare 
prescription drug coverage, the War on Terrorism, huge tax cuts, and 
still produce budget surpluses as far as the eye can see. It is a great 
pitch, but there is only one hitch to their argument: it did not happen 
that way. Now Republicans are doing all they can to dodge the 
responsibility for the fiscal situation in which the country now finds 
itself. In fact, the President and my Republican colleagues take pride 
that last year's budget deficit was $320 billion, the third largest 
deficit in history. They take it as a record of accomplishment that the 
deficit was not higher. Now that is spin. Last year's deficit may be 
lower than the $412 billion deficit reached in fiscal year 2004, but 
that hardly entitles the Republicans to bragging rights over their 
fiscal stewardship. Under their leadership, a Republican president and 
Republican Congress have produced a string of record setting budget 
deficits.

  By bringing this bill to the floor, the folk on the other side of the 
aisle have the temerity to say that the program cuts being recommended 
will offset the cost of added spending for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 
That argument is not even close to the truth. That is budgeteering by 
Merlin the Magician. I hope the American people will be able to look 
behind the curtain of their arguments and see them for what they are: 
simply a means to hide from their record of fiscal irresponsibility.
  The President and the Republican majority are adept. Record deficits? 
Not the fault of the party in power. Blame 9/11, or blame the economy, 
or blame Katrina, or blame Saddam Hussein and Iraq, or blame the 
terrorists, or blame whatever. Just do not blame the Republicans or the 
Republican tax cuts for the horrible financial situation our country is 
in. That is the gist of the Republican message we hear today.
  For a President and a party that is artful in avoiding blame for the 
country's fiscal state, for the failure to execute a successful war 
strategy in Iraq, the failure to respond rapidly during Hurricane 
Katrina, the failure to catch Osama bin Laden, the failure to find 
weapons of mass destruction, the failure to provide affordable energy, 
the failure to hire competent people to handle crises, the failure to 
prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, for all the failures that 
have occurred on the watch of this President and this Republican 
Congress, can there be little reason why they want to avoid the ``blame 
game?''
  We can do better. There is no reason why we freely spend to rebuild 
Baghdad but struggle to rebuild Biloxi. When it comes to taking care of 
our own, where is the parity? Why are we applying a tougher standard on 
our own than we are in Afghanistan and Iraq? The budget cuts that will 
be triggered under this bill violates the principle of parity, it puts 
the welfare of others ahead of our own American people. This budget is 
symbolic of the spending priorities of this administration: It puts 
America and Americans last. That is a shame and that is why this bill 
does not deserve our support. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me 
in voting down this unfortunate bill.

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