[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WOMEN AND THE BUSH BUDGET

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 2006

  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, as in previous years, 
President Bush has proposed a budget that would harm women and girls 
across the country.
  At a time when over two-thirds of low-income elderly people are women 
and 56 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are women, the President has 
proposed substantial cuts in Medicare, food stamps, and food delivery 
programs.
  On top of the $22 billion cut in Medicare that was passed by this 
Republican-led Congress and the President in February, the Bush budget 
calls for $105 billion more in cuts over the next ten years.
  The President's budget also would eliminate the Commodity 
Supplemental Food Program which serves 420,000 seniors and 50,000 women 
and children with nutritious food packages, often delivered to their 
homes.
  Replacing this home delivery food program with food stamps is not the 
solution, as most people on the program are elderly and in need of home 
delivered food to survive and maintain their health. Moreover, many 
people now on the food delivery program do not qualify for food stamps 
for various reasons. That does not mean they are not in need of home 
delivered food.
  Even if we assumed food stamps were the answer for this group of 
seniors, women, and children, the Bush budget could cause 300,000 
Americans to lose their food stamp benefits.
  The problems with the Bush budget do not end with cuts in Medicare, 
food stamps, and food delivery programs. Bush also intends to cut 
programs that have helped women and girls succeed in education and the 
workforce.
  In 1973, the Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) was introduced by 
a champion for women, the late Representative Patsy Mink. For more than 
30 years, WEEA has funded hundreds of programs to expose girls to 
careers traditionally dominated by men, develop teaching strategies for 
math and science that engage girls, and to help schools comply with 
Title IX.
  At a time when the President is touting the need for a greater 
emphasis on science and math education, his budget would eliminate 
WEEA, along with $664 million in Federal Perkins Loan funds, just 2 
months after Congressional Republicans cut college aid by $12 billion.
  This comes at a time when only 21 percent of master's degrees in 
engineering are awarded to women. The statistics are even worse for 
women of color. Of engineering master's degrees awarded to women, only 
11 percent go to Asian-American women, 4 percent go to African-American 
women, and less than 4 percent go to Latinas. It seems that the 
President's ``competitiveness agenda'' does not apply to women.
  Furthermore, instead of closing the wage gap, the Bush budget would 
increase the gap by eliminating Women in Apprenticeship and 
Nontraditional Occupations program (WANO), which provides grants to 
employers to help recruit, train and retrain women in non-traditional, 
well-paying jobs.
  Statistics show that women in WANO were 47 percent more likely to 
enter a high-paying, technical occupation than women who were not a 
part of the program.
  Bush would eliminate this program at a time when women still earn 
less than men--on average 76 cents to every dollar that a man earns. 
Moreover, in high-paying, high-technology jobs, women who hold Ph.D.s 
in computer science and engineering earn $9,000 less than men.
  Women in the workforce faced with a wage gap and great need for 
child-care assistance would be turned away by the Bush budget.
  Since the beginning of the Bush Administration, 250,000 children have 
lost their child-care assistance. Bush would continue that trend by 
freezing funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant for the 
fifth year in a row. At this rate, 400,000 more children will lose 
their child-care assistance in the next 5 years, creating a situation 
where 25 percent less children receive this assistance than did in 
2000.
  The Bush budget would also leave behind women who end up in violent 
situations, cutting $19.5 million in Violence Against Women programs 
and completely zeroing-out funding for new programs authorized by this 
Congress last year in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 
2005.
  From birth to old age and in their most vulnerable periods in life, 
the Bush budget would leave women and girls behind. I join my fellow 
members of the Women's Caucus today to call on Congress to reverse the 
harmful effects of the Bush's proposed budget on women and girls.

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