[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E887-E888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 17, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration of the concurrent 
     resolution (H. Con. Res. 376) establishing the congressional 
     budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2007 
     and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal 
     years 2008 through 2011:

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Chairman, this budget resolution that we are now 
debating is being sold as a deficit-reduction measure, but that is 
false advertising. This budget resolution does contain spending cuts--
ones that hit lower-income families particularly hard. But those 
spending cuts pale beside the companion tax reconciliation measure that 
the President just signed into law. Together, those budget actions add 
to the deficit; they don't reduce it.

[[Page E888]]

Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the provision in this budget 
resolution that would increase the federal debt limit for the fifth 
time under President Bush.
  This President and this Congress have squandered the fiscal 
discipline of the 1990s and created a legacy of deficits and debt that 
will erode the standard of living of our children and our 
grandchildren. This is a record-setting Administration, but they are 
the wrong records. We have seen the federal budget deficit set a record 
in dollar terms, we have seen the national debt rise to a record level, 
and we have seen our trade deficit and our indebtedness to the rest of 
the world rise to a record level.
  The President likes to talk about how fast the economy is growing and 
how successful his policies have been in stimulating an economic 
recovery from the 2001 recession. But the American people are saying 
``what economic recovery?'' and, ``when am I going to see any benefits 
from this President's economic policies?'' Mr. Speaker, we should 
listen to the American people and we should adopt economic policies 
that promote the economic well-being of all Americans--not just those 
at the very top of the economic ladder.
  The President's FY 2007 budget and the House budget resolution do not 
do that. Instead they perpetuate economic policies that have produced a 
legacy of deficits and debt that leave us unprepared to deal with the 
budget challenges posed by the retirement of the baby-boom generation 
and that weakens the future standard of living of our children and 
grandchildren.
  Economic policy over the past 5 years has not served the interest of 
the typical American family. The resilience of the American economy has 
allowed it to recover from the 2001 recession, but we are still 
experiencing the labor market effects of the most protracted jobs slump 
in decades. Job creation has lagged far behind what is typical in a 
strong economic recovery, there is still evidence of hidden 
unemployment, and the benefits of productivity growth have been showing 
up in the bottom lines of companies rather than in the paychecks of 
workers. Finally, there is a growing gap between the ``haves'' and the 
``have-nots'' in this country as income and earnings disparities have 
widened.
  Yes, workers have become more productive--they produce more and more 
in each hour that they work. But they haven't been getting rewarded for 
that productivity. Average hourly earnings have not kept up with 
inflation for the past 2 years and they barely kept even the year 
before that. Median family income has failed to keep up with inflation 
every year under President Bush.

  Those who are already well-to-do are doing very well in the Bush 
economy. But the typical American family is struggling to make ends 
meet in the face of high costs for energy, health care, and a college 
education for their children.
  This budget resolution does not address any of these problems. In 
fact, it makes things worse. An analysis by the Democratic staff of the 
Joint Economic Committee shows that budget cuts in programs that 
provide payments for individuals are concentrated among lower-income 
families, while the tax cuts that have already been enacted go 
overwhelmingly to those at the top of the distribution. More than a 
third of the costs of spending cuts for families go to those in the 
bottom 20 percent of the distribution (families that together have only 
3 percent of aggregate income). Meanwhile those at the top get nearly 
three-quarters of the benefits from the tax cuts. This analysis relates 
to the budget resolution originally brought to the floor a month ago, 
but the essential character of the plan has not changed.
  With policies that have turned a $5.6 trillion 10-year budget surplus 
into a deficit over those same 10 years of at least $2.7 trillion, this 
Administration and this Congress have turned the United States into a 
Nation of debtors, relying on the rest of the world to finance our 
budget deficits and the rest of our excessive spending. Last year we 
had a current account deficit of $805 billion. That is the amount of 
money we had to borrow from the rest of the world to finance our trade 
deficit and international payment imbalance.
  Foreign governments are holding large quantities of our public debt, 
putting us at risk of a major international financial crisis if they 
should decide that the benefits of holding dollars are no longer worth 
the risk.
  Mr. Chairman, future prosperity depends on increasing our national 
savings and making wise investments; it depends on being ready for the 
retirement of the baby-boom generation and the pressure we know that 
will put on the budget. But how is the other side preparing us for that 
future--with more deficits and more debt. They want to make the tax 
cuts that have gotten us into this mess permanent, and they have no 
realistic plan for controlling spending or bringing revenues into line 
with the amount we need to spend to defend the country and take care of 
the needs of our citizens. We need a better plan.

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