[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H16650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 FINAL OMNIBUS BILL IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER THE PRESIDENT'S 
                             BUDGET REQUEST

  (Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, we need a tear-down reform of 
our national health care system. But until we do that, we have an 
obligation to fund the providers and institutions that make our system 
work despite the system. That is why I am so proud of the budget passed 
by the House last night.
  President Bush's budget would have required cuts of 800 grants for 
medical research at the National Institutes of Health. He would also 
cut programs that provide access to health care by $595 million and 
rural health care initiatives by more than 50 percent. We rejected 
those cuts last night in a bipartisan fashion. We approved a bill that 
included $607 million above the President's request for critical 
medical research. And we approved money for community health centers so 
that they can provide access to 280,000 more uninsured Americans. 
Finally, we approved $147 million above the President's budget request 
for rural health care for those critical access projects.
  Mr. Speaker, the health of the United States is stronger today 
because of the budget we passed last night.

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