[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E125-E126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PRESIDENT'S FY2009 BUDGET REQUEST

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2008

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my deep concern 
about the budget request that President Bush transmitted to Congress 
earlier this week. By cutting programs important to working families 
and ignoring the significant economic downturn our Nation is facing, 
the administration has yet again demonstrated that its priorities are 
not those of the American people.
  Our Nation is facing the real threat of a recession, and our 
government should be doing everything in its power to get our economy 
moving and to protect the American people from financial hardship. 
While the President has said he wants to work with Congress on an 
economic stimulus package, his budget request contains a number of 
devastating cuts to important programs that will make it even harder 
for our citizens to make ends meet.
  Despite widespread recognition that fixing the U.S. economy will 
require addressing our weak housing market, the President's proposal 
only adds to the uncertainty that families are facing. This budget 
would slash funding for public housing and rental assistance programs, 
eliminating critical aid for lower income families, the elderly and 
minorities, many of whom may be facing foreclosure as a result of the 
subprime mortgage crisis. In Rhode Island, 400 families are at risk of 
losing their homes under the President's cuts to Section 8 vouchers. At 
the same time, he proposes to slash the Community Development Block 
Grant, CDBG, program, which provides vital funding for economic and 
community development in our State's cities and counties.
  A real economic plan should also include an investment in education 
and job training programs that will promote new employment and ensure 
that our workforce can adapt to the jobs of the future. Unfortunately, 
those programs are not priorities in the President's budget, and even 
proposed funding for No Child Left Behind, a program that the President 
touts as one of his biggest accomplishments, does not keep pace with 
the rate of inflation. If this budget is enacted, Rhode Island would 
see $1.5 million less for after-school programs and a cut of almost $6 
million for career and technical education. Even with lay-offs 
happening all across our State, President Bush wants to cut adult 
employment and training services, which would decrease Rhode Island's 
One-Stop Career System by half a million dollars.
  I am deeply disappointed that the President's budget does not even 
begin to fully fund special education programs under the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act. Furthermore, instead of fully funding 
our children's public schools, President Bush has turned back to the 
idea of school vouchers, renaming them Pell Grants for Kids. Vouchers 
will not solve our country's education woes, and naming them after 
Rhode Island's esteemed Senator Pell, who championed public education, 
is grossly misleading and dishonors the legacy of a great Senator.
  The President's budget also fails to make higher education affordable 
for students with economic challenges. Rhode Island, where college 
tuition has risen 45 percent in 4 years, would see a $7 million 
decrease in educational grants for college students. This budget also 
raises the funding level of Pell grants only by slashing funding for 
math and science courses that prepare students for technical programs 
after high school. To maintain our economic advantage in the coming 
years, our Nation must invest more in science, technology, engineering, 
and mathematics education. Cutting these programs is shortsighted and 
endangers our international competitiveness.
  At a time when so many families are having difficulty paving their 
bills, this budget also shreds the safety net programs that help the 
poorest Americans. I am extremely disappointed that the President seeks 
to cut $570 million from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. 
Despite record heating oil prices, the President wants to slash this 
program by 22 percent, a cut that would harm our elderly. Ironically, 
the budget will cause the heating costs of the poor to rise by 
eliminating the Weatherization Assistance Program. A Federal program 
that helps people actually reduce their energy consumption. These 
programs are vital to places like Rhode Island where families are 
struggling with astronomical heating costs.
  The budget also endangers health care programs for our Nation's poor 
and elderly by placing critical domestic health care programs on the 
chopping block. The President has proposed nearly $200 billion in cuts 
to Medicare and Medicaid over the next 5 years. Unfortunately, he aims 
to achieve these cuts by reducing reimbursements to health care 
providers and charging Medicare beneficiaries higher premiums for 
prescription drug coverage and doctors' services. This could not come 
at a worse time for the 316,000 Rhode Island citizens that receive care 
under these vital programs and are seeing the costs of goods rise and 
their purchasing power fall. Furthermore, the health care slated to 
receive additional reimbursement cuts under this proposal continue to 
struggle to properly treat the Medicare population. While I agree that 
we need to address the long-term solvency of Medicare, any reforms 
should be implemented in a manner that is responsive to the needs of 
beneficiaries and providers alike.
  Also contained within the President's budget is a suggested increase 
of $20 billion over 5 years for the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program, SCHIP. This amount falls drastically short of the bipartisan 
SCHIP bill passed by Congress in 2007 that would have expanded coverage 
for millions of children. Unfortunately, the President vetoed that 
legislation and has instead presented us with a proposal that might 
well be insufficient to cover current SCHIP participants, let alone 
cover children who are currently eligible but not yet enrolled in the 
program. As a longtime supporter of SCHIP, I cannot stress how 
important this program is to our children, expectant mothers, and 
parents alike. It is my hope that we will be able to work in a 
bipartisan manner to ensure that this program receives a proper 
reauthorization.

[[Page E126]]

  Federal health care programs are vital not only to our Nation's 
children, seniors, and disabled, but also to the brave men and women 
who served our country. While the President's budget includes an 
increase for VA funding. I highly doubt it will keep pace with the 
health care demands of our returning veterans. I am also dismayed by 
his cut of almost $40 million to medical and prosthetic research, 
programs that have helped our wounded veterans return to a normal life. 
Once again, the President has placed the burden of health care cost 
increases on veterans themselves by proposing to increase co-payments 
and introduce enrollment fees for VA medical care. Congress has opposed 
those efforts in the past, and we will continue to do so.

  Finally, as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I am 
concerned about the impacts of the President's budget on our Nation's 
capacity for response, resiliency, and recovery in the wake of a 
national catastrophe. The budget calls for an unprecedented 79 percent 
cut to the State Homeland Security Grant Program, which awarded $34.8 
million to Rhode Island from 2004 to 2007. The budget would also 
eliminate the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, SAFER, 
Grant program and would slash funding for the Assistance to 
Firefighters Grant program, despite clear evidence that more resources 
are needed to adequately staff and equip fire departments. Local law 
enforcement would also suffer under the President's budget, which would 
cut funding to the Community Oriented Policing Services, COPS, program 
and to Justice Assistance Grants, JAGS, which have reduced crime in 
communities nationwide. Our State and local law enforcement must have 
the resources they need to be effective, and I will fight to block 
these proposed cuts.
  It is obvious that the President's budget does not reflect America's 
priorities. So, we must ask, what are the President's priorities? While 
he recommends raising health care costs for veterans, the President 
wants $70 billion more to continue the war in Iraq, though Defense 
Secretary Gates stated today that that number could climb to $170 
billion. While he wants Congress to permanently extend his tax cuts for 
the wealthiest Americans, his budget does not contain a long-term fix 
for the Alternative Minimum Tax, which if left unaddressed could mean a 
significant tax increase on our middle class. While he slashes programs 
for our most vulnerable citizens, his refusal to follow fiscally 
responsible budgeting practices would mean more deficits in the coming 
years, burdening future generations with crushing interest on the 
national debt. These priorities are wrong for America. I am confident 
that Congress will develop a more humane and careful roadmap for the 
coming year, and I look forward to working with the Democratic 
leadership toward that goal.

                          ____________________