[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 44 (Friday, March 14, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009

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                               speech of

                           HON. JOHN J. HALL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2008

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the (H. Con. Res. 312) 
     revising the congressional budget for the United States 
     Government for fiscal year 2008, establishing the 
     congressional budget for the United States Government for 
     fiscal year 2009, and setting forth appropriate budgetary 
     levels for fiscal years 2010 through 2013:

  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Chairman, I reluctantly voted yesterday 
against the substitute budget offered by Ms. Lee of California. I 
express that reluctance because this substitute included a number of 
individual provisions that I am very proud to support.
  I strongly applaud the fact that the substitute budget included full 
funding for vital education programs, including No Child Left Behind. I 
believe Congress must continue working toward the goal of eliminating 
unfunded mandates. For too long, President Bush and his Republicans 
supporters have forced local communities to bear the brunt of the cost 
of No Child Left Behind's mandates. This has caused undue stress on 
local government's budgets, and led to an unacceptable increase in 
local property taxes in the nineteenth district of New York and across 
the country.
  I'm also proud to support the commitment this bill has for full, 
guaranteed funding for veterans' healthcare. The ongoing wars in Iraq 
and Afghanistan have created a new generation of veterans with new 
healthcare needs. We must make sure that the VA healthcare system will 
accommodate this new influx of patients, while continuing to provide 
high quality care for veterans from previous generations. As a member 
of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am committed to the fact that 
the VA must honor the pact we make with our soldiers; if they fight to 
defend our Nation, our Nation will always make sure they have the care 
they need.
  I was also pleased that the substitute budget included additional 
steps to provide more immediate help to those people struggling to deal 
with our troubled economy. I was proud to support the bipartisan 
economic stimulus package when it passed the House earlier this year, 
and while it was a good start, I believe we need more relief 
specifically targeted to working and middle class families who are 
feeling the worst right now. Relief for these people will only come 
from our commitment to increasing assistance for unemployment 
insurance, food stamps, Federal Medical Assistance Percentage payments 
to states, and housing assistance as is contained in the substitute 
budget.
  Although I've highlighted these specific provisions, there are a 
number of other highly commendable parts of this amendment I would have 
been proud to support. The proposal includes much-needed provisions to 
crack down on corporate welfare and a commitment to expand health 
coverage to all Americans, which I wholeheartedly support. It also 
includes the repeal of the Bush tax cuts, which have helped to put us 
on the path to fiscal ruin while providing no relief for working 
families.
  I strongly support these provisions, and would embrace the 
opportunity to vote for them. Unfortunately, after years of Republican 
rule, our Nation finds itself in the midst of a fiscal nightmare, and I 
believe the only way to restore some semblance of financial discipline 
is through the admirable budget that chairman Spratt has put together. 
It is a difficult decision, but one I do not make lightly. I am also 
concerned that the substitute amendment failed to include much needed 
reform of the AMT. The AMT unnecessarily burdens over 30,000 families 
in my district and threatens to dip further into the middle class. Any 
budget that fails to deal with the AMT fails to deal with one of our 
most pressing national concerns.
  The underlying budget resolution, which I did vote for, contains 
significant funding increases for many of the programs I have 
discussed. The resolution also balances the budget and provides vital 
AMT relief for taxpayers. In light of our difficult fiscal situation, I 
believe that the underlying budget represents a strong step forward, 
and I believe it was deserving of my support.




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