[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3127-S3128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mrs. MURRAY. I thank the Chair.
  Madam President, for years, we have talked about the fact that the 
annual budget process is the truest test of priorities that the 
President and Congress engage in. For years, I was concerned about the 
last administration's budgets, and I was very vocal about that--too 
little investment in America, too many gimmicks, and too much focus on 
the few and not the many. It was those budgets and the policies they 
imposed that led us to the challenges we are now facing.
  President Obama inherited huge problems not of his own making. That 
is why his first budget blueprint is such a breath of fresh air. 
President Obama's budget is both a statement of priorities and a test 
of our commitment to making our country stronger for all Americans.
  Our Nation faces serious challenges now, but it is not a time to shy 
away from the investments that will ensure our prosperity and our 
competitiveness in the future. His budget builds the foundation that 
will make America stronger by investing in health care, energy 
independence, and education. The President inherited an economic 
recession and staggering deficits. The shortsighted budgets and 
policies of the past have left our infrastructure crumbling, our 
education system falling behind, and the debt of war in the pockets of 
our grandchildren.
  There is no doubt we have to take some serious steps to dig out of 
this hole. President Obama's budget takes steps to cut our deficit in 
half and to restore fairness to our tax system. Importantly, after 8 
years of gimmicks, this budget is transparent and tells the American 
people exactly where we are spending our money. The President accounts 
for war spending and leaves room for natural disasters or other 
emergencies we might face.
  The President has been honest about the challenges that face this 
country, and now he is being honest about where we need to invest. He 
has warned Congress and the American people about the sacrifice we all 
have to make to

[[Page S3128]]

move our country forward, and they are many. But he has also been clear 
that now is the time to continue to invest in health care and energy 
and education reform to ensure our long-term strength and prosperity.
  I come to the floor today to talk specifically about the need to 
invest in education. Investing in education is one of the most certain 
ways we can create jobs and strengthen our economy well into the 
future. Education means economic recovery, and in this global economy a 
good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity, it is a 
prerequisite for success. Ensuring quality education for every American 
is essential to our future as a nation.
  The President and this Congress made a downpayment on that commitment 
in the Economic Recovery Act we passed last month. That bill meant help 
for students in Washington State--my State--who are struggling to 
afford and attend college and students across the country. It means 
serving more K-12 students' needs. It means the ability to restore the 
education cuts our States are facing. It means keeping teachers in 
their jobs and our class sizes down.
  Those investments we made in the economic recovery package are going 
to not only help create jobs, they are going to help our teachers and 
our parents in our communities keep their jobs while they modernize 
education for today's students. Those students are going to be 
tomorrow's highly skilled workforce, so we need to make this investment 
to stay strong as a nation. That economic recovery bill made a 
downpayment on our students' future. The next step we have to take is 
our budget, to help improve education for our kids and for all.
  The budget we are going to be seeing puts a long-needed emphasis on 
preparing students for the jobs of today and tomorrow, with the focus 
on science, math and technology skills and equipment. It focuses on 
21st century skills and early childhood education. It talks about 
career and technical education and accessing and affording higher 
education, which includes 2-year colleges and technical training.
  So let me talk a minute about the budget and its details. The budget 
creates a 0-to-5 plan, which will continue to increase funding for Head 
Start, Early Head Start, and the child care development block grants. 
It encourages State and local investment in early education to help get 
information to parents about quality child care programs, including 
important home visiting programs for parents with young children.
  The budget will make important investments in preparing and 
supporting great teachers and school leaders for our schools. It will 
allow students to achieve their college dream by making critical 
funding to raise the Pell grant in this time of need, and it continues 
the new American Opportunity Tax Credit, which will help families 
across the Nation afford tuition.
  The budget also makes a 5-year, $2.5 billion investment in a new 
Access and Completion Incentive Fund to ensure that low-income students 
complete college. We know that only about 50 percent of our students 
who start a college education in this country complete it. We have to 
do a lot better than that because almost all of our good-paying jobs 
today require a credential beyond high school.
  I come to the floor today to say that now is not a time to sit back 
and just worry. Now is a time to be bold and make the critical 
investments in our country that are so long overdue. Nowhere is this 
clearer than in education. I applaud the President for making his 
commitment clear, and I pledge to work with him and every one of my 
colleagues who are willing to ensure that ours becomes the greatest 
education system in the world.
  Now let me say a word about some of the criticism we have been 
hearing from our friends on the other side of the aisle. I have heard a 
lot of talk about this budget ``taxing'' too much. Well, they must be 
reading a different budget than I am. President Obama's budget would 
not raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans. I think that is important, 
so let me say it again. Ninety-five percent of Americans will not see 
their taxes raised under this plan. In fact, too much of the tax burden 
in this country is being borne today by our working families, and 
President Obama is working hard to fix that. Nine of ten working 
families will see their taxes go down with his budget plan.
  The President's Making Work Pay credit--$400 for individuals and $800 
for families--is extended under his budget plan. That credit cuts taxes 
for 95 percent of our working families. It cuts taxes for 95 percent of 
our working families.
  The American Opportunity Education Tax Credit is going to help our 
families pay for college by providing a $2,500 credit to offset the 
cost of tuition and related expenses, and it makes the credit partially 
refundable.
  Finally, the budget increases eligibility for the refundable portion 
of the child credit.
  Those are just three ways this administration is focusing on tax 
relief for those who need it most--our working families. So while we 
are hearing a lot--and we will continue to hear a lot, no doubt--from 
our friends on the other side about ``taxing'' too much, it is 
important that we all look at the facts and not buy into the rhetoric.
  After 8 long years of budgets that left our American families behind, 
I look forward to working with President Obama and a bipartisan group 
in Congress to move forward and invest in the future strength of this 
Nation. We have a lot of great challenges ahead, but I believe we can 
and we will overcome them by working together, making some tough 
choices, and investing in the best resource we have--the American 
people.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. VITTER. I ask unanimous consent the majority's remaining time be 
preserved and I be allowed to proceed with remarks under the minority 
time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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