[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 26, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REDUCING NON-SECURITY SPENDING TO FISCAL YEAR 2008 LEVELS OR LESS

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                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 2011

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in opposition to the 
irresponsible budget resolution under consideration by the House.
  My priorities in the new Congress remain supporting middle class 
families and helping to foster job creation. These goals should be how 
we in Congress measure every action we take. Unfortunately the budget 
resolution before us today fails to meet these goals and is little more 
than a not-so-shrewd act of political theater staged hours before the 
President delivers the State of the Union in this chamber.
  The resolution, which authorizes the Budget Committee chairman to cut 
non-security federal spending to 2008 levels, is an insincere attempt 
at fiscal responsibility. Getting our nation's fiscal house in order is 
a task I and many of my colleagues take seriously. However, rather than 
setting a concrete plan for how Congress should spend taxpayer dollars, 
this resolution contains no hard numbers. Moreover, this resolution 
would take the unprecedented and undemocratic step of empowering one 
Member of Congress with the ability to identify which programs to cut 
and by how much.
  One example of how this resolution will hurt middle-class Americans 
is by cutting the Pell Grant program. Pell Grants help working-class 
Americans afford a college education. Since 2008, Congress increased 
wisely the Pell Grant to $5,550. Should this ill-conceived resolution 
pass, Pell Grants could be cut by nearly 25 percent.
  For America's economy to remain competitive in the coming years, 
Congress must make wise investments of taxpayer dollars. Pell Grants 
are just one of many of these wise investments. Allowing one Member of 
Congress to cut capriciously from federal programs while claiming to be 
fiscally responsible is anything but.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this budget resolution.

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