[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 28 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chair, I oppose the continuing resolution put 
before us by the Republican leadership, which proposes to cut $100 
billion in spending below the funding levels President Obama requested 
in his budget for fiscal year 2011.
  According to a summary developed by the House Appropriations 
Committee, these cuts are ``a massive down payment on the new 
Republican majority's commitment to drastically decrease discretionary 
funding in order to help our economy thrive and spur job creation.''
  Sadly, there does not appear to be any accompanying material that 
specifies exactly how cutting funds from programs that make essential 
investments in our communities and in our Nation's infrastructure will 
spur economic growth. Specifically, I would like to know how many jobs 
will be created by cutting $581 million from state and local law 
enforcement assistance or by cutting billions in funding for the high 
speed rail program.
  I would also like to know how cutting hundreds of millions of dollars 
from each of the HUD community development fund, the clean water and 
drinking water state revolving funds, or from transit capital 
investment grants will support job creation.
  Frankly, I don't believe these cuts will create any jobs--nor do I 
believe they will support the economic growth that will move our 
country out of the recession created by an appalling combination of 
regulatory failure and corporate recklessness.
  Mr. Chair, while I agree that the current deficit is not sustainable, 
we are also not going to create jobs by cutting aid programs for the 
poor.
  According to an October 2010 report released by the Congressional 
Research Service, 3.7 million more persons fell below the poverty line 
in 2009 compared to the number below the poverty line in 2008. These 
3.7 million people were pushed into poverty by a recession they did not 
create.
  As a result, in 2009, a total of 43.6 million persons had incomes 
below the poverty line--more than at any time since we began tracking 
this measure in 1959.
  Within that figure, 1 in every 5 children in this country lived in 
poverty in this Nation in 2009.
  These figures can only be described as appalling.
  And yet we are told that cutting billions from job training programs, 
cutting a billion dollars from community health centers, cutting a 
billion from Head Start, and cutting $747 million from nutritional 
programs for mothers and infants will help eliminate our $14 trillion 
dollar national debt and will also ``help our economy thrive and spur 
job creation.''
  Mr. Chair, these cuts will not contribute to a thriving economy or 
create a single job--but they will take essential aid from the millions 
in our Nation who have the least.
  If we are serious about cutting our debt, we must understand what has 
created that debt.
  Poor people did not create this debt.
  However, an analysis developed by the Center on Budget and Policy 
Priorities in mid-2010 found that ``just two policies dating from the 
Bush Administration--tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--
accounted for over $500 billion of the deficit in 2009 and will account 
for almost $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 through 2019, including the 
associated debt-service costs.''
  Despite the central role that tax cuts for the wealthy have had in 
increasing national debt, Congress voted just a few months ago to 
extend the Bush-era tax cuts, adding billions more to the national 
debt, including more than $80 billion for the tax cuts provided to the 
highest 2 percent of earners.
  Given this choice, it should not come as a surprise that our national 
debt is continuing to grow.
  Since we appear to be unable to consider serious proposals that will 
cut the deficit while truly supporting economic recovery, I urge my 
colleagues to vote against this amendment and to vote no on the 
continuing resolution.

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