[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 49 (Monday, March 26, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1559-H1563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1920
           CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS ALTERNATIVE 2013 BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Harris). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Mrs. Christensen) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.
  General Leave
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and to add any extraneous material on the subject matter of the 
Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, soon we will be called upon to vote on 
a budget for 2013. Budgets are supposed to be a statement of our values 
and our vision, and this is the case with the Congressional Black 
Caucus budget. The values that we support in our budget are American 
values. As it says in the title, it restores America's promise and 
invests in our future.
  And at this time, I would like to yield to the person who leads us in 
developing the Congressional Black Caucus budget and who has done so 
for several years, one of the senior members on the Budget Committee, 
Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, we have difficult choices to make when it comes to 
addressing our budget deficit, but the Republican budget makes the 
wrong choices by deeply cutting vital programs like Medicare, Medicaid, 
education, job training, and transportation to pay for massive tax cuts 
that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.
  Our Nation's communities of color have been hardest hit by the 
effects of the Great Recession, and the Republican budget does little 
to address the priorities of these communities. Even

[[Page H1560]]

as our Nation's economy has created nearly 3.9 million private sector 
jobs since February 2010, communities of color still are experiencing 
disproportionately higher rates of unemployment, home foreclosure, 
educational disadvantages, and economic hardship. As a result, 
vulnerable communities are increasingly relying on public programs to 
meet their basic needs.
  With the passage of the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution, then 
the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the fiscal year 2012 Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, these same vital programs have been slashed and 
targeted with even deeper cuts in the House Republican budget even as 
tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans are extended without problems.
  The Congressional Black Caucus has a long history of submitting 
fiscally sound and morally responsible alternatives to budgets proposed 
by both Democrat and Republican Presidents. The CBC alternative budget 
for fiscal year 2013 continues that long tradition, putting forth a 
plan that reduces the deficit over the next decade. It alleviates some 
of the harm inflicted by the Budget Control Act, and increases economic 
opportunities and job creation by ensuring sustained investments in 
education, job training, transportation, infrastructure, and advanced 
research and development. The Congressional Black Caucus budget 
proposes significant increases in these functions of the budget for 
fiscal year 2013 to further accelerate our economic recovery and ensure 
a recovery is felt in every corner of our Nation. At the same time, the 
CBC budget protects and enhances the social safety net that saved 
millions of families from poverty during the Great Recession.
  Unlike the proposed Republican budget, the CBC budget does not 
significantly reduce Medicaid or cut food assistance or force seniors 
to contribute more of their hard-earned money towards their health care 
expenses by dismantling Medicare and other vital support services. The 
CBC budget achieves all of this by making tough but responsible 
decisions to pay for tax cut extensions by making our tax system 
fairer, closing corporate loopholes and preferences that have 
contributed to the loss of American jobs.
  Deficit reduction and the path of fiscal responsibility must not be 
on the backs of our Nation's most vulnerable citizens. We cannot win 
the future by leaving our most vulnerable behind. Our success as a 
Nation is interwoven in the success of every community, and this goal 
is reflected in the Congressional Black Caucus alternative budget for 
fiscal year 2013.
  Now let me go through some of the details of the budget, because many 
of the budgets that have been presented in the past have missing 
numbers or unspecified cuts or things that you know aren't going to 
happen. These are our recommendations for a budget and where we are on 
the bottom line.
  The CBC budget assumes as its baseline all of the President's 
spending and revenue assumptions. The CBC budget then not only extends 
certain tax cuts but also pays for all of the tax cuts for hardworking, 
middle-class Americans, and then it enacts tax reform measures to pay 
for the extension, raising nearly $4 trillion in new revenue over the 
next decade.
  We do that by:
  Reining in Wall Street speculation with a financial speculation tax 
that will raise approximately $840.9 billion over 10 years;
  Ensuring Wall Street bankers pay the same tax rates as working 
Americans by taxing carried interest, dividends, and capital gains as 
ordinary income, which will raise almost $1 trillion over 10 years;
  Enacting the Buffett Rule and adding a millionaire surcharge similar 
to the legislation that was in the House version of the Affordable Care 
Act. That will raise approximately $600 billion over 10 years;
  Closing certain tax loopholes and preferences. There are so many of 
them that, by closing those loopholes and deductions, we can raise $1.3 
trillion over 10 years; and
  Ending the mortgage interest deduction for vacation homes and yachts, 
which will add a few billion dollars over 10 years.
  The bill also protects Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food 
assistance, welfare under TANF, unemployment insurance, and other vital 
safety net programs that are hit hard by the Republican budget.
  We restore important funding for programs that were cut under the 
Budget Control Act, cancel the sequester for security and nonsecurity 
programs, match the Democratic alternative budget on defense, and 
invest another $153 billion over the next decade in vital programs that 
will accelerate our economy and support hardworking American families.
  We do that by increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $1,000, to a total 
of $6,500. We invest an additional $25 billion above the President's 
budget in education and job training in 2013 alone. We also continue 
unemployment benefits and provide benefits for those who, through no 
fault of their own, have been unemployed for more than 99 weeks. We 
invest an additional $50 billion in job creating transportation and 
infrastructure programs in 2013, alone, and $155 billion above the 
President's budget over the next decade. We match the independent 
budget for Veterans Affairs, as recommended by a coalition of veterans' 
groups. We invest $12 billion more in advanced research and development 
programs like NASA, the Department of Energy, and the National Science 
Foundation, which will create jobs now and in the future. We have 
additional funding for housing, foreclosure assistance, and other 
important programs and community development. We provide an additional 
$10 billion in vital health care programs, such as community health 
centers. And we create a public health insurance option under the 
Affordable Care Act, giving American people a real choice when the 
exchanges come into effect by allowing them to pick, as one of their 
choices, a public option. Adopting a public option has been scored as a 
$100 billion savings over 10 years because those programs will cost 
less.
  When the dust settles, the CBC budget will reduce the deficit by an 
additional $769 billion as compared to the Republican budget over the 
next decade. Let me say that again. We will reduce the deficit by an 
additional $769 billion compared to the Republican budget over the next 
decade. It is more fiscally responsible. It addresses the needs of our 
public, and, therefore, I would hope that we would adopt the 
Congressional Black Caucus budget and not the Republican budget that 
will be presented on the floor.
  And I yield back to the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Scott. Thank you for your 
leadership over all of these years in developing such a responsible 
budget. The CBC is proud to offer that as an alternative again this 
year.
  Now I would like to yield to Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio, who 
is a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee. She is a 
strong advocate for education and closing the achievement gap and for 
many of the safety net programs that we protect in this budget.
  Ms. FUDGE. I would like to thank my colleague, Representative 
Christensen, for her work and continuing to anchor this CBC hour. I 
think it is very, very important. She is very special because she is 
determined to make sure that the United States knows that we, the CBC, 
are fighting for them every day. And I thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the devastating impacts that the 
Republican budget would have on the middle class and American workers, 
as well as students, seniors, and the poor.
  A budget, Mr. Speaker, is a reflection of priorities. It exemplifies 
objectives and goals. The Republicans' priorities are clear: cut taxes 
for the most wealthy Americans while achieving deficit reduction 
through drastic spending cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and other 
important programs. The Republican budget would abandon the economic 
recovery we are in and implement policies that ship American jobs 
overseas.

                              {time}  1930

  It would assume deep cuts in transportation spending next year, 
ignore job creation, and reject sensible proposals for economic growth 
and future competitiveness.
  The Congressional Black Caucus will present a budget this week--thank 
you to my colleague, Mr. Scott--that

[[Page H1561]]

would protect seniors who rely on Medicare, the disabled who need 
Medicaid, and the unemployed who would go hungry without SNAP. It would 
support our economy through investment in transportation and 
infrastructure and would encourage American innovation. The Republican 
budget would reject investments in innovation by cutting funding for 
research and development. It would ignore the benefits of these 
investments on future generations.
  Should the Republican budget go into effect, we would miss a great 
opportunity to support American innovation and to develop emerging 
technologies that create the jobs of the future. In addition, the 
Republican budget would fail our students by proposing drastic cuts 
that would devastate education funding and increase costs for college 
students. It would allow higher interest rates on student loans 
starting this year and eliminate the income-based repayment plans that 
help graduates manage their loans.
  In contrast to the Republican budget, the CBC budget would increase 
the maximum Pell Grant by nearly $1,000 and invest an additional $25 
billion above the President's budget in education and job training in 
fiscal year 2013, alleviating State and local education budget cuts and 
protecting jobs for teachers.
  Even the middle class is not spared from the Republican cuts. The 
Republican budget would outsource jobs through tax policies. It would 
actually encourage multinational companies to ship thousands of jobs 
overseas while costing the American economy billions of dollars.
  By contrast, the CBC budget would ensure that Wall Street bankers pay 
the same tax rates as working Americans by taxing carried interest, 
dividends, and capital gains as ordinary income. The CBC budget would 
close corporate tax loopholes, adding approximately $1.3 trillion in 
revenue over 10 years.
  Just like last year, the Republican budget would end the Medicare 
guarantee and shift costs to seniors. Rather than having the guaranteed 
coverage of benefits, seniors would receive a voucher. Yet the voucher 
will not grow as quickly as health care costs--simply shift costs on to 
seniors. As the AARP pointed out:

       The premium support method described in the Republican 
     proposal would likely ``price out'' traditional Medicare as a 
     viable option, thus rendering the choice of traditional 
     Medicare as a false promise.

  The CBC budget would support our seniors, working Americans, and the 
middle class. And the CBC budget will reduce the deficit by an 
additional $3.4 trillion as compared to the President's budget over the 
next decade.
  The Republican budget would repeat last year's attempts to 
drastically reduce SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, for struggling 
families. It would slash SNAP funding by roughly $130 billion over 10 
years and completely eliminate categorical eligibility. SNAP is 
currently serving 47 million people, nearly three-quarters of whom are 
families with children. Throwing people off the rolls would make it 
practically impossible for people to afford a nutritionally sound diet.
  For 2 years in a row, we've seen Republican priorities in the 
Republican vision for the Nation. Mr. Speaker, the Republican budget is 
the wrong plan for American workers; it is the wrong plan for families 
trying to put food on the table; it is the wrong plan for unemployed 
Americans; the wrong plan for students; and the wrong plan for seniors.
  I urge my colleagues to support the budget presented by the 
Congressional Black Caucus and to vote ``no'' on the proposed 
Republican budget.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congresswoman Fudge, and thank you for 
your strong defense of programs for children, for our seniors, and for 
families across this country.
  I would now like to yield such time as he might consume to 
Congressman Danny Davis, a strong fighter for health equity, for 
justice in our criminal justice system. He is a valued member of the 
Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. First of all, I want to thank the gentlelady 
from the Virgin Islands for her leadership in convening and anchoring 
these sessions that we hold each week. I also want to commend and pay 
tribute to Representative Bobby Scott for the tremendous leadership and 
work that he provides each year in helping the Congressional Black 
Caucus analyze, synthesize, and look seriously at how we move forward 
as we prepare a budget.
  As has already been indicated, budgets are indications of 
priorities--what is it that you're really hoping to do; what do you 
really hope to accomplish. And so this budget I view as a tremendously 
positive alternative to any of our budgets that I have seen at this 
time. So I rise in strong support of the Congressional Black Caucus' FY 
2013 alternative budget.
  February's job report reveals 3 months of strong jobs growth in 
America. And while there is a sigh of relief for millions of consumers 
and the unemployed moving from the sidelines in search of work with 
hopes that their prospects will improve, there is little change for the 
5.4 million long-term unemployed, 8.1 million involuntary part-time 
workers, and marginally attached individuals no longer in the labor 
force who wanted and were available for work and who looked for a job 
at some point during the last 12 months.
  And so it becomes obvious that any budget should have at its core 
job-creation opportunities so that people can experience this 
opportunity, or this commodity, that we call work.
  Appearances of an economy poised for growth does little for 
underserved minorities residing in disinvested communities blighted 
with high rates of joblessness, poor-performing schools, poverty, and 
crime. Indeed, the promise of a new day and new hopes are few and 
far between for poor and low-income workers, generally, and returning 
citizens with barriers to employment in particular.

  Indeed, over the past decade, the poor in America have gotten poorer. 
And, of course, the wealthy have gotten wealthier. Those called 
``middle class'' have been squeezed to the point where they're 
teetering and certainly could go in either direction, that is, up with 
the right kinds of opportunities and down with the wrong kinds of 
opportunities.
  I don't believe that we can afford in good conscience to continue to 
turn a blind eye to census figures and monthly data reports of the 
economic injustices and suffering being imposed upon a growing number 
of people. Moreover, we cannot continue to hold a great Nation hostage 
for the sake of a few while millions suffer. If we're truly going to 
address the crisis in America and put all Americans back to work and 
reduce poverty, we must create a mixture of universal and targeted 
programs capable of weathering political obstacles.
  The Congressional Black Caucus alternative budget is a means to this 
end. Indeed, the CBC budget safeguards investment in public education, 
Pell Grants, and transportation vital to equipping minority youth and 
adults with skill sets so that they can obtain and maintain access to 
gainful sustainable employment in our ever-changing global economy; and 
also by renovating and building new schools and investing an additional 
$50 billion in transportation and infrastructure in 2013 and $155 
billion above the President's budget over the next decade, repairing 
and building bridges across lakes, rivers, and streams, but also 
bridges to opportunity.

                              {time}  1940

  The Congressional Black Caucus budget protects the health care safety 
net programs that have been developed. It also protects Second Chance 
funding while restoring funding to Department of Justice programs for 
citizens who are returning home from jail and prison with serious 
barriers to employment.
  We hold these truths to be self-evident that if America is to become 
the America that it has never been but the America that all of us hope 
for and know that it can be, then we would take the principles encased 
in the Congressional Black Caucus budget and comply those to whatever 
budgets are ultimately passed.
  So, again, I want to commend Mr. Scott, and I want to thank Delegate 
Christensen.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Davis.
  I'd like to just say a few words about the Congressional Black Caucus 
budget. I'm in strong support of this budget.

[[Page H1562]]

As I said, it's a responsible budget that is a statement of our values 
and priorities; and as the title says, it restores America's promise to 
invest in our future.
  Our budget, as Congressman Scott said, builds upon the President's 
budget, and it would ensure that our children, our veterans, and 
seniors are protected and adequately taken care of. We invest in 
education and health care as well as in research and innovation. Our 
budget provides revenue by enacting tax measures that are fair, that 
close loopholes, and that protect tax cuts for hardworking, middle 
class families while protecting vital safety nets that help the poor, 
and it provides them with stepping stones out of poverty.
  Those safety nets that we protect are, for example, Social Security; 
Medicare; Medicaid--a critical program; the Supplemental Nutrition 
Assistance Program, SNAP; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, 
TANF; and many, many others. It does all of that while reducing the 
deficit by an additional $3.4 trillion compared to the President's 
budget.
  Our budget stands as a direct contrast to the Republican Ryan budget. 
The Ryan budget begins at the outset by breaking the hard-fought 
agreement on caps set in the Budget Control Act in 2011. If they can't 
keep their word on something that they forced an agreement on, then 
what will they keep their word on? So the Republican budget begins 
across-the-board cuts at 5.4 percent in 2013. They do not cut any 
defense spending, as agreed to in the Budget Control Act; but in 2014, 
they would reduce those caps 19 percent below the agreed-to cap in non-
defense spending over 10 years. And I guess they know that the Supreme 
Court arguments made by those 26 States that began today against the 
Affordable Care Act are not going to win the day, that the Court will 
uphold the constitutionality of the law, and so the Republican budget 
would repeal the Affordable Care Act.
  Just take a look at what Republicans take out of health care. They 
would cut funding for the Indian Health Service by 19 percent beginning 
in 2014. That would greatly diminish access to health care for the 
American Indians who already suffer disproportionately from many 
diseases and, as a result, who have a very low life expectancy compared 
to the white population.
  In the Republican budget, there are cuts to funding for the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services which would make it very difficult 
for that agency to meet its responsibilities in overseeing these 
critical programs. There are also cuts to the Food and Drug 
Administration, which would reverse what Democrats were able to do to 
strengthen protections in food and medicines, and cutting back on those 
programs would put the American public at an increased risk.
  While in this difficult economic climate the President's budget 
managed to fund NIH at its current level, the Republican Ryan budget 
would jeopardize new research by cutting that budget; and that research 
that would lead to innovations in medicine and improve lives would be 
jeopardized. In addition, they cut WIC and turn SNAP into a block 
grant, which weakens their ability to help those who increasingly find 
themselves food insecure as the gap between the rich and poor has 
widened and incomes have plummeted. And it cuts the Republicans' 
favorite target, the EPA, which would reduce our investments in public 
health and harm our ability to protect our public from air and water 
pollution and land contamination.
  On the other hand, our budget, the CBC budget, which is always a very 
responsible budget--responsible to the American people and fiscally 
responsible while providing more deficit reduction than the Republican 
Ryan budget--still makes important investments that are critical to a 
strong future, including in health care.
  First of all, our budget upholds the Affordable Care Act and fully 
funds it, but it takes it one step further by creating a public health 
insurance option that by itself saves almost $103 billion in health 
care costs over the next decade. It adds $10 billion to health care 
funding in the 2013 budget, and that $10 billion more robustly funds 
the following important programs, such as the AIDS drug assistance 
programs, which have been underfunded for years, causing States to drop 
persons from their rosters with HIV and AIDS or reducing the coverage, 
reducing the benefits, and causing increasingly long waiting lists. It 
also increases funding for Ryan White, the Minority AIDS Initiative, 
and prevention activities for HIV, for STDs, for TB, and hepatitis.
  Our budget funds the Office of Minority Health, which was expanded 
and strengthened under the Affordable Care Act to improve health 
equity. We expand and pay for oral health programs, for health care 
facilities improvements and construction. We increase funding for the 
maternal and child health in the Preventive Health Block Grant. We fund 
the Physician-Scientist Training program, which brings underrepresented 
minorities into health care careers both in the practice of medicine, 
as providers, and in research. We provide additional funding for 
substance abuse and mental health services administration.
  And we finally provide adequate funding for the National Institute on 
Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH. We also restore funding 
for the REACH program, a very important program that assists racial and 
ethnic minority communities to develop programs and unique approaches 
to health care just uniquely for those communities.

  We fund many, many other health-related programs and services. And 
still, with all of that, we reduce that deficit by $3.4 trillion over 
the next 10 years. Those health provisions, as well as those in 
education, in research and innovation, and in the protection of the 
safety net programs and tax fairness, those in the CBC budget make it 
one that is clearly a statement of our values and priorities, a 
statement of America's values, values that everyone in this body should 
support.
  At this time, I would like to yield again to our leader on the budget 
in the CBC, Congressman Bobby Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands 
for her very strong statement.
  Mr. Speaker, we have tough choices to make; and when we start the 
discussion with how much people will get in tax cuts, you know the rest 
of the discussion will not be serious. We have decided if you're going 
to have tax cuts, if you're going to extend them, they have to be paid 
for. That is the historic contrast between the CBC budget and the 
Republican budget.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, when people say we have to cut Medicare, they 
should look at the Republican budget because the only reason you have 
to cut Medicare is to fund the tax cuts. If you do not extend the tax 
cuts, you don't have to cut Medicare. When the same budget includes 
massive tax cuts and cuts in Medicare, people ought to notice that if 
you don't have the tax cuts, you don't have to cut Medicare.
  Now, the Republican budget has virtually dismantled Medicare. It 
provides a voucher, but I think they like to call it--what?--a premium 
support something or other. Basically, you dismantle your right to 
Medicare, and you get some money to go see if you can buy some 
insurance in the private market. It turns out that the amount of money 
you're given--I'll call it a voucher--will be about $6,000 short of 
what you need to get the equivalent of Medicare coverage. That's where 
the savings is. You don't reduce the cost of health care; you just 
shift it over to the seniors.

                              {time}  1950

  Now, one of the ways they try to convince people to go along with it 
is they tell people who are paying attention, those over 55, they say, 
well, it's not going to apply to you. We will continue to plan for 
about 10 years, and then we'll inflict this scheme on everybody else.
  Some people over 55 say, well, that's good, I don't have to worry 
about it. Well, actually, people over 55 do have to worry about it 
because the people making the promise that you will be able to have a 
Cadillac Medicare program when people coming behind have a little motor 
scooter for their health care, and you think people are going to pay 
taxes, when they're going to get a motor scooter, for your Cadillac 
plan--I think the idea that they're going to continue paying those 
taxes are remote.
  You have to notice that 10 years from now, when the decision gets 
made to

[[Page H1563]]

start to inflict this scheme on the younger people, the people who will 
be keeping the promise for those over 55 aren't the ones that made the 
promise. They will be new representatives who don't have any commitment 
to keeping that promise. In fact, election after election, some of the 
younger people may ask, well, are you going to continue taxing me to 
support a Medicare program when all I'm going to get is a voucher? I 
want to know which one of the candidates will either cancel the 
Medicare for everybody and have everybody get this little voucher 
thing, or continue the Medicare program for everybody. I want to know 
if anybody up there is going to tax me for a Medicare program that I'm 
not going to get. And after five election cycles, the people that 
survive that will be the ones dealing with the promise that others 
made.
  I doubt if any of them will be able to sustain that kind of pressure. 
When the time comes, either everybody will get this little voucher 
thing or everybody will get a Medicare card. The idea that some will 
get a nice, big Medicare package and everybody else coming behind get a 
little piece of voucher and think that's going to be sustained for any 
length of time, I think they've got another thought coming.
  So people ought to recognize that even those over 55 have to protect 
Medicare. And the reason it's being cut is so that millionaires can get 
their tax cuts. You let those millionaires' tax cuts expire, you don't 
have to cut Medicare.
  Now, as the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands said, we have a 
responsible budget. We name the cuts that are made. We name the taxes 
that will be affected. And you can see exactly what we're doing. 
Unfortunately, in the Republican budget, you get these unspecified 
cuts, 19 percent on average. Well, you know it's not going to be on 
average. It's not going to be across the board because some programs 
won't be cut. You're not going to cut the FBI by 19 percent. You're not 
going to cut Federal prisons by 19 percent. So all those that you don't 
cut you end up having to double up to meet your number, you've got to 
double up on the next one.
  So we have no idea what's going to happen, other than all of these 
kind of unspecified cuts. And hopefully everybody's thinking, well, 
that's not going to be my program, that's not the one I depend on, when 
in fact it might not only be 19 percent, it might be 20, 30, 40 percent 
cuts in those programs.
  The fact is that the Congressional Black Caucus budget is a 
responsible budget, and it comes in almost $800 billion better on the 
bottom line than the Republican budget that will be the alternative. We 
have shown that you can be responsible, you can be compassionate, and 
you can be fiscally responsible. That's the Congressional Black Caucus 
budget.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you for summarizing that for us and for 
pointing out the very important point that, in order to keep those tax 
cuts for the millionaires, those programs that so many people in this 
country, the poor and the middle class, depend on will be cut. That's a 
tradeoff that this country should not be taking and we do not support.
  So we are very pleased to present our budget. As I said, and as 
Congressman Scott said, this is a very responsible budget that not only 
invests in the future and keeps America's promise to its people, but it 
saves money, $3.4 trillion over 10 years to reduce the deficit.
  With that, we ask for the support of our colleagues, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) alternative budget.
  The CBC Budget proposes an additional $10 billion in funding for 
general Science, Space and Technology activities. Specifically, this 
funding will apply towards agencies I oversee as Ranking Member of the 
Committee, such as NASA; the National Science Foundation and NIST; and 
to many programs we specifically authorized in the America COMPETES Act 
and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, including Noyce 
Scholarships; the ADVANCE program for women faculty; Graduate Research 
Fellowships; and many other important research and STEM education 
related programs.
  The CBC Budget also invests an additional $2 billion towards Energy 
providing additional funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency 
at the Department of Energy which also falls under my Committee's 
jurisdiction.
  We all know that our nation's future strength is directly dependent 
upon our commitment to a robust science agenda. As Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, we urge support for programs that broaden 
participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also 
called STEM.
  As we call for increased funding for programs which broaden 
participation for STEM, we are concerned that the Administration's 
FY2013 budget holds funding for these critical programs flat even as 
other STEM programs grow and new ones are created. We remain concerned 
that we still have not actually moved the needle much in terms of 
participation in STEM by underrepresented groups nationwide.
  Given the low participation by these groups in most STEM disciplines, 
the changing demographics of this country are going to catch up with us 
very soon with respect to having a STEM-skilled workforce for 21st 
Century jobs. In some industries we are already seeing a troubling 
skills gap that will only become worse if we don't broaden 
participation in STEM by minorities, and women for that matter.
  As the first African American and first female Ranking Member of the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, broadening participation 
in STEM remains a top priority of mine. Broadening participation is not 
a minority issue or a gender issue, it is a national competitiveness 
issue we all must work to address for our country's benefit.
  The under-representation of women and minority groups in STEM fields 
is a severe impediment to the formation of an adequate American STEM 
workforce. The increased education and participation of this segment of 
the workforce is essential to supplying the American economy with the 
STEM expertise the country needs to innovate and remain competitive.
  In 2008, the US Census Bureau recorded African-Americans, Hispanics, 
and Native Americans as making up 28.2 percent of the US population, 
and yet, these groups only represent a mere 10 percent of the science 
and technology workforce. By the year 2050, minorities are predicted to 
represent 55 percent of the college population.
  As a Caucus we support funding increases in programs which broaden 
participation in the sciences. Low-income and minority communities bear 
a disproportionate share of the national shortfall of highly qualified 
STEM teachers. Schools in these areas often lack adequate facilities 
such as science laboratories and other college preparatory tools that 
cultivate a hands-on, interactive learning environment.
  Of great importance to us are funding and programmatic focus on high-
need areas, low-income populations, and underrepresented groups 
wherever possible. We are pleased and supportive of the many provisions 
within the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization of 2010 which will 
result in improving the effectiveness and impact of activities to 
broaden participation across the entire $6 billion in research grants 
at the National Science Foundation. However, in order to expand 
participation of minorities in the sciences we still have some work to 
do.
  We need to strengthen the capacity of community colleges in which 
many of our students are enrolled. We need to award more grants 
directly to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) 
involved in research collaborations, enabling these institutions to 
build their research capacity in ways that serve their own faculty and 
students best. We should provide more scholarships and other avenues to 
decrease the financial burden many African American students 
disproportionally face. Finally, we need to support programs which will 
lead to more African American teachers and mentors.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know my commitment to priorities of the 
Congressional Black Caucus remains strong and as Ranking Member of the 
Committee on Science, Space and Technology I look forward to continuing 
to work with the Administration to identify solutions to new, or 
persistent issues that threaten to set our nation back even as we 
continue to look forward to our future.

                          ____________________