[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 52 (Thursday, March 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013

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                               speech of

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 28, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H. Con. Res. 112) 
     establishing the budget for the United States Government for 
     fiscal year 2013 and setting forth appropriate budgetary 
     levels for fiscal years 2014 through 2022:

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of the 
Congressional Black Caucus Alternative Budget for Fiscal Year 2013. The 
budget plan outlined by the CBC takes a direct and balanced approach to 
restoring America's promise, achieves fiscal responsibility and sets a 
priority to invest in our future.
  The CBC Alternative Budget protects Social Security, Medicare, 
Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Unemployment Insurance and other programs that 
are vital to the most vulnerable populations, which are in districts 
throughout this country.
   Although our nation's economy is showing positive signs of growth, 
this Congress must continue to make critical investments in communities 
to accelerate--not stagger--our recovery.
  To that end, the CBC Alternative Budget makes smart investments in 
education, workforce training, and transportation and infrastructure 
projects. These investments are necessary to ensure that America has a 
skilled and educated workforce that is prepared to tackle the 
challenges of the 2ist Century and compete with attempts to take 
American jobs overseas.
  Specifically, the CBC Budget will:
  invest an additional $25 billion above the President's budget in 
Education and Job Training in FY 2013 alone;
  provide an additional $5 billion above the President's Budget request 
for housing programs, foreclosure assistance, and other important 
programs for community development;
  invest an additional $50 billion in job creating transportation and 
infrastructure projects in FY 2013 alone and provide $155 billion above 
the President's budget over the next decade; and
  increase the maximum Pell Grant award by nearly $1,000 over the 
President's Fiscal Year 2013 budget request.
  The CBC Budget acknowledges the deficit and pays for domestic 
priorities by enacting tax reform measures to raise nearly $4 trillion 
in new revenue over the next decade through the Buffet Rule to ensure 
that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, and 
closes corporate tax loopholes and preferences for corporations that 
ship American jobs overseas.
  The $4 trillion in revenue raised from millionaires paying their fair 
share will allow us to pay for an extension of tax cuts for hard 
working, middle class Americans--providing them with more money to feed 
their families, pay their bills, send their kids to school and fill up 
their gas tanks.
   The budget would open an enormous hole in our country's social 
safety net by largely shifting healthcare costs to seniors on Medicare, 
while at the same time giving millionaires and billionaires a free pass 
by giving the rich an average tax cut of $150,000.
  In California alone, 5,252,371 seniors would be forced onto vouchers 
when they retire--a system that has been shown to be a sub-standard 
version of Medicare.
  The GOP budget will force seniors to pay higher premiums in order to 
access the same benefits they would receive under the current system. 
For a typical 67 year-old senior, the Ryan budget could increase out-
of-pocket health care costs by $5,900.
  The GOP budget would decimate our primary assistance to the poor by 
cutting $3.3 trillion from needed programs like Medicaid and 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
  In fact, a report conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy 
Priorities found that 62 percent of proposed cuts in the Ryan budget 
plan come from programs that assist low-income individuals. This is the 
Republican vision: to balance the budget on the backs of the seniors 
and the poor.
  The Ryan budget once again fails the test of balance, fairness, and 
shared responsibility. It takes a slash and burn approach to the 
budget, rather than going line by line to carefully examine where cuts 
and new sources of revenue should be implemented.
  The Ryan budget plan would weaken job growth. The Economic Policy 
Institute found that if we were to follow Chairman Ryan's proposal, 1.3 
million jobs would be lost in 2013 and 2.8 million jobs would be lost 
in 2014.
  Mr. Chair, the CBC Alternative Budget has a better way. We understand 
that our current economic situation calls for a balanced and 
responsible approach that protects our fragile recovery and invests in 
our future.
  For these reasons, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in 
voting for the CBC Alternative Budget.

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