[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 39 (Monday, March 18, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H1560-H1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CBC HOUR: THE PEOPLE'S BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Daines). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Good evening, Mr. Speaker. It's my privilege to join 
with my colleague, Mr. Jeffries, the gentleman from New York, to 
coanchor this hour along with the Congressional Black Caucus and my 
colleagues from the CBC to talk about something very important right 
now to the American people, and that is the budget and who we will 
balance the budget on as far as how we move forward for the American 
people.
  Less than 1 month after the sequester, Republicans have presented a 
carbon copy budget of their austerity plans of the past. The American 
people spoke loud and clear last November. They believe in investing in 
our recovery, turning our economy around, and getting people back to 
work. They reject balancing the budget on the backs of our children, 
seniors, and the middle class. Yet the Ryan budget starts with the 
premise that the sequester is good policy, that the ultrawealthy 
deserve another tax break, and that we don't really need to invest in 
our children or their future.
  So tonight, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, the Congressional Black 
Caucus and I will lay out why the Ryan budget is a failed proposal for 
the American people and why we need to support an alternative offered 
by the Congressional Black Caucus and those who have worked hard to 
craft it.
  I would like to recognize our chair of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, the gentlelady from Ohio (Ms. Fudge).
  Ms. FUDGE. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I want to thank my colleagues, Congressmen Jeffries and Horsford, for 
again leading the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour on an 
issue of great importance--the Federal budget.
  Mr. Speaker, every year since 1981, the Congressional Black Caucus 
has produced an alternative budget to both Republican and Democratic 
budgets. The CBC budget has consistently provided a fair and balanced 
approach to managing the Federal Government's finances. The CBC 
alternative budget for fiscal year 2014 is a pro-growth, pro-people, 
and pro-America budget. It acknowledges that only by investing in 
Americans, in the American people, can you build a bridge to a better 
America.
  This message could not be more important as our Nation still 
struggles to recover from the worst economic recession since the Great 
Depression. Compounding this problem is growing income inequality. 
America needs congressional leadership to pull us out of our economic 
malaise, address our fiscal issues, and ensure that our recovery is 
felt in every community. Unfortunately, this is where the House 
Republican budget fails.
  Chairman Ryan's budget attempts to lead America towards financial 
success by placing America's most vulnerable on the path to financial 
ruin. The Republican budget seeks to cut education funding, including 
money for Pell Grants. It slashes economic assistance to programs like 
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which could mean 8 to 9 
million eligible households without benefits. It dismantles the 
Affordable Care Act. This means reducing access to affordable health 
care for the 27 million uninsured Americans who are projected to gain 
coverage under the law. This is neither the vision that the American 
people want, nor is it what the American people need.
  Now, let's contrast the CBC budget and how it creates opportunity 
instead of snatching it away.
  The CBC budget includes $230 billion in the maintenance and repair 
for public transit, highways, airports, ports, railroads, bridges, and 
other infrastructure investments; $13 billion for workforce 
developments programs, such as the Workforce Investment Act Adult 
Program, the Dislocated Worker Program, Job Corps and other employment 
and training services.

  It includes $50 billion to provide relief to States to preserve 
teacher and first responder jobs, and $50 billion for neighborhood 
stabilization programs that provide affordable housing development, 
infrastructure improvements and other community development needs.
  The CBC budget accomplishes all this while raising $1 trillion in new 
revenue to avoid sequestration. The economic recession has damaged our 
communities. Trillions of dollars in wealth were lost. Poverty rates 
for African Americans and Latinos soared to 26 and 23 percent, 
respectively. America doesn't need an austerity budget. It doesn't need 
a budget that looks at the struggling American people and says ``you're 
on your own.'' Americans need and deserve more.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the CBC fiscal year 2014 
budget.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Will the gentlelady yield for a question?
  Ms. FUDGE. Yes.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. First of all, I want to thank the chairperson 
for conducting this discussion pertaining to the CBC's budget because I 
think it is the most compassionate budget that will be presented to the 
House.
  My question for you, Madam Chair, is that I just returned from 
Florida. Florida ranks first in the last 8 months with the number of 
people losing their homes because of foreclosure, Miami being first, 
Orlando being second, Jacksonville being eighth. People approach me 
about jobs. They're not talking to me about the deficit. They want to 
know what we are doing as far as putting the American people to work.
  Can you expound upon that for me, please?
  Ms. FUDGE. Absolutely. I thank the gentlelady.
  What we have done in this budget, not only did we put in $13 billion 
for workforce training, for Job Corps, for dislocated workers, 
retraining, segment training, but, in total, we have almost $500 
billion worth of job creation built into our budget, more than any 
budget--more than any budget--whether it be the Democratic Caucus, the 
White House budget, or the Republican budget. We have doubled down on 
jobs in the CBC budget.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Continuing on, as the chairwoman of the CBC just talked 
about, the Congressional Black Caucus budget is an alternative budget 
for fiscal year 2014. It puts forth a plan that both reduces the 
deficit by $2.8 trillion over the next decade and creates millions of 
jobs through significant investments towards job creation that will 
accelerate our economic recovery and ensure that it's felt in every 
community across America.
  The CBC budget also cancels the economically disastrous sequester 
that is currently costing between 750,000 to 1 million jobs. So the CBC 
budget creates jobs, while the sequester and the Republican budget, 
which adopts the sequester and makes it permanent, cut jobs, and the 
CBC budget pays for it.
  To elaborate further is the vice chairman of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Let me thank you, Mr. Horsford, for your leadership 
and thank you for convening this opportunity tonight for us to come to 
the floor and talk about a subject that is so personal and so important 
to every American.

                              {time}  1930

  I also thank the chairwoman of the CBC, Ms. Fudge, for her 
extraordinary and intelligent leadership. You have done so much for so 
many for so long, and we thank you very much.
  Mr. Speaker, just last week, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul

[[Page H1561]]

Ryan--and I think most Americans recognize that name by now--Chairman 
Paul Ryan rolled out his 2014 budget that he and his Republican 
colleagues have called the Path to Prosperity. Well, Mr. Speaker, it's 
more like the path to American ruin.
  He says that he's going to balance the budget in 10 years; but he's 
going to balance that budget, if at all, on the backs of middle class 
Americans and poor people.
  They use good sounding terms like ``strengthening the safety net.'' 
What that really means is cutting programs that help the poor and 
disfranchised in our country, programs that good Americans depend on 
every day to survive.
  The Ryan budget talks about restoring fairness by ending barriers for 
job creation. What he doesn't talk about is that his budget proposal 
slashes funding for workforce development and job training and child 
care. How, Mr. Speaker, is a single mother of two small children 
expected to get and keep a job that pays more than the minimum wage--
which, by the way, Paul Ryan and his colleagues voted against raising--
when she has no access to affordable child care or training?
  Chairman Ryan and the Republicans don't care about that single mother 
or her children. They care about serving the interest of big business 
at the expense of ordinary Americans. So the Congressional Black Caucus 
has offered a budget alternative that I'm very proud of. It is sensible 
and balanced.
  We propose reforming the Tax Code. We propose ending special tax 
breaks and closing tax loopholes like the mortgage deduction for 
vacation homes and yachts, eliminating the deduction for derivative 
traders and eliminating incentives for sending American jobs overseas. 
We propose taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, 
raising about $900 billion over 10 years. These changes, Mr. Speaker, 
would generate much needed revenue.
  The country has begun to recover. We see it every day in the news, 
and we're moving in the right direction. We're beginning to recover 
from near financial ruin, but our recovery is fragile and desperately 
needs a shot in the arm to accelerate our economic recovery. Instead, 
the Republican-controlled House thought it best to poison the economy 
and throw away the antidote.
  According to leading economists, once sequestration is fully 
implemented, Americans are going to lose 2.14 million jobs. Those are 2 
million jobs that exist now, but won't exist later because of politics.
  The CBC and the majority of Americans believe that sequestration is 
damaging our fragile economy and that it must be reversed immediately. 
Our budget does just that.
  Our Nation's unemployment rate is 7.7 percent and has been on a 
gradual decline, but there are still far too many people out of work. 
To reinvigorate a willing and able workforce, the CBC proposes 
investing over $500 billion in a comprehensive jobs program, including 
$100 billion for a national direct job creation program, $50 billion 
for much needed school modernization, and $50 billion to support and 
maintain jobs in education and law enforcement. We would also dedicate 
$230 billion to repairing and replacing our crumbling infrastructure, 
including highways and bridges.
  In order for people to get jobs they so badly need, they need to 
possess the necessary skills. The CBC budget will work to support and 
enhance job-training programs through an injection of $13 billion and 
also help to put young people to work through a $7 billion summer jobs 
program.
  When hardworking Americans work their entire lives, they have been 
paying into a system that promised them income security. We must 
guarantee it. The Ryan budget seeks to eviscerate the Medicare program 
as we know it and turn it into a voucher system. That is wrong. They 
seek to block-grant the Medicaid program and give the discretion to the 
States. That is wrong, and it will devastate low-income families, and 
more than 35 percent will be cut from the Medicaid program over the 
next 10 years. Mr. Ryan proposes to make the change apply to 
individuals 55 years of age and younger. That's very interesting.
  What is particularly egregious, in closing, is that the Ryan budget 
cuts almost 18 percent from the SNAP program, amounting to $135 
billion. Over 90 percent of SNAP money, as we all know, goes to paying 
for food assistance.
  Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic 
minority here in the House are serving notice here today that we will 
not tolerate the unbalanced approach of the Republican majority. You 
must work with us to create a stream of new revenue by closing 
loopholes that benefit the rich, and we must have a balanced approach 
to balancing the Federal budget.
  Thank you for the time, Mr. Horsford. Thank you for your leadership.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman.
  As you indicate, 70 percent of the American people agree with the CBC 
plan to have a balanced approach, one that helps to preserve and 
protect the very programs that you just mentioned and that gets our 
economy on the focus of what we should be dealing with, which is the 
jobs deficit in this country, not the so-called ``budget deficit.''
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. There is no question the American people, Mr. 
Horsford, want a strong economy, they want jobs created, and they're 
expecting us in this House to do it on a bipartisan basis.
  We have failed to do it, and we must do it.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you.
  Over the weekend, Speaker Boehner said:

       We do not have an immediate debt crisis. We have one 
     looming. It's not an immediate problem.

  Well, what we do have right now is an immediate jobs deficit, and we 
should be focused on getting the American people back to work. That's 
what the Congressional Black Caucus alternative budget does.

  And to talk about the focus on jobs and investing in our future, the 
woman who fights for the people of Florida, the gentlelady from Florida 
(Ms. Brown).
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Thank you so much, and thank you for your 
leadership.
  I really do believe when you're born you get a birth certificate, and 
when you die you're going to get a death certificate; and that little 
dash in between is what you've done to make this a better place. And I 
really want to thank the Congressional Black Caucus for your 
leadership, for what you have done being the conscience of this House 
of Representatives, a House that has lost its conscience.
  Now, I come from Florida, and our State now ranks number one in 
foreclosure. Why is that? There's a direct correlation between if you 
don't have a job, you cannot pay your mortgage. And so the 
Congressional Black Caucus budget invests in jobs.
  I am so sick and tired of this House position--what I called when I 
was coming up--``reverse Robin Hood,'' robbing from the poor and 
working people to give tax breaks to the rich.
  The Congressional Black Caucus budget on the other hand invests in 
education, saving the jobs of teachers and first responders. What else 
good does it do? It makes investment toward rebuilding our 
neighborhoods; and we all know that for every billion dollars that we 
spend in infrastructure, it generates 44,000 permanent jobs.
  Now, I want to say something about the fact that you can tell 
something about an organization or a group or your church or your club 
as to how you spend the money. That's how you can tell. And you can 
tell whether you care about the children, the disabled, and the 
elderly.
  Coming from Florida, the home of Claude Pepper, I want to be very 
clear that I will not vote to cut Social Security, Medicaid, or 
Medicare.
  You know what? We did have an election, and I want you to know the 
people of Florida weighed in. You can fool some of the people some of 
the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. And 
the people of Florida have spoken. They want us to work together, and 
they want jobs now. They understand that 20 years from now we need to 
correct Social Security and other things; but today when I go home, the 
only question they ask me--whether I'm in the dollar store or the nail 
store or in church--is they want jobs and they want us to work together 
to bring those jobs to the community.

[[Page H1562]]

                              {time}  1940

  I really do believe, to whom God has given much, much is expected, 
and we really need to expect more out of this House of Representatives, 
the people's House.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Congresswoman.
  As you indicated, in addition to the CBC alternative budget, which 
focuses on the jobs--maintaining the jobs we have and creating new 
jobs--the CBC budget also preserves and protects Social Security and 
Medicare. It rejects the idea of voucherizing care for those who have 
paid into these programs their entire lives. Instead, it strengthens 
these programs to guarantee a safe and secure retirement for our 
parents and our grandparents as well as for the generation to come, 
which is something that you and other members of the Congressional 
Black Caucus have fought for for many years in this body.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. I just want to add one other thing. I will 
never forget that Newt Gingrich said that he wanted Medicaid and 
Medicare to wither on the vine. That is the philosophy of these people 
who control this House--wither on the vine.
  Mr. HORSFORD. These are vital safety programs that save millions of 
families, many of whom we serve on the Congressional Black Caucus. 
These programs save them from poverty, like SNAP and TANF--they are 
enhanced, so that those who are struggling to get by are given not a 
handout but a hand up in meeting their needs, so that they and their 
families can survive for themselves, and we will continue to fight to 
preserve and protect these programs.
  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Absolutely, sir, because absolutely, in coming 
from Florida, failure is not an option.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn to the physician 
who is in the House. We have one of the experts in health care, someone 
who knows how important the Affordable Care Act is and the preservation 
of the Affordable Care Act.
  I find it interesting that the House Republican budget calls for the 
repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but still they take the money and 
use it to balance their budget. So how can they balance their budget 
and repeal the Affordable Care Act at the same time?
  I yield to the gentlelady from the Virgin Islands, Representative 
Christensen.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you.
  Repealing the Affordable Care Act is going to cost this country 
exponentially in the years to come, so they are doing the exact 
opposite of balancing the budget in the long run, but I have to ask the 
question:
  Just how much more austerity can the American people take and still 
survive?
  The recession, which is struggling to recover, has been bad enough, 
but with past cuts, the sequester, the CR, and now the Republican 2014 
budget, they are threatening to make a bad situation even worse. I want 
to focus on just the hits that health care has taken.
  From Rosa DeLauro's report, we learned that since 2002, labor, 
health, and education programs have endured cuts of 7 percent, 
resulting in a nearly $12 billion reduction in funding in 2012. Going 
forward, the discretionary budget caps set in the Budget Control Act of 
2011 are estimated to cut over $9 billion, or 5.4 percent, in 2021. 
Altogether, this will result in a 12 percent per capita cut, or a 
nearly $22 billion cut to labor, health, and education programs in 
2021, when compared to the 2002 levels. These cuts will weaken these 
critical programs that protect the public health and safety, promote 
and develop our workforce, and educate the next generation of 
Americans.
  If we just look at programs under the Department of Health and Human 
Services, here is a partial list compared to 2002 levels:
  In 2012, the Health Resources and Services Administration has seen a 
$2 billion reduction, which includes a $194 million reduction to the 
program which provides critical funding to support training new health 
professionals;
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had a $122 million 
reduction;
  The National Institutes of Health has had a $1.2 billion reduction 
from 2002 levels;
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has 
seen an $813.3 million reduction.
  All of these reductions--all of these cuts--were in place even before 
the sequester, and are adjusted for inflation. Then to add insult to 
injury, at the first of this month, sequestration triggered an 
estimated 5.3 percent cut, resulting in another cut of approximately 
$7.5 billion from labor, health, and education programs. These cuts and 
those across all of the other government agencies, in programs that 
provide jobs and needed services, were the reason we said that the 
sequester ought to have been stopped, and why we still insist it needs 
to be repealed.
  Then there is the continuing resolution for the balance of 2013. Will 
it end the sequester even for this year? No, it won't.
  In health, the House bill would cut $75 million to State Health 
Access Grants and $276 million to flu funding, among other important 
programs.
  Further, their CR underfunds priorities that are critical to crack 
down on fraud in health care and Social Security, and to help working 
families. It does not include a requested $949 million to implement the 
health insurance exchanges.
  Their CR does not include a requested $567 million increase for 
Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control and for Social Security disability 
reviews and SSI eligibility determinations.
  If these cuts and omissions were not bad enough, the Republican 
continuing resolution that was passed in the House does not include $35 
million in emergency ADAP funding or $10 million for part C medical 
clinics that President Obama announced would happen on World AIDS Day 
in 2011. While all cuts to health programs are problematic, these cuts 
are especially devastating because ADAP and the part C medical clinics 
are there for financially and medically needy populations that need 
their services.
  So are those all of the cuts Republicans are proposing? No, they are 
not.
  They are proposing to pass a budget for fiscal year 2014, and the 
Republican budget would take the cuts in health programs that are 
already hurting many of our fellow Americans even further.
  It would cut $810 billion from the Medicaid program over the next 10 
years and would make it a block grant, which, as we heard in testimony 
at today's hearing in the Health Subcommittee, would jeopardize health 
care for children, the disabled, the elderly, and the poor--the most 
vulnerable in our country. It would raise the Medicare eligibility age 
and turn it into a voucher for future beneficiaries, shifting costs of 
as much as $6,000 per year to those beneficiaries, and it would repeal 
all of the funding, as Mr. Horsford said, needed to implement health 
care reform, essentially repealing the Affordable Care Act and 
repealing insurance for over 27 million Americans.
  That is a heartless budget. Its values do not represent the values on 
which this country was founded and certainly not those of a nation 
under God.
  The Democratic alternative is a far better budget for our country. It 
ends the sequester, it funds the Affordable Care Act, it raises 
revenue, and it makes sensible cuts that spare safety net programs that 
are more needed than ever. It also includes a doc fix, which stops the 
deep cuts to physicians' payments under Medicare, which would have 
reduced access to care for the beneficiaries.
  The Democratic budget is a good budget, but the Congressional Black 
Caucus' pro-growth, pro-people, pro-America budget goes even further 
and builds on the Democratic budget, which has also adopted some of our 
key provisions:
  The CBC budget doubles the revenue as well as increases the 
investment, as you've heard, in health, in education, in job creation, 
in housing, and in infrastructure programs. It does all of this and 
still significantly reduces the deficit. It protects Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid and all of the safety net programs. It, too, 
begins with ending the sequester and fully funding the Affordable Care 
Act.
  I am really proud of the Congressional Black Caucus budget this year, 
as I am every year, and I commend Congressman Bobby Scott and his team 
for another job well done.
  This body and the other must reject the Ryan Republican budget. 
Everyone

[[Page H1563]]

can and should support and vote for the Congressional Black Caucus 
budget, but I'll tell you that it would be far better to pass any one 
of the Democratic alternatives, as they are all better for our country 
today and better for our future.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Congresswoman Christensen, let me thank you again for 
your hard work in fighting for quality health care for all Americans.
  My grandmother suffered a stroke when I was only 9 weeks old, and she 
went into a coma. When she came out of that coma, she was paralyzed on 
the left side of her body. For the next 27 years, she lived in a 
nursing home, and it was that nursing home that allowed her to have the 
quality of life that she did have until she passed away in 2000.

                              {time}  1950

  Now as a young boy, I visited my grandmother virtually every week in 
that nursing home. I didn't know whether it was Medicaid or her 
disability that was providing for her care, but that's the reason she 
was able to live as long as she did. I know now that there are parents 
and grandparents depending on those programs more now than ever before, 
and that's why the CBC budget works to preserve and protect these 
programs. It's the people's budget, as you refer to it, and our values 
are the values that protect those who are not able to always protect 
themselves, versus an austerity budget that looks out more for special 
interests and corporate interests than it does the people's interests. 
And so I want to thank you again because it is my grandmother's legacy, 
and so many other parents and grandparents who are in her situation, 
that remind me every day what it is we are supposed to be doing here in 
the people's House. So thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to now turn to Representative Barbara Lee 
from California, someone who I know this week, particularly as we talk 
about ending the war in Iraq, she is someone who stood early on saying 
we didn't need to go into war, and the deficit spending that occurred 
in the previous administration is the reason that we have the deficits 
that we do. And now they want to balance the budget on the backs of the 
middle class and the poor and not take responsibility for the decisions 
that were made in the previous administration, so thank you for 
standing up and standing tall.
  I yield to the gentlelady from California.
  Ms. LEE of California. Let me thank the gentleman from Nevada first 
of all for his tremendous leadership on behalf of the people of Nevada, 
and also thank you for those kind words and thank you for really 
helping to put together not only this Special Order tonight on behalf 
of the Congressional Black Caucus, but for your leadership on so many 
fronts. Thank you.
  Let me first say, I serve as a member of the Budget Committee, and I 
have seen close-hand the Republican vision for our country's future; 
and believe you me, it is not a vision of shared prosperity or economic 
growth. Having a sound and balanced alternative, like the Congressional 
Black Caucus budget, exposes the Republican budget for the disaster 
that it really is.
  The Republican budget shortchanges 99 percent of the American people 
so it can give even more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, 
and to protect tax loopholes for special interests and Big Oil. At a 
time when we need job creation the most, the Republican budget would 
kill more than 2 million American jobs in 2014 alone. That's 
unconscionable. Cutting infrastructure development would also kill jobs 
that are important to our communities, communities of color. Jobs in 
the construction sector and in the public transit sector, these sectors 
employ many people that other sectors do not employ.
  The Republican budget would take away food from hungry children and 
families, kick thousands of children off of Head Start, and close the 
door to college for thousands of graduates next year. Two-thirds of all 
of the Republican budget cuts target programs for people who are poor 
or low income, and communities of color would be the hardest hit.
  Communities of color still bear the brunt of the last economic 
recession. Unemployment remains high. As of January, 9.7 percent of 
Latinos and 13.8 percent of African Americans were unemployed, compared 
to the national average of 9 percent. And income inequality continues 
to grow.
  Federal unemployment benefits already under sequestration would face 
greater cuts under this Ryan budget as he proposes an additional $900 
billion in cuts to nondiscretionary spending.
  The Republican budget's vision for America is very clear. Their 
budget would shred the social safety net. It would shatter our economic 
recovery and would push millions of struggling families over the edge.
  In stark contrast, the Congressional Black Caucus budget shows that 
we can choose a different way forward. It is a document that shows our 
Nation's priorities and values, for, after all, a budget is a moral 
document. The CBC budget protects and enhances Social Security, 
Medicare, Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, all of our vital safety net programs 
that save millions of people from poverty.
  We believe strongly that any savings derived from changes to Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid should be used to extend their 
solvency, not to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, 
and we do not support a cut in benefits.
  For four decades, many of these programs have received support as the 
first line of defense against hunger and alleviating poverty, helping 
to ensure vulnerable families in our Nation that they have a stable 
life. While protecting important antipoverty programs, the CBC budget 
would also make sound invests in critical areas like infrastructure, 
education, innovation, and poverty reduction to strengthen the economy 
for all.
  I'm very proud of the fact that the CBC budget includes supporting 
language for developing a national strategy to eliminate poverty with 
the goal of cutting poverty in half in 10 years. Fifty million people 
in the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world are living in 
poverty; 16 million are children.
  We've also included in our budget a formula that Leader Clyburn 
continues to champion. That's our 10-20-30 formula, which targets 
resources: 10 percent of Federal funds into certain accounts where 
there has been a poverty rate of 20 percent for the last 30 years. That 
is extremely important as we begin to cut poverty in half in 10 years.
  The Republican budget, of course, is a pathway to poverty, with cuts 
to social safety net programs, jobs, as well as programs that serve as 
a bridge over troubled water for millions of low-income and vulnerable 
families. The fact of the matter is, when the economy grows through 
sound policies and investments that lift up struggling families, 
everyone benefits.
  Also, let me just mention the section with regard to national 
defense. Congressman Horsford, thank you very much for reminding us 
about these two wars, quite frankly, that have been off budget and that 
are responsible for the deficits and for the lack of jobs and the 
unemployment rates that we see throughout our country. Our 
Congressional Black Caucus budget brings our defense spending in line 
with our legitimate security needs, and we also have a budget that 
measures our growth in terms of our economic footing as it relates to 
investing in our national economic security here at home. Whatever 
savings can be achieved, we put into mental health, veterans' health, 
and also support and research treatment for traumatic brain injury.

  Also, let me just remind you that the Pentagon is the only Federal 
agency that's not subject to an audit. The Pentagon has lost tens of 
billions of dollars to waste, fraud, and abuse. There have been reports 
of suitcases full of dollars, U.S. taxpayer dollars, being stolen or 
lost as it relates to Iraq and Afghanistan. We've got to be able to 
audit the Pentagon, and so our budget uses the $300 billion of the 
savings from cuts also to the ballistic missile defense program for 
implementing the remaining GAO recommendations. I think we have now 
1,682 of them, which would save about $89 billion. And so our budgeting 
insists that we begin to audit the Pentagon. That is a very important 
function that the Congressional Black Caucus understands very clearly.
  Finally, let me just say, we restore harmful cuts to the military 
Tuition Assistance program. I can't believe that the Republicans would 
cancel

[[Page H1564]]

military tuition assistance for veterans who have fought so hard in 
these wars. Don't they deserve better? The Congressional Black Caucus 
believes they deserve better, and so we restore those harmful cuts.
  The Congressional Black Caucus knows we can do better. We know that a 
shared prosperity is the most important key to sound growth and sound 
fiscal policy. First, let me just urge everyone to reject the ruinous 
Republican budget and to support the CBC alternative budget.
  I have to thank Congressman Bobby Scott and the Budget Task Force and 
all the staff for their tremendous work and their support in putting 
forth and writing a budget, really, that speaks to the aspirations and 
to reigniting the American Dream for all Americans.
  I thank you again, Representative Horsford, for your leadership.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, may I confirm how much time we have 
remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois). The gentleman 
has 21 minutes remaining.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  At this time I'd like to yield to the gentlelady from California, 
Representative Bass, who, as a former legislator like myself, has dealt 
with these types of brutal across-the-board cuts as proposed and having 
to work across party lines in a bipartisan way to find commonsense 
solutions. I think that it is common sense that we need a little more 
of here in Washington, D.C.
  I am pleased to yield to the gentlelady from California.
  Ms. BASS. Thank you, Representative Horsford.
  I do have to say, coming from the State house, it was a little 
discouraging to come here and find not a lot of common sense. So thank 
you for your leadership. And thank you very much, Representative 
Jeffries and especially Representative Scott, for your leadership and 
hours and hours of work that you've put into the Congressional Black 
Caucus budget.

                              {time}  2000

  Today, the Republican Party released a sprawling report detailing 
their failures to connect with the anxieties of middle class Americans, 
citing this as a major reason why they lost last year's Presidential 
election.
  As a result, they are now promising a kinder, gentler Republican 
Party; but, sadly, the rhetoric just doesn't match the reality of the 
Paul Ryan budget, which is nothing more than a rehash of a failed 
agenda that the American people have already rejected.
  The Republican budget continues to push harsh and unnecessary budget 
cuts that eliminate the safety net for millions of middle class 
Americans. The American people don't want a budget that breaks our 
promises to seniors by turning Medicare into a voucher program or cuts 
investments that support job creation just for the sake of more budget-
busting tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations.
  Yet my friends on the other side of the aisle continue pushing this 
failed approach all in the name of deficit reduction--except this 
weekend their own leadership admitted we don't have an immediate debt 
crisis in the country. Even the architect of the budget, Congressman 
Paul Ryan, said this weekend, ``We do not have a debt crisis right 
now.'' Speaker Boehner said, ``We do not have an immediate debt 
crisis'' and ``It's not an immediate problem.''
  So why should we enact this failed budget when Democrats have offered 
a better and more balanced approach to protect the middle class and pay 
down the deficit? Why then should we pass a budget that gets 66 percent 
of its cuts from programs for people of low-or moderate incomes? Why 
should we pass a budget that cuts funding for programs like Pell Grants 
to help students go to college or cuts the SNAP program that helps to 
feed 48 million people just to give a $200,000 tax cut to millionaires? 
The budget put forward by the Congressional Black Caucus saves Pell 
Grants and continues the SNAP program to prevent Americans from going 
hungry while at the same time reducing the deficit by $2.8 trillion 
over 10 years.
  The American people know we can't cut our way to prosperity, nor can 
we succeed by pursuing the same failed policies that wrecked our 
economy in the first place and undermine our economic recovery.
  The Congressional Black Caucus budget offers a clear alternative that 
addresses the concerns of middle class Americans. Our budget is focused 
on core priorities for the middle class: creating jobs, growing the 
economy, strengthening the middle class, and reducing the deficit.
  Our proposal puts people to work this year with specific and targeted 
investments, while investing also in education, energy, research, and 
infrastructure, and keeping our commitment to America's seniors.
  Our plan is fair, balanced, reasonable, and responsible. It is pro-
growth, pro-people, pro-America; and it is the approach favored by the 
majority in this country.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Congresswoman Bass.
  Mr. Speaker, to focus on jobs and investing in our future, the fact 
that this is pro-growth, pro-people, and that 70 percent of the 
American people support this type of an approach is why the CBC is 
offering this as an alternative to the House Republican majority. And 
to speak further on the pro-growth needs of this budget, my colleague 
in the new freshman class, it has been a delight to get to know her, 
the gentlelady from Ohio, Representative Beatty.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Thank you so much, Congressman Horsford.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss House Budget Committee Chairman 
Ryan's fiscal year 2014 budget and Democratic alternatives that work.
  I first want to thank my colleagues, Mr. Horsford and Mr. Jeffries, 
both members of my class, for leading the Congressional Black Caucus' 
discussion on this critical matter. I would also like to thank 
Congressman Bobby Scott for his tireless efforts on the Congressional 
Black Caucus budget.
  Released last week, Congressman Ryan's proposal, entitled ``A Path to 
Prosperity,'' includes more of the same proposals that the American 
public rejected at the ballot last November. Same proposal, different 
cover.
  I cannot possibly imagine how this regressive tax structure that it 
contains is a way to lead to shared American prosperity. I also cannot 
imagine how this budget will balance in 10 years and not hurt Medicare 
beneficiaries over the age of 55.
  As it has been in the past, Republican Ryan's budget offers a 
trickle-down agenda--the same agenda tried during George W. Bush's 
Presidency, which resulted in the withering of the middle class and the 
total collapse of the economy. This budget shares in the same failed 
policies of the past, and in a nutshell it is unrealistic, 
unreasonable, and unfair.
  First, Mr. Speaker, while the Ryan budget is clear on its harmful 
proposed cuts for children's education and health care services for 
seniors, the budget blueprint is particularly light on details and 
heavy on tax breaks to wealthy Americans who do not need the help.
  Second, but of no less importance, the Ryan proposal fails to repeal 
and replace the sequester, therefore doing nothing to prevent the loss 
of over 700,000 jobs the sequester will cause.
  By not stopping the sequester and through other budgetary tricks, the 
Ryan budget will cause even deeper cuts to all of our Nation's 
essential services, ranging from the deep cuts for services for women 
to Head Start and health care research to homeland security.
  This lack of foresight will also result in some $800 billion of 
Federal funds being removed from Pell Grants and school lunches and 
begin the process of changing Medicare to a voucher system.
  There is a better way. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have 
worked diligently to put forth an alternative blueprint, one designed 
to be pro-growth and put jobs in the economy first, rather than adhere 
blindly to ideological spending cuts.
  The Congressional Black Caucus alternative would replace the 
sequester's cuts with intelligent, balanced, deficit-reduction 
measures.

  Additionally, cutting educational spending in the name of future 
generations smacks of insincerity when we recognize that America's 
position as global leader in technology and innovation depends on our 
ability to invest in

[[Page H1565]]

the necessary infrastructure and training for such breakthroughs. 
That's why the Congressional Black Caucus budget would support billions 
of dollars of infrastructure and job-training investments for the 
future of our Nation and its citizens.
  Americans are tired of watching their government lurch from one 
crisis to the next. The Congressional Black Caucus alternatives offer 
serious, credible paths away from gridlock and toward a long-term 
solution which creates jobs, expands the middle class, honors our 
commitment to seniors by preserving Medicare and protecting Medicaid, 
and addresses our budget deficits and debt responsibly.
  These goals are achievable. But be clear, the Ryan budget will not 
get us there. It is not the path to the Nation's collective prosperity. 
It does not move us forward. The Democrats and members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus propose that we move America forward.
  I thank you for the opportunity to address these important issues.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Congresswoman Beatty. We appreciate your 
leadership and your hard work.
  Mr. Speaker, can I just confirm our remaining time, please.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 11 minutes remaining.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  For the remaining time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to turn to two of 
our members on the Budget Committee, people who have heard firsthand 
the devastating cuts from the House Republican proposal and who have 
worked so hard to lay out the alternative proposal for the 
Congressional Black Caucus.
  First, Representative Bobby Scott from Virginia, thank you for your 
hard work and that of your staff. And after him, Representative 
Jeffries from New York.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Thank you. And I thank the gentleman for 
yielding. I was on the Budget Committee--I'm not this year--but I have 
done a lot of work on the Budget Committee.
  Mr. HORSFORD. I think you should be back.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Thank you. And I want to thank you for your 
leadership. I want to thank the gentleman from Nevada for his 
leadership on this matter, and the chair of the Black Caucus, Marcia 
Fudge.

                              {time}  2010

  Mr. Speaker, the Simpson-Bowles Commission several years ago set a $4 
trillion, 10-year deficit reduction goal as the amount of deficit 
reduction we needed to get our budget under control. The CBC does not 
endorse the specific recommendations of that goal, but our budget does 
accept the overall spending limitations of the deficit reduction goals.
  Based on most analyses, we have already passed, and the President has 
signed into law, approximately $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction 
through 2022, not including the sequester. So to reach the goal, we 
need an additional $1.6 trillion in deficit reduction. So working off 
the CBO's baseline, we first instruct the Ways and Means Committee to 
enhance revenues by $2.7 trillion over the next 10 years. That is not 
an extraordinary figure. Just a few weeks ago, we passed a $3.9 
trillion extension in tax cuts. So going back over that and coming up 
with $2.7 trillion is certainly within the realm of possibility.
  Now, we don't just make the number up. We show $4.2 trillion in 
possible options in coming up with the $2.7 trillion. That would 
include limiting the deductibility of corporate interest payments, 
ending a lot of numerous special interest tax breaks that corporations 
enjoy; money can be raised by capital gains and dividends being taxed 
as ordinary income without a special benefit; a surcharge of 5.4 
percent on that portion of your income over a million dollars--a 
speculator's tax--reducing the extension of tax cuts down to the first 
$250,000 rather than $450,000 of income; and several other specific 
recommendations to choose from to show that the $2.7 trillion is a 
reasonable figure.
  Now, I know those are unpopular; but they're not nearly as unpopular 
as the sequester and cuts in health care, particularly Medicare and 
Medicaid. The revenue enhancements called for will be used to first 
cancel the sequester. Everybody's talking about how bad it is. Our 
budget cancels the sequester altogether. Then we pay for a $500 billion 
jobs plan that will put at least 45 million Americans back at work. And 
then we provide an additional $280 billion in long-term investments in 
our economy through education, job training, health care, and advanced 
science and research.
  Even with these investments, our budget is projected to reduce the 
deficit by approximately $2.8 trillion over the decade, compared to the 
CBO's baseline, which, incidentally, does not include the savings that 
we will achieve through the winding down of the wars in Iraq and 
Afghanistan. That will put us on a sustainable goal. It more than meets 
the Simpson-Bowles goal. So we feel that is a responsible goal. This 
number is actually pessimistic because with the jobs bill, we think 
we're going to do a lot better because of the stimulative effect it has 
on the economy.
  Now, this is in stark contrast to the committee report, which has 
vague numbers--numbers that don't add up or don't give you a clue as to 
how they're going to get the money. The budget has a reduction in tax 
rates, does not say how you're going to make that revenue-neutral or by 
where you're going to find the $4 trillion to $5 trillion in taxes that 
would be needed to make it revenue-neutral. They block-grant Medicaid. 
By the time you get to the end of 10 years, it's about one-third of 
what it needs to be to maintain present benefits. Two-thirds of 
Medicaid are the elderly and disabled. So if you're cutting them, what 
exactly are your plans for them?
  If you look at their budget, they claim $4.5 trillion in deficit 
reduction. A trillion is repealing ObamaCare, but keeping all of the 
taxes and pay-fors that paid for ObamaCare, and $1.5 billion is cutting 
Medicaid and Medicare. So that's almost a trillion in unspecified 
mandatory spending. Most mandatory spending is Social Security. They 
don't specify where that's coming from. Three-fourths of the rest is 
interest on what is not going to happen.
  On the other hand, the CBC budget specifically outlines where we're 
going to get the money. Then, it creates 5 million jobs, invests in 
education, transportation, health care, and research. And in the end, 
it has more than the Simpson-Bowles goal of deficit reduction. It is a 
plan that's specific. It can be done. And if we adopt the Congressional 
Black Caucus budget, we will more than achieve the Simpson-Bowles goals 
of deficit reduction and create 5 million jobs.
  I thank the gentleman for his leadership,
  Mr. HORSFORD. Thank you, Congressman Scott. Again, thank you for your 
very hard work and that of your staff in bringing this forward.
  To close this out, to lay out the two options and approaches that are 
before us, we have what I would like to coin as the Compassionate 
People's Budget, offered by the Congressional Black Caucus, and we have 
the Austerity Budget. Now, the Compassionate Budget is focused on the 
people and the Austerity Budget continues to protect special interest 
and corporate interest. And to talk more about that, the gentleman from 
New York, Representative Jeffries.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank my good friend, the distinguished gentleman 
from the Silver State, for his leadership in co-anchoring the CBC 
Special Order and for giving me the opportunity to lay out as best I 
can the contrasting visions as represented by the CBC budget--and we're 
thankful for the leadership of Representative Bobby Scott in that 
regard--and the GOP budget.
  We're at a crossroads in America, a fork in the road, and we can go 
in one of two different directions. And one direction is a 
compassionate path, as set forth by the Congressional Black Caucus. The 
other direction is a more regressive, mean-spirited path, as set forth 
by the GOP budget.
  The CBC budget is designed to create progress for the greatest number 
of people possible here in America. The GOP budget endorses the view of 
prosperity for the few. The CBC budget takes a balanced approach to 
dealing with the economic situation that we find ourselves in here in 
America. The GOP budget balances the budget on the

[[Page H1566]]

backs of the most vulnerable in our society. The CBC budget will create 
jobs for Americans. The GOP budget will cost us hundreds of thousands 
of jobs. These are two very different visions for where we need to go 
here in America.

  A balanced approach has four different elements. First, invest in the 
American economy. Second, raise revenue by closing corporate loopholes 
that are unfair, unjust, and in many instances, unconscionable--tax 
breaks for corporate jets, tax subsidies for big oil companies that are 
making record profits, tax incentives for American companies to ship 
our jobs overseas. The CBC budget will close these wasteful corporate 
loopholes.
  Third, we look for savings by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse; and we 
take this approach because of the sensitive nature of our fragile 
economic recovery. You can't just cut the budget with a meat cleaver 
without hurting the American people. And, lastly, the CBC balanced 
approach stands up for important programs like Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid that have nothing to do with the economic mess 
that we find ourselves in right now.
  We don't have a short-term deficit crisis in America. That's what the 
independent objective economists have concluded. The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives has acknowledged we don't have a short-term 
deficit crisis. The chairman of the Budget Committee just yesterday 
acknowledged that we don't have a short-term deficit crisis.
  We've gained 6 million jobs over the last 4-plus years, but we still 
have a long way to go. We've got a jobs crisis.

                              {time}  2020

  Now, corporate profits are way up, the stock market is way up, the 
productivity of the American worker is way up, but the reality is 
consumer demand remains stagnant. That's why we have to invest in the 
American economy, invest in transportation and infrastructure, research 
and development, invest in technology and innovation, education and job 
training, as the CBC budget compassionately does.
  Now, the other budget balances itself on the backs of the poor, 
children, senior citizens, working families, and the middle class. Now, 
they'll say we're trying to put forth misinformation to scare the 
American people. That's a cute observation, but it has no factual 
basis.
  The GOP budget cuts Medicaid by $810 billion. That's not a scare 
tactic; that's reality.
  The GOP budget voucherizes Medicare so that in the future the health 
care costs wouldn't be covered by this voucher program in the manner 
that it is right now. That's not a scare tactic; that's reality.
  The GOP budget cuts spending on higher education by $168 billion. 
That's not a scare tactic; that's reality.
  That's why we are putting forth a compassionate budget to put the 
American people back to work.
  Mr. HORSFORD. The CBC budget refocuses the priorities where it should 
be, on the middle class. The CBC budget will save up to 2 million 
public and private sector jobs just from the cancellation of the 
sequester alone.
  Bottom line, Mr. Speaker: job creation is our number one priority 
with this budget. We put Americans back to work, we protect the vital 
social programs they rely on, and we call on everyone to contribute to 
growing our economy and strengthening our recovery. This is a balanced 
approach that the American people are calling for.
  We're urging our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to work 
with us to craft a commonsense budget proposal that creates jobs, that 
moves our country forward, and that protects the middle class and the 
poor.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________