[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 9, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 20, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the concurrent resolution 
     (H. Con. Res. 25) establishing the budget for the United 
     States Government for fiscal year 2014 and setting forth 
     appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2015 through 
     2023:

  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the Democratic 
budget alternative offered by Ranking Member Van Hollen, and I thank 
you for allowing me the opportunity to be heard on this important 
issue. Today I am supporting the Van Hollen Budget and opposing the 
budget blueprint laid out by Budget Committee Chairman Ryan. The Van 
Hollen budget acknowledges the concerns that have been expressed to us 
loudly and clearly by constituents since sequestration took effect 
March 1st; the Ryan budget exacerbates the problems caused by across-
the-board cuts and attempts to recycle ideas that the American people 
have repeatedly rejected.
  According to the Congressional Budget Office, half of our current 
budget deficit is attributable to high unemployment and lagging 
economic growth. The approach taken by Chairman Ryan's budget would 
make the problem worse by cutting investments in education, research, 
and infrastructure. Implementing this kind of harmful austerity 
approach will handicap our fledgling economic recovery. The budget I 
voted for makes strategic cuts, closes tax loopholes, and lays a 
foundation for economic growth going forward. And perhaps most 
importantly, the Van Hollen budget ends the damaging sequester and puts 
our country on a sustainable fiscal path without ending the guarantee 
of Medicare.
  In the months preceding our self-imposed March 1st deadline, 
sequestration was a central theme in almost every conversation I had 
with constituents. I spoke with researchers at universities across 
Oregon who expressed concern about the impact cuts would have on 
scientific advancement, business leaders who told me they had not hired 
new workers because of the uncertainty caused by sequestration, and 
teachers who worried about cuts to vital special education programs. 
Oregonians, like most Americans, do not support this detrimental 
approach to policymaking.
  In the weeks following the implementation of the sequester, my 
offices in Oregon and here in Washington, DC continue to hear numerous 
additional stories of the hardships brought about by budget 
uncertainty. For those who rightly raise concern, the budget proposed 
by Chairman Ryan is another example of DC putting politics over 
solutions. My constituents want fiscal responsibility from their 
elected officials; not a budget balanced on the back of the working 
class and the elderly.
   Congress has reduced projected deficits by about $2.7 trillion since 
August 2010 by cutting discretionary spending, increasing tax rates for 
families with taxable income over $450,000 a year, and eliminating 
related debt servicing. The combination of deficit reduction included 
in Ranking Member Van Hollen's budget and the total deficit reduction 
achieved to date meets the $4 trillion goal set forth by the bipartisan 
Simpson-Bowles Commission. Further, the Van Hollen alternative I am 
supporting today achieves this deficit reduction without implementing 
the Ryan budget's Medicare voucher plan, while also preserving the 
Affordable Care Act reforms that currently provide seniors with reduced 
prescription drug costs and free preventive health care.
   Our constituents sent us here to solve the problems created by our 
predecessors, not to make them worse. The Van Hollen budget alternative 
puts us on the road to economic recovery while preserving the social 
safety net. For this reason I am proud to support it.

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