[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 17 (Monday, February 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H673-H675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE BUDGET MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
                   UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 114-3)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on 
Appropriations and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  After a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and 
creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999, and in 58 months we have 
created over 11 million jobs. Our unemployment rate is now lower than 
it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating 
than ever before. More of our people are insured than ever before. We 
are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we've been in almost 30 
years. Thanks to the hard work, resilience, and determination of the 
American people over the last six years, the shadow of crisis has 
passed.
  With a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and 
booming energy production, we have risen from recession freer to write 
our own future than any other Nation on Earth. It's now up to us to 
choose what kind of country we want to be over the next 15 years, and 
for decades to come. Will we accept an economy where prosperity belongs 
to a few and opportunity remains out of reach for too many? Or will we 
commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and 
chances for everyone who makes the effort?
  Over the last six years, we've seen that middle-class economic works. 
We've reaffirmed one of our most fundamental values as Americans: that 
this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, does their 
fair share, and plays by the same set of rules.
  The ideas I offer in this Budget are designed to bring middle-class 
economics into the 21st Century. These proposals are practical, not 
partisan. They'll help working families feel more secure with paychecks 
that go further, help American workers upgrade their skills, so they 
can compete for higher-paying jobs, and help create the conditions for 
our businesses to keep generating good new jobs for our workers to 
fill. The Budget will do these things while fulfilling our most basic 
responsibility to keep Americans safe. We will make these investments 
and end the harmful spending cuts known as sequestration, by cutting 
inefficient spending, and closing tax loopholes. We will also put our 
Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path by achieving $1.8 trillion in 
deficit reduction, primarily from reforms in health programs, our tax 
code, and immigration.
  First, middle-class economics means helping working families afford 
the cornerstones of economic security: child care, college, health 
care, a home, and retirement. We will help working families tackle the 
high costs of child care and make ends meet by tripling the maximum 
child care credit for middle-class families with young children, 
increasing it to up to $3,000 per child, expanding child care 
assistance to all eligible low-income families with children under four 
by the end of 10 years, and making preschool available to all four-
year-olds.
  The Budget also provides middle-class families more flexibility at 
work by encouraging States to develop paid family leave programs. 
Today, we're the only advanced country on Earth that doesn't guarantee 
paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three 
million workers have no paid sick leave, which forces too many parents 
to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at 
home. It's time to change that. For many families in today's economy, 
having both parents in the workforce isn't a luxury, it's an economic 
necessity.
  Second, middle-class economics means making sure more Americans have 
the chance to earn the skills and education they need to keep earning 
higher wages down the road. The Budget calls for new investments and 
innovation that will expand preschool and invest in high-quality early 
education for America's youngest learners, provide more help to 
disadvantaged students and the schools that serve them, better prepare 
and support teachers, and transform our high schools so they help all 
students graduate prepared for college and career.
  In a 21st Century economy that rewards knowledge more than ever, our 
efforts must reach higher than high school. By the end of this decade, 
two-thirds of job openings will require some higher education, and no 
American should be priced out of the education they need. Over the 
course of my Administration, we have increased Pell Grants, and the 
Budget continues to ensure that they will keep pace with inflation over 
time. The Budget also includes a bold new plan to bring down the cost 
of community college tuition for responsible students, to zero. Forty 
percent of college students attend community college; some to learn a 
particular skill, others as a path to a four-year degree. It is time 
for two years of college to become as free and universal in America as 
high school is today.
  Even as we help give our students the chance to succeed, we also must 
work together to give our workers the chance to retool. Last year, the 
Congress came together and passed important improvements to the 
Nation's job training system with the bipartisan Workforce Innovation 
and Opportunity Act. To build on this progress, the proposals in this 
Budget support more in-person career counseling for unemployed workers 
and double the number of workers receiving training through the 
workforce development system. My plan would also expand the successful 
``learn-as-you-earn'' approaches that our European counterparts use 
successfully by investing in the expansion of registered 
apprenticeships that allow workers to learn new skills while they are 
earning a paycheck. The Budget would also ensure that training leads to 
high-quality jobs by investing in projects that feature strong employer 
partnerships, include work-based learning, and develop new employer-
validated credentials.
  As we welcome home a new generation of returning heroes, the Budget 
makes sure they have the chance to live the American Dream they helped 
defend. It invests in the five pillars I have outlined to support our 
Nation's veterans: providing the resources and funding they deserve; 
ensuring high-quality and timely health care; getting veterans their 
earned benefits quickly and efficiently; ending veteran homelessness; 
and helping veterans and their families get good jobs, education, and 
access to affordable housing.
  Third, middle-class economics means creating the kind of environment 
that helps businesses start here, stay here, and hire here. We want to 
build on the growth we have seen in the manufacturing sector, where 
more than 750,000 new jobs have been created over the last 58 months. 
To create jobs, continue growth in the industry, and strengthen 
America's leadership in advanced manufacturing technology, the Budget 
funds a national network of 45 manufacturing institutes, building on 
the nine already funded through 2015. As part of the manufacturing 
initiative, the Budget also launches a Scale-Up Fund, funded through a 
public-private partnership to help ensure that if a technology is 
invented in the United States, it can be made in the United States. The 
Budget proposes an investment fund to help startup companies produce 
the goods they have developed. Taken together, these investments will 
help ensure that America keeps making things the rest of the world 
wants to buy and will also help create manufacturing jobs for the 
future.
  Our Nation thrives when we are leading the world with cutting-edge 
technology in manufacturing, infrastructure, clean energy, and other 
growing fields. That is why the Budget includes investments in cutting-
edge advanced manufacturing research--to make sure we are leading the 
way in creating technology that supports our manufacturing sector; 
biomedical research--like our BRAIN initiative, which studies the brain 
to offer new insight into diseases like Alzheimer's, and Precision 
Medicine, which can improve

[[Page H674]]

health outcomes and better treat diseases; or, agricultural research--
looking at climate resilience and sustainability. These investments 
have the potential to create high-wage jobs, improve lives, and open 
the door to new industries, resulting in sustainable economic growth.
  As our economy continues to grow, our Nation's businesses and workers 
also need a stronger infrastructure that works in the new economy--
modern ports, stronger bridges, better roads, faster trains, and better 
broadband. The Budget proposes to build a 21st Century infrastructure 
that creates jobs for thousands of construction workers and engineers, 
connects hardworking Americans to their jobs, and makes it easier for 
businesses to transport goods. The Budget would do more to repair and 
modernize our existing roads and bridges, while expanding transit 
systems to link communities and support workers.
  These proposals will put more money in middle-class pockets, raise 
wages, and bring more high-paying jobs to America. To pay for them, the 
Budget will cut inefficient spending and close tax loopholes to make 
sure that everyone pays their fair share. The Budget closes loopholes 
that punish businesses investing domestically and reward companies that 
keep profits abroad, and uses some of the savings created to rebuild 
our aging infrastructure. The Budget closes loopholes that perpetuate 
inequality by allowing the top one percent of Americans to avoid paying 
any taxes on their accumulated wealth and uses that money to help more 
young people go to college. The Budget simplifies the system so that a 
small business owner can file based on her actual bank statement, 
instead of the number of accountants she can afford. It is time for tax 
reform that at its core is about helping working families afford child 
care and college, and plan for retirement, and above all, get a leg up 
in the new economy.
  Of course, we cannot separate our work here at home from challenges 
beyond our shores. By winding down the wars overseas and lowering war 
spending, we've strengthened our economy and shrunk our deficits. But 
we still face threats to our security that we must address.
  The Budget supports our efforts to degrade and ultimately destroy 
ISIL. We are leading over 60 partners in a global effort that will take 
time and steady resolve. As I made clear in my State of the Union 
address, I am calling on the Congress to show the world that we are 
united in this mission by passing a bill to authorize the use of force 
against ISIL.
  The Budget supports our efforts to counter Russian pressure and 
aggressive actions in concert with our European allies, by funding 
support for Ukraine's democracy and efforts to reassure our NATO 
allies.
  We also must look beyond the issues that have consumed us in the past 
to shape the coming century. This Budget provides the resources we need 
to defend the Nation against cyber-attacks. No foreign nation, no 
hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade 
secrets, or invade the privacy of American families. In addition to 
increasing funding to protect our Nation against cyber-attacks, I 
continue to urge the Congress to finally pass the legislation we need 
to meet this evolving threat.
  The Budget invests in our efforts to confront the threat posed by 
infectious diseases like Ebola--here at home, and internationally. It 
provides resources to support the Global Health Security Agenda, 
increases funding to eradicate polio and other global health 
challenges, and creates a new Impact Fund for targeted global HIV/AIDS 
efforts. In addition, the Budget increases funding for domestic 
preparedness efforts to more effectively and efficiently respond to 
potential, future outbreaks here at home and dedicates funding for 
States to develop HIV Plans to help them reach the goals of the 
National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
  The Budget also capitalizes on historic opportunities in Asia and the 
Pacific--where we are modernizing alliances, opening new markets, and 
making sure that other nations play by the rules--in how they trade, 
resolve disputes, and do their part to confront the biggest challenges 
we face.
  No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than 
climate change. Fourteen of our planet's 15 warmest years on record 
have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. The world's best 
scientists are telling us that our activities are changing the climate, 
and if we do not act forcefully, we'll continue to see rising oceans, 
longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive 
disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger 
around the globe. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate 
risks to our national security. And as discussed in the Budget, the 
significant costs to inaction on climate change hit the Federal 
Government's bottom-line directly, as worsening climate impacts create 
Government liabilities. That's why this Budget takes action on climate 
by supporting the Climate Action Plan that I released in 2013 with 
investments to accelerate carbon pollution reductions, to build on-the-
ground partnerships with local communities and help them put in place 
strategies for greater resilience to climate change impacts, and to 
support America's leadership abroad on this important moral and fiscal 
issue.
  Beyond these critical investments, the Budget also supports my 
Management Agenda, which seeks to create a Government for the future 
that is more efficient, effective, and supportive of economic growth. 
The Budget includes initiatives to improve the service we provide to 
the American public; to leverage the Federal Government's buying power 
to bring more value and efficiency to how we use taxpayer dollars; to 
open Government data and research to the private sector to drive 
innovation and economic growth; to promote smarter information 
technology; and, to attract and retain the best talent in the Federal 
workforce. The Budget includes proposals to consolidate and reorganize 
Government agencies to make them leaner and more efficient, and it 
increases the use of evidence and evaluation to ensure that taxpayer 
dollars are spent wisely on programs that work.
  The Congress can also help grow the economy, reduce deficits, and 
strengthen Social Security by passing comprehensive immigration reform. 
Last year, I took a series of executive actions to crack down on 
illegal immigration at the border; prioritize deporting felons, not 
families; and allow certain undocumented immigrants who register and 
pass criminal and national security background checks to start paying 
their fair share of taxes and stay in the United States without fear of 
deportation. I also took action to streamline the legal immigration 
system for talented STEM students, entrepreneurs, and business. These 
actions will raise average wages for all American workers and reduce 
the deficit. But this is only a first step toward real reform, and as I 
have said before, the Congress should act on the more comprehensive 
reform that only changes in the law can provide. Independent economists 
say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by 
almost $1 trillion over 20 years. It is time to fix our broken system 
and help grow our economy by passing comprehensive immigration reform.
  The Budget also builds on the progress we have made ensuring that 
every American has the peace of mind that comes with quality, 
affordable health insurance. The Affordable Care Act has helped to 
provide millions more Americans get covered. It has forced insurance 
companies to play by the rules by prohibiting discrimination for pre-
existing conditions and eliminating lifetime insurance caps. It has 
also helped to put our Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path by 
slowing the growth of health care costs. The Budget includes additional 
reforms and cost saving proposals to continue encouraging high-quality 
and efficient health care.
  This Budget shows what we can do if we invest in America's future and 
commit ourselves to an economy that rewards hard work, generates rising 
incomes, and allows everyone to share in the prosperity of a growing 
America. It lays out a strategy to strengthen our middle class, and 
help America's hard-working families get ahead in a time of relentless 
economic and technological change.
  Fifteen years into this new century, and six years after the darkest 
days of the financial crisis, we have picked

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ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and begun again the work of 
remaking America. We've laid a new foundation. A brighter future is 
ours to write. This Budget will help us begin this new chapter 
together.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, February 2, 2015.

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