[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25458]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4818, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005

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                               speech of

                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, November 20, 2004

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose H.R. 4818, the omnibus 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005. This $388.4 billion catchall 
federal spending bill represents the skewed budget priorities under 
which the Republican House Leadership has been operating. It puts 
special interest priorities before the public trust and severely 
underfunds critical programs.
  H.R. 4818 is an exclamation point on a year-long spending spree by 
Congress at the expense of taxpayers and future generations. Taxpayers 
are picking up the tab on gratuitous government spending, while 
essential programs are shortchanged; the bill falls short of its 
commitment to the No Child Left Behind program by $9.4 billion, freezes 
the maximum Pell Grant for the second year in a row, and shortchanges 
funding for veterans' benefits and rural conservation initiatives.
  Additionally, the credibility of the legislative process was 
compromised, as appropriators of the majority party defied procedural 
methods to rework the bill exactly to their liking, not to mention the 
liking of the White House. Appropriators handily struck backroom deals 
to make the following changes: to exclude a measure to allow the 
reimportation of prescription drugs; to override a House-passed 
provision to protect overtime benefits to six million employees; and to 
change bicameral recommendations on federal outsourcing and travel and 
trade relations with Cuba.
  Also, it concerns me that just last week we had to raise the debt 
limit for the third time in the past several years to an astounding 
$8.2 trillion. Moreover, it worries me that we had to raise the debt 
limit because of irresponsible fiscal policy such as giving tax cuts to 
the Nation's millionaires while our country is fighting a war overseas 
and my home State of Wisconsin is hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs.
  The proponents of the fiscal year 2005 Omnibus have touted it as a 
package of real programs that benefit real people. This bill is an 
insult to the principles of this democratic body, and what I want to 
know is when the special interest spending spree will cease and real 
people will again be the priority.
  We need to start making decisions that will leave our children a 
better country to inherit. As the father of two little boys, I did not 
come to Congress to leave my sons a legacy of debt, hurt economic 
growth, and make this country more dependent on foreign nations, who 
are currently the largest holders of our debt. By 2014, American 
families will pay an additional $9,400 in interest on the national 
debt. That same year, the Social Security Trust Fund will be completely 
depleted if this Congress's reckless fiscal policies continue 
unchecked.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose the fiscal year 2005 omnibus bill. I 
cannot in good faith support such fiscal recklessness because there is 
no plan to restore fiscal responsibility in the future as we rapidly 
approach the Baby Boom generation's impending retirement. The American 
people deserve no less than a government that applies the same fiscal 
responsibility that any hard-working American family would in crafting 
a household budget.

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