[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5041]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                               THE BUDGET

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, history shows in the last 10 years that 
we are increasingly taking the budget process here less and less 
seriously. This week's alternative from the Republican Party will be no 
exception. It is an alternative that will actually increase our deficit 
more than if we simply did nothing.
  But it is not that the budget resolutions should not be taken 
seriously. The environment is one key area. We Democrats will be 
providing an alternative that actually lowers the deficit while 
protecting the environment, funding Superfund cleanup, which creates 
jobs, funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund without drilling in 
the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.
  There was a time when fiscal restraint and protecting the environment 
were bipartisan objectives. I hope I am in this Chamber long enough 
where that comes back to be the priority again.

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