[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24798]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              BUDGET CUTS

  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Woolsey) encouraged that we take a minute to speak today about the 
draconian budget cuts that are coming out of the Budget Committee 
recommendation.
  I am going to include in my statement that of the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Edwards) who did what I think was so very appropriate and 
timely. He tied in the fact that we have just honored the first woman 
in American history to lie in honor in the Rotunda, and yet we may be 
seriously dishonoring her memory by cutting school lunch programs, 
student aid, Medicaid, health care programs, and it seems to me that we 
ought to try to reconcile these.

 Statement by Congressman Chet Edwards on the Deficit Reduction Act of 
              2005 House Budget Committee/November 3, 2005

       Yesterday, we honored Rosa Parks as the first woman in 
     American history to lie in state in the rotunda of our 
     nation's Capitol. Yet, today, the House leadership and this 
     Committee dishonors all that she stood for by cutting child 
     support, by cutting 40,000 children off of school lunch 
     programs and by robbing billions of dollars from student 
     financial aid and health care programs for low-income 
     families.
       Rosa Parks didn't just fight for a seat on a bus. She 
     fought for fairness for every American and to see that every 
     child has a chance to reach his or her highest God-given 
     potential. This bill is an attack upon those high principles.
       The mean-spirited cuts in this bill will hurt decent, hard-
     working American families who are doing their best to help 
     their children have a better life. And, why? So, that people 
     making a million dollars a year in dividend income can keep 
     every penny of their recently passed $220,000 annual tax 
     break. Where is the fairness in that?
       If this is compassionate conservatism, where is the 
     compassion?
       If this is a faith-based program, what major religion 
     preaches the values of taking the most from those who have 
     the least while asking nothing from those who have the most?
       This budget makes a mockery of the American values of 
     fairness and shared sacrifice during time of war.
       Rosa Parks understood that actions speak far louder than 
     words. We in Congress should truly honor her life and spirit 
     by standing up against this bill.

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