[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3318-3320]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I have risen tonight to express my deep 
concerns about the budget that is before us. I am concerned that the 
budget that this Senate is now considering does not pass the test of 
protecting our homeland. It does not pass the test of promoting fiscal 
responsibility. And it does not pass the test of fighting for our 
middle-class families.
  Let me start by putting this discussion in the right context. The 
budget decisions that we make now will either empower us or tie our 
hands when we turn to write the appropriations bills this year. That 
means you cannot vote for an unrealistic budget now and then act 
surprised in the summer and fall when painful cuts are required. Just 
look at what happened last year. The logjam that we experienced at the 
end of last year was not a surprise. It was the logical outcome of 
decisions that were made regarding the budget.
  Starting last March, many of us saw that there was no way we could 
meet our obligation to our veterans, honor our commitment to America's 
working families, enact huge cuts in entitlement programs such as 
Medicaid and Medicare, enact another round of tax cuts, and continue to 
cut our Nation's deficit. And when you added the growing cost of the 
war and Hurricane Katrina, the legislative train wreck was entirely 
predictable. I hope we do not repeat the same mistakes this year--
starting with the wrong priorities and unrealistic assumptions here in 
the budget process which will lead to constrained appropriations bills 
that will end up hurting our American families.
  Mr. President, a budget is more than just a bunch of numbers on a 
piece of paper. It is a statement of our values, and it reflects our 
priorities. The budget this Senate is now considering closely follows 
the President's budget, and it is based on the wrong priorities. It is 
clear to me that we need to invest here at home to make our country 
strong again. That means investing in education and in health care, in 
infrastructure and housing, in safety and security, and on each of 
those fronts the Bush priorities have been time and again misguided, 
adrift, and downright painful for millions of Americans.
  You know, Mr. President, when I am at home in Washington State or 
here in the Nation's Capital I hear a lot of concern from the business 
community, from local governments, and from families across the United 
States about us losing our global competitiveness. They talk to me 
about the challenges they face in keeping and growing good jobs right 
here at home, and they tell me that education is one of the elements 
for our success. But last year's budget, the fiscal year 2006 budget, 
set us on the path of undermining our competitiveness by weakening 
educational programs at all levels, and I fear that this budget, the 
fiscal year 2007 budget, will do the exact same thing.
  Last year's budget, the 2006 budget so constrained education, the 
Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill 
failed once in the House and almost did not pass at all. In the end, 
the programs faced one last hit, a 1-percent across-the-board cut that 
further hindered education at all levels.
  At a time when our schools are facing the increasing requirements of 
No Child Left Behind, our families are facing rising college tuition 
costs, and employers are crying out for highly skilled, educated 
workers, this is no time for our Nation to be shortchanging education.
  Because of laws Congress has passed and President Bush has signed, 
school districts are facing increasingly rigorous academic standards 
and working very hard to meet the new requirements for highly qualified 
teachers.
  How has Congress responded? Well, a majority in this Congress cut 
funding for the No Child Left Behind Act by 3 percent, or $13.1 billion 
below what was promised when we passed that bill. The fiscal year 2006 
budget from last year also led the Government to slide backwards on its 
commitment to students with disabilities for the first time in 10

[[Page 3319]]

years. The Federal share of educational costs dropped from 18.6 percent 
in 2005 to 18 percent in 2006. Funding for disadvantaged students 
eligible for title I was inadequate. The fiscal year 2006 funding from 
last year is $9.9 billion less than what Congress and President Bush 
committed to spending in that law. That bill would leave behind 3.1 
million students who could be fully served by title I if the program 
were funded at the level to which we committed.
  The reason I feel the need to talk about last year's budget at length 
is to put this year's budget proposal in context because the budget we 
are considering, the 2007 proposal, continues that dangerous trend. The 
President proposed the largest cut to education in 26 years. Sadly, 
this budget resolution makes it impossible to restore those proposed 
cuts. It would eliminate vocational and technical training efforts and 
college prep programs that have been so successful, such as TRIO and 
GEAR UP.
  This year, unless we change course, $11.9 billion is going to be cut 
from student loans, loans that help our low-income and middle-income 
families pay for college, and 70 percent of those cuts is going to come 
right out of the pockets of students and their families.
  Those cuts, by the way, will not go for balancing the budget. They 
are going to go for tax cuts for those who need them the least. We are 
trading the higher education of the Nation's families for our 
majority's misguided fiscal policy.
  Tuition and fees increased by 7.1 percent this year for 4-year public 
universities and 5.9 percent for private universities. The policies 
that are pursued in this budget are not just wrong for our country, 
they are going to cost our Nation dearly in the long term. Today, one-
third of the U.S. workforce has a postsecondary education--one-third. 
But it is estimated that 60 percent of the new jobs in the 21st century 
are going to require a college education. Workers who have attended 
college on average have higher incomes and lower rates of unemployment 
than those who don't. And those with a college education are more 
likely to have jobs with benefits like health care and retirement and 
pension plans.
  We should be helping to break down the barriers to a college 
education, not building them up with this budget. We will not succeed 
in preparing our students for the 21st century by cutting their 
support, and we will put our country at a competitive disadvantage as 
we confront the world's challenges unless we change course.
  On the workforce issue, the GAO has said that business and customer 
satisfaction with our workforce system has never been better. But this 
President is now proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in budget 
cuts that effectively dismantle our local one-stop system of providing 
training and employment services for our workers.
  I have 5,000 people in my home State of Washington who are 
desperately seeking training right now, and there are over 50,000 jobs 
that employers are looking to fill. We should be increasing our 
investment in worker training--not ensuring that all of our good-paying 
jobs are going to be outsourced abroad.
  Finally, this budget fails to adequately protect our miners and our 
other workers from health and safety dangers they face in their 
workplace.
  On housing, this budget resolution will mean painful cuts--housing 
for the elderly cut 26 percent, housing for the disabled cut 50 
percent, community development block grants cut by more than $1 
billion. Those are the wrong priorities. We should be providing more 
help for the disabled and the elderly and for community development.
  Everywhere I travel in Washington State, I hear from families 
struggling to find a safe and affordable place to live. Whether it is a 
young couple looking to buy their first home or a family searching for 
rental housing close to their job or a senior citizen who wants better 
access to social services, it is harder than ever to find affordable 
housing.
  Across the country, public housing agencies and nonprofit 
organizations are working hard to help families find a place they can 
call home. At the same time, they are contributing to community 
revitalization efforts that will bring new jobs and opportunities. But 
a lack of funding threatens the achievements that have been made and 
the work that is yet to be done.
  This budget resolution that is before us assumes the President's 
proposal to cut the Community Development Fund, which includes the 
Community Development Block Grant Program, by more than $1 billion. 
That, by the way, is on top of a $.5 billion cut the program received 
this year.
  Every Senator here knows how successful the Community Development 
Block Grant Program is. You can see its impact in communities across 
the country. Whether it is construction of new affordable housing or 
supporting community revitalization, CDBG is bringing hope and 
opportunity to some of our country's most vulnerable.
  The budget resolution we are looking at this week does not restore 
funding for the Community Development Block Grant Program. That will 
make it virtually impossible to restore cuts in housing and community 
development, including that $1 billion reduction in CDBG.
  I refer my colleagues to the views and estimates filed on the Budget 
Committee resolution from the chairman and ranking member of the 
Appropriations Committee, and I want to quote directly from those 
views:

       We reiterate that unless the committee--the Appropriations 
     Committee--receives substantial relief from these 
     unachievable assumptions, the committee will be unable to 
     fund the President's request much less items of Congressional 
     interest.

  I think that is wrong.
  I am going to be offering an amendment, with the support of many of 
my colleagues, to restore that funding.
  I believe it is also critical that we continue to invest in our 
Nation's infrastructure. Recent cuts in transportation spending are 
threatening to weaken our airline safety. They are imposing new 
transportation costs on American businesses, and they cost tens of 
thousands of construction jobs. Investing in our Nation's 
transportation infrastructure helps reduce congestion, improves safety, 
and supports continued economic growth.
  On veterans, this budget does not keep America's commitment to our 
veterans because it is built on making it harder for veterans to get 
the health care they have earned. The Bush administration wants to 
close the doors of VA hospitals to 1.1 million veterans. It is going to 
keep another 200,000 from accessing the VA. The Bush administration is 
imposing new fees, copayments, and blocking access, and that is just 
wrong.
  The committee resolution will simply make it impossible to fully fund 
VA health care without additional cost sharing. The resolution assumes 
the President's increase for VA health care, but this increase is 
matched in part through higher premiums and copayments.
  I offered an amendment during markup to restore full funding for VA 
health care without forcing our veterans to pay for the care they 
earned. Unfortunately, it failed in committee, but we are going to try 
again on the floor.
  One of the biggest flaws in this budget is in homeland security. I 
know a lot of Senators recognize the inadequacies of the 
administration's approach, with the chairman of the Budget Committee, 
who also serves as chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations 
Subcommittee, characterizing it as ``gross malfeasance.''
  I thank the chairman for recognizing this and for making a gesture in 
the budget toward addressing this gaping hole. But gestures are not 
enough, and if the Senate passes the caps proposed by the 
administration and contained in this budget, no Senator should be under 
any illusion that we will have any other choice but to once again 
underfund our Nation's defenses.
  In recent weeks, we have all heard about the issue of cargo and port 
security. It is looming large, and we have had a vigorous debate here 
and across the country. No matter the particular outcome of this one 
transaction, this country is not adequately prepared to confront the 
threats we face to our security through our trading system.

[[Page 3320]]

Sadly, this budget continues that regretful trend.
  On health care, the President wants to cut 2.2 percent from HHS. That 
is going to reduce our investment in medical research, in disease 
prevention, and in important safety net programs such as urban Indian 
health.
  During the Budget Committee, I actually offered an amendment to try 
to provide some direction and flexibility to the Finance Committee to 
act on legislation aimed at addressing the problems with the Medicare 
Part D benefit, to provide them with a deficit-neutral reserve fund to 
deal with the copayments our States are facing.
  It is only a matter of time and our States are going to revolt, and 
our pharmacists are already paying the price. I hope we again address 
that.
  Let me conclude by saying this budget is neither fiscally responsible 
nor disciplined. Under the assumptions in this resolution, the deficit 
is actually going to get worse. Debt is going to continue to increase. 
The only fiscal constraint included in this resolution is a cap on 
discretionary spending that will make it almost impossible to meet our 
country's needs or our appropriations deadline of October 1.
  I will have more to say.
  Let me end by saying that this budget is based on unrealistic 
spending targets and lacks any real fiscal discipline. Simply providing 
unrealistic caps on domestic spending while assuming additional tax 
cuts is not fiscally responsible. I believe this budget is neither 
honest nor responsible.
  We have a lot of work to do to make our country strong again. We need 
a budget that reflects our priorities and values. And we cannot forget 
that the choices we make today will empower us--or entrap us--months 
from now. I hope we can work together on both sides of the aisle to 
create a budget that protects our homeland, ensures fiscal 
responsibility, and stands up for our middle-class families.
  Thank you Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.

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