[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  BROKEN PROMISES OF THE TRUMP BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday President Trump laid out his budget 
request for next year. It represents the most draconian disinvestment 
in our country by any President in modern history, and it is littered 
with broken promises and fundamental errors in simple math.
  It is a budget that makes very clear that this President is not 
fighting for working Americans and their families, and, in fact, he is 
breaking his promises to make their lives better. It is shockingly 
devoid of the basic policy details necessary to back up its deficit-
cutting bravado. It includes an accounting discrepancy so large--over 
$2 trillion--that it can only be characterized as willfully hiding the 
ball from the American public, an exercise in extreme incompetence, or 
both.
  The purpose of a budget is to lay out the most complete description 
of a President's governing vision for the country. By that measure and 
many others, this budget is an embarrassment. It is no wonder that it 
has already been panned by Members on both sides of the aisle in this 
House. My Republican friend, Representative Mike Simpson, was 
absolutely right when he said of proposals like this one that the House 
can't pass this budget. Nor will it. It is dead on arrival in Congress 
because Democrats and Republicans both understand that we can't provide 
economic security to the American people and keep them safe from 
threats if we gut our investments in doing both. That is what the 
President's budget would do.
  As The Washington Post eloquently pointed out, the Trump budget ``is 
fundamentally at odds with what Trump told voters.'' President Trump 
promised middle class American workers he would fight for them and 
their families. If implemented, his budget would make it harder for 
them to send their kids to college, access job training to get ahead, 
or even just stay in the middle class, and devastate seniors' long-term 
care. The dramatic cuts he makes to nutrition assistance, elimination 
of heating assistance during the winter months and Meals on Wheels will 
hit low-income Americans and seniors hard, particularly in rural 
communities.
  And those, Mr. Speaker, are just a selection. He is breaking his 
campaign promise not to cut Medicaid and Social Security, taking $1.4 
trillion out of Medicaid over the next 10 years, without offering a 
policy to achieve those cuts, and slashing funds for the Social 
Security disability insurance programs that serve 10 million Americans. 
Frankly, the President made fun of those with disabilities during the 
course of the campaign, and now he cuts billions of dollars from the 
ability of the disabled to maintain some degree of dignity and health.
  President Trump also pledged that the American taxpayer would not 
pay--would not pay--for the border wall he wants to build. Of course, 
his budget asks the U.S. taxpayer to pay for that wall. When it comes 
to keeping Americans safe from threats overseas, President Trump's 
budget fails miserably as well, cutting the budgets for diplomacy and 
foreign aid that complement the work of our military in combating ISIS 
and other terror groups. Additionally, it punishes middle class Federal 
employees in every congressional district in our country for choosing 
to serve their country by cutting their pay and retirement benefits.
  One after another, the budget breaks the President's promises. At 
every turn, it undermines our long-term security and prosperity by 
ignoring the critical lessons from past Republican administrations when 
it comes to basic economics. Like past Republican budgets, the Trump 
budget relies on discredited theories of how economic growth would 
result from tax policies. Unlike past attempts, however, the Trump 
budget double counts its fantasy supply side boost in an accounting 
error so large it could pay for the Pentagon 3 years over.
  Mr. Speaker, we know this budget will go nowhere in Congress. I 
believe there will not be a Republican in the House of Representatives, 
Mr. Speaker, who will offer this budget on the floor of this House. It 
does tell us, however, a lot about this President and his priorities. 
Former Vice President Biden has been known to say: ``Don't tell me what 
you value. Show me your budget.''
  President Trump has now shown us his budget, and none of us should be 
surprised. So now it is up to Democrats and Republicans in this House 
and in the Senate to work together to agree on a budget resolution and 
move appropriations bills through regular order. Let us hope we can do 
that. The American public would expect us to do that, and our country 
needs us to do that.
  We must not disinvest in those things that have made America great 
and will enable us to lay the groundwork for another century of 
American leadership.

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