Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 23, 2005)
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(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. HOYER. Madam Chairman, I thank the distinguished ranking member and congratulate him on the extraordinary job he does as the ranking member not only on this subcommittee but on all the subcommittees.
Let me begin with a traditional disclaimer, and that disclaimer is I do not hold the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) personally responsible for this product. He has done the best he could with the resources that were given to him, and I congratulate him and thank him for that.
Nor do I hold the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis) responsible, but I do hold responsible the policies that have been adopted by the Committee on Ways and Means, by the Committee on the Budget, and by this House.
Madam Chairman, just 3 months ago the Republican majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) stood on this House floor and with great passion stated, ``The one major responsibility of a government is to protect the innocent, vulnerable people.'' On that very same day in March, the President of the United States stated, ``The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak.''
I served under Bill Natcher from Kentucky who chaired this committee for many years. He used to say as long as we take care of the education of our children and the health of our people, we will continue to live in the strongest and greatest Nation on the face of this earth. But now the political party that exploits every opportunity to talk about the culture of life, virtually ignores and dismisses what I call the culture of the living: the innocent, the vulnerable, the weak, who are living, breathing, members of the American family.
Today, this bill demonstrates in concrete terms how the Republican Party's misguided, irresponsible tax and budget policies have harmful consequences for so many living Americans.
Just yesterday President Bush visited my congressional district in Maryland. He stated, ``I know some workers are concerned about jobs going overseas.'' Yet this bill cuts job training for unemployed by $346 million. This bill cuts the President's community college skills training initiative in half. This bill cuts the International Labor Affairs Bureau by 87 percent which helps enforce child and slave labor abroad.
Mr. President, you are not meeting the concerns. He went on to say, ``I know some are concerned about gaining the skills necessary to compete in the global market that we live in.'' Yet this bill cuts No Child Left Behind by $806 million. This is $13.2 billion short of authorization and $40 billion short of what the President said we were going to fund when he signed the bill.
This bill provides only a $50 increase in Pell grants, notwithstanding hundreds of dollars of increases in college costs. This bill cuts education technology by 40 percent. This bill cuts the Community Services Block Grant in half. This bill cuts the administration's proposal for title I by $603 million.
Mr. President, you know the American people are concerned, but you have not responded. He went on to say this: ``I know that families are worried about health care and retirement. And I know moms and dads are worried about their children finding good jobs.''
Yet, Madam Chairman, this bill eliminates 10 out of the 12 title VII health profession training programs. These programs help alleviate the shortage of doctors and dentists in underserved areas to meet that concern that he recognizes the American people have.
This bill eliminates the Health Communities Access Program which helps health centers and public hospitals better serve the uninsured. This bill cuts the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant program by $24 million. This bill freezes after-school centers for the fourth year in a row. This bill provides only a half a percent increase, far less than inflation, which means they will do less for the National Institutes of Health which researches the afflictions which confront Americans, like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Madam Chairman, I have the utmost respect for those who speak about the culture of life. But we must ask, what about the culture of the living? What about the people who are served by this bill, who need this bill, whose quality of life is critically affected by this bill? This bill is perhaps the most important piece of domestic legislation that this Congress considers every year. It is a statement of national and moral principle. But today it is nothing more than Exhibit A for the Republican Party's culture of fiscal irresponsibility.
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