Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 30, 2005)

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Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to the Republican Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. This legislation clearly illustrates the Republican party's values. The cuts to education, job training and health care in this bill are necessary because the majority's top priority is tax breaks for corporations and those making more than $1 million a year. This bill is the consequence of the irresponsible Republican budget resolution passed earlier this year, and the American people will pay the price.

This bill provides $1.6 billion less than the amount necessary to maintain current services and among its many mistakes, contains three major flaws: painful cuts in education, health care, and job training. Republicans have cut No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, reducing funds for students and schools already struggling with Federal testing mandates. It slashes funding for health care training programs while we face a shortage of health care workers and the Preventive Health Block grant, which in Minnesota is used to address health care disparities. This bill cuts funding for job training, while we continue to have a faltering economy in which 7.6 million Americans are out of work.

The Republicans claim to have provided an increase for the National Institutes of Health, NIH. However, this paltry increase of 0.5 percent is far less than the NIH needs to keep up with current research costs. This disinvestment threatens future life-saving breakthroughs which have the possibility of improving the health of our country and saving limited health care dollars.

The Republican bill takes particular aim at the most vulnerable in our communities. Even with gas prices skyrocketing, this bill cuts funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. It essentially freezes funding for Head Start and the Child Care Block Grant, and provides only a 1 percent increase for senior nutrition programs.

Our priority as members of Congress should be the well-being of American families. We are not prioritizing children when we decrease the ability of schools to provide a quality education for all. We Are not putting families first when we reduce the access to health care. And we are not on the side of the working men and women when we limit opportunities to provide for their families.

I support the Democratic alternative offered by Ranking Member Obey. This amendment reflects the values of Minnesotans by investing in the American people's education, health and future. For example, the Democratic alternative would have increased funding for Pell grants to improve access to higher education, increased the Federal Government's contribution to special education, provided additional funding for reading and math for 1 million more students, funded community health centers and invested in biomedical research. My constituents know that our competitiveness, quality of life, and the health of our communities are at risk under the Republican plan. I will continue to fight to put families, and our future, first.

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