Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - November 08, 2005)

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding to me and allowing all of us to come to the floor today to talk about what is really meaningful in the budget. There is no one in this House that knows every paragraph and every decimal point in this budget reconciliation bill better than the gentleman from South Carolina, and no one who knows better, too, the pain and the suffering that you can read between the lines.

Besides the U.S. Constitution, there is no document more defining of our priorities and our values and our morality than budgets. Yes, budgets. Even though we have pages of numbers, it is a moral document. I want to read from an article written by the religion writer for the Chicago Sun-Times paper last Friday. This is what Cathleen Falsani had to say.

She wrote: ``This week, as Republican leaders try to force a monstrous $50 billion budget cut designed allegedly to offset the mounting costs of hurricane-related aid through Congress, it is clear that the Bush administration's moral compass has been lost.

``The proposed budget cuts, part of the so-called budget reconciliation, would have devastating effects on the poorest, most vulnerable Americans, while allowing tax relief for the rich.

``The massive budget reductions would include billions of dollars from pension protection and student loan programs.'' She goes on to list them.

Then she says: ``Maybe Republican leaders should consider proposing an open season on the homeless, or the resurrection of debtors' prisons while they're at it. Is this the kind of leadership the majority of voters who, according to pollsters at the time, cast their ballots in the 2004 based on moral values? Is this what they had in mind?'', she asks.

``Is this what faith-based compassionate conservatism looks like? Is our Nation more moral, more secure, or spiritually healthy than it was a year ago? And, to address my fellow Christian voters specifically,'' she

asks, ``has the Good News been advanced in any way? No, absolutely not,'' she says.

She goes on to describe ``all 65 bishops at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have signed a letter to Members of Congress vehemently opposing the proposed budget cuts, saying in part `The biblical record is clear. The scriptural witness on which our faith tradition stands speaks dramatically to God's concern for and solidarity with the poor and oppressed communities while speaking firmly in opposition to governments whose policies place narrow economic interests driven by greed above the common good.' ''

That is what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said. She goes on to say: ``The Evangelical Christian theologian and leader, Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, a national network of progressive Christian peace and justice activists, led an ecumenical gathering of religious leaders in a protest at the Capitol building last Thursday, calling the proposed cuts `a moral travesty.' '' This is quoting Jim Wallis: ``Instead of wearing bracelets that ask, `what would Jesus do,' perhaps some Republican should ponder, `what would Jesus cut?' ''

The author writes: ``The immorality, by any religious tradition's measure, of the proposed $50 billion budget reconciliation package, is brazen. If enacted, it would prove only to increase the suffering of the already struggling poor, including tens of thousands who lost everything along the gulf coast. Maybe immoral isn't the appropriate word,'' Kathleen Falsani says. ``Maybe immoral isn't the appropriate word. Downright evil is a better description.''

I thank my colleague for allowing me to read this article. I think it is instructive to all Members of Congress and all people of faith as well.

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