Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro FY 2007 Budget Passes U.S. House
Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro FY 2007 Budget Passes U.S. House
Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3), a member of the House Committee on Budget, today released the following statement in response to the Fiscal Year 2007 budget passing the U.S. House late last night. The budget resolution that passed the budget committee included a deficit for 2006 of $372 billion, and a deficit for 2007 of $348 billion - the 4th largest in history. These deficits mean that, under Republican policies, the five largest deficits in history will have occurred in five consecutive years. DeLauro supported a Democratic substitute that would have balanced the budget by 2012; and did not include the cuts in homeland security and such key domestic priorities as education and health care that are included in the House-passed budget.
"After 5 years, Americans are all-too-aware of the consequences of Republican budget priorities. Year after year, the story has been the same with this majority's budgets - in exchange for enormous tax cuts that most families never see more than a few pennies of, we get a decimated health and education infrastructure and exploding deficits that put us $1 trillion in debt to Japan and China alone. Interest payments to foreign countries are the fastest growing part of this budget.
"And what has changed since the majority failed to muster the votes for this budget last week? Are we no longer staring down the barrel at $2.2 billion in education cuts? At $8.6 billion in cuts to veterans services? At $18.1 billion in health cuts? No - we still are. The bottom line has not changed - all this is, is a gimmick that allows some Members in the majority to claim they secured more funding in this bill than they actually did.
"The goal of this budget ought to be to benefit the common good. That may seem like a novel idea to this majority but this country is crying out that kind of leadership. With the passage of this budget, the U.S. House failed to give it to them."
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/May/FY2007_budget_5_18_06.html