Congressional Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2008

Floor Speech

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 -- (Senate - March 22, 2007)

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to support the budget resolution that Senator CONRAD has so ably put together. Working with his colleagues on the Budget Committee, Chairman CONRAD has brought to us a budget that puts America's priorities first, and he has done so in a responsible way.

As I have said many times before, a budget is an expression of values: you choose what to spend your money on and you choose how much of it to spend now instead of later. As families all across America sit down at the kitchen table to create their own family budgets, they decide what they have to pay for now--the house, the car, the electricity, the gas--and then how much they can spend on other things without going too far into debt.

Creating a budget for the Federal Government is really quite similar in many ways: this week the Senate will decide what we have to pay for now--the war, our veterans, health care, education--and then how much we can spend on other things without making our record-shattering debt situation any worse.

I will take a few moments to describe what I think are these key investment priorities, and then I will talk for a moment about how I think we are addressing these priorities in a responsible way.

This budget includes substantial funding for many of America's top priorities, but I will take the time to highlight just three: veterans, health care, and education.

The Senate budget resolution allocates $43.1 billion for veterans in fiscal year 2008 alone. That is $3.5 billion more than President Bush recommended in his budget request. With more and more weary soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the deplorable conditions in Walter Reed waiting for the injured when they return, and with ongoing issues in States like Illinois where veterans benefits are lacking, supporting the troops when it really counts--when the checks are being cut--is something that we simply must do. This budget gets it right.

This budget also gets it right when it comes to paying for health care, both here and around the world.

For health care around the world, there is no greater funding need than for the fight against global HIV/AIDS. In this area, I commend President Bush for showing real leadership over the course of his, Presidency. But his budget request neglected one of our most cost effective tools against this plague--the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Senate budget resolution includes $940 million for the Global Fund, an increase of $640 million over the President's request. Even more is needed, but this is a good start. To fight HIV/AIDS or make progress on other critical health and development challenges, we must make these necessary investments.

Here at home, the budget resolution provides for up to $50 billion for is the SCHIP program over 5 years. The Bush budget request is $2 billion. It is clear that the Bush administration has not made affordable health care for our Nation's neediest children a real priority. The Democrats have.

Since the creation of the SCHIP program 10 years ago, more than 6.2 million children have been covered by this vital program, including over 290,000 children in my home State of Illinois.

As the first State to provide health insurance to all children, Illinois has been a leader in the fight to change the course of health care in this country. Since 1993, SCHIP and other Federal programs have helped make it possible for Illinois to provide health insurance to more than 313,000 children who didn't have it before.

How big is the need for better investments in our children's health? In a study of over 20 developed nations released last week by UNICEF, the United States ranked as one of the worst places to be a child. What does that say about us as a country and our commitment to our children--our future? What does it say about this Government's priorities over the last 6 years?

UNICEF looked at six dimensions of child well being. Of the five categories for which the United States was ranked, our country ranked in the bottom third in four categories. In fact, we were next to last in the ``family and peer relationships'' and ``behaviors and risks'' categories. And we were dead last in ``health and safety.''

We must make the commitment and investment in the health and well-being of our children to ensure their success--not create circumstances that make it more difficult for them to realize their potential. I think that this budget starts to correct our course, providing more investment in our kids where it is desperately needed.

This budget also proves that the Democrats in Congress believe that there are few better investments in the future of this country--in the future of our children--than education. The budget resolution includes $62.3 billion for education in fiscal year 2008. That is $6.1 billion more than the Bush request. We absolutely must make this investment now in order to reap the benefits in the future. Our kids deserve nothing less.

As we have allocated robust funding for our Nation's top priorities, we have done so in a fiscally responsible way. Under Chairman Conrad's leadership, this resolution would take us several steps down the road towards fiscal sanity after years of endless deficit spending that placed today's tax cuts for the wealthy on the future credit cards of our children.

First, the resolution would create an annual budget surplus by 2012. Since we currently find ourselves with more debt than the Nation has ever accumulated before--just as the baby boomers are getting ready to retire--balancing the budget is fundamentally important.

Second, the resolution reduces both spending and the debt as a share of GDP over the 5-year life of the resolution. We have a long way to go towards paying off our $9 trillion in debt, but this is a good start.

Third, the resolution restores a strong pay-go rule that the Republicans had allowed to expire. Congress will be able to spend money on critical needs if it chooses to, but we will have to pay for that spending at the same time. Likewise, we will be able to cut taxes if we want to, but we will have to pay for that as well.

Fourth, the resolution provides 2 years of middle-class tax cuts through continued relief from the alternative minimum tax. Whereas the President's budget called for a huge tax increase on the middle class in 2009 by refusing to provide AMT relief for more than 1 year--a decision that would lead to a substantial tax increase for 25.7 million middle-class Americans--this budget extends that relief for another year to ensure that the middle class does not become ensnared in this tax that was meant to ensure the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes.

In total, this budget provides a valuable blueprint that should help guide the Senate in providing funding for our Nation's priorities while ensuring that we do so responsibly. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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