Republican Budget a Blueprint for Disaster
Pelosi: 'Republican Budget a Blueprint for Disaster'
Washington, D.C.-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this evening on the House floor on the Republican budget proposal, which passed by a vote of 215-212. No Democrats voted for the budget. Below are her remarks:
On the Republican Budget:
"Instead, because of distorted Republican priorities and their reckless economic policies, we are considering a Republican budget here today that will have serious consequences for the American people. Instead of a blueprint of positive initiatives for the future, it is a blueprint for disaster."
"I thank the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Spratt, for his tremendous leadership in presenting to this House of Representatives, a budget that is values-based and fiscally sound.
"Mr. Speaker, this budget that we are talking about today should be a statement of our national values. Every year we say this on the floor. It should be a statement of our coming together to build a budget, a blueprint, for how we prepare a better future for our children, by way of their education and access to health care. It should be a plan to grow the economy to create jobs, to protect our environment and of course, to provide for our national defense. And today, that includes homeland security.
"But for the fourth time in four years, the Republicans in Congress and President Bush have sought to pass a budget that is nothing less than an assault on our national values.
"The American people expect and deserve, and the Democrats have proposed, a budget that reflects the urgent priorities of American's everyday needs - good jobs, better access to health care, the best possible education for their children, and a safe and clean environment, and a secure America.
"Instead, because of distorted Republican priorities and their reckless economic policies, we are considering a Republican budget here today that will have serious consequences for the American people. Instead of a blueprint of positive initiatives for the future, it is a blueprint for disaster.
"The Republican economic record of the past three years is as shameful as it is clear. In three years, Republican economic policies have lost nearly 3 million jobs and added more than $3 trillion to the national debt.
"Mr. Spratt has very eloquently and in a very detailed way talked about what has happened-from surplus in the Clinton years, to deficit in the Bush years.
"Unbelievably, this budget continues that misguided course. It does not grow the economy to create jobs here at home, or in fact, to stop jobs from going overseas. It is an historic budget, in that it has the largest budget deficit, $521 billion in this year alone.
"It fails to put our fiscal house in order by failing to reach balance. And what is the impact of this budget deficit, in addition to mortgaging our children's future? The National Association for Business Economics said that the main threats to the economy are the soaring budget deficits and the sluggish job market. And the UCLA Anderson Forecast said job growth will not match labor force growth this year, because new hiring will be constrained because of weaker consumer spending and bulging government deficits. This lack of job growth and this deficit are related.
"Instead of being a statement of our values, as I said before, this budget is reckless, and the consequences are severe.
"But you be the judge. Do you consider it a statement of your values to give tax cuts to people making over $1 million a year, and cutting over $9 billion from No Child Left Behind? Is that a statement of our values in this Congress?
"On health care, this budget takes away more than $1 billion from the State Children's Health Insurance Program and cuts $2.2 billion from Medicaid. Is it a statement of our values to give bigger tax cuts to people making over $1 million a year, and increasing the number of uninsured in America, with these cuts, to 1.6 million in this year alone? I didn't think so.
"Is it a statement of your values to leave our veterans behind? In the military, the promise is to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield. And when they come home, we must not leave our veterans behind. It's not enough to talk about sacrifice and valor and patriotism of our military and our veterans. We must not fail to meet their needs. So is it a statement of your values to give tax cuts to people making over $1 million a year, and cutting $2.6 billion from veterans' services, as this budget does.
"Mr. Spratt's budget doesn't do that. It rearranges the spending on defense in our budget to meet the needs of our veterans and meet the needs of their survivors.
"And on homeland security. I'm rarely surprised around here anymore but it was really astonishing to hear the distinguished Chairman talking about the homeland security funding in this budget. This budget cuts $850 million from the already meager proposal that President Bush made in his budget. It cuts President Bush's budget on homeland security.
"Is that a statement of our values? Mr. Spratt, thank you for adding $5 billion over and above what the President had in his budget, to reverse some of the cuts in police and fire funding that we need to protect our homeland.
"Mr. Speaker, some people were talking about music and words, and we have the words and they have the music and all that. There is a line in the song 'America the Beautiful,' that I find haunting and inspiring. It says, 'O beautiful for patriot dreams that see beyond the years.'
"That's what our responsibility is here. We're supposed to be here to 'see beyond the years,' to prepare a better future for our children, and indeed it is our patriotic duty, to have a budget that is balanced, and again, not mortgaging their future and indebting them for generations to come.
"It is our patriotic duty to have a budget that reflects our values, that we educate our children. Indeed, nothing does more to grow the economy than that. It is our patriotic duty to provide for our children, their education, their health care, the economic security of their families, including the pension security of their grandparents, a safe environment for them to live, and a secure America.
"But this budget does not do that. It is not 'beautiful for patriot dreams.'
"Led by Mr. Spratt, House Democrats offered a budget today that spoke to the American people's aspiration for good jobs, better access to health care, the best possible education for our children. Mr. Spratt's budget rose to meet the challenge of homeland security, to really meet that challenge. It is fiscally sound and patriotic.
"Mr. Chairman, the budget that the Republicans have before us does not have a values base. It does not have fiscal soundness, and it should not have your support.
"I urge a no vote on the Republican budget."