The Federal Deficit
THE FEDERAL DEFICIT -- (House of Representatives - February 16, 2005)
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Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the leadership the gentleman has shown in the Committee on the Budget.
I want to focus on one part of the administration budget and that deals with education. When I looked at this 3,000-page budget proposal the other day, I was quickly struck by the fact that out of the 150 programs that are slated for elimination, 48 of them, that is one out of three, were in education.
Education has the power to break the cycle of poverty. Education has the power to change lives. As millions of Americans have proven, education has the power to change the future. It has changed mine.
I think the gentleman will agree with me that if we would call, or any Member would call, any economic development foundation in their district and ask them about the importance of a broad-based comprehensive education system, I think they would get the answer, an answer that we all know, that is, there is no greater resource today in our great Nation to attract better jobs with better wages to our communities than a strong education program that we have.
Mr. SPRATT. There is no other individual in the Congress I could point to who is a better testament to that principle than the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar), who I believe has four degrees. Am I correct?
Mr. CUELLAR. I thank the gentleman very much.
I think the gentleman agrees with me that educational programs alone are no guarantee. These programs are successful only with the inspiration of our parents, the support of our community, and the hard work of our students. Many educational programs are threatened by this budget which includes the Upward Bound Program, the Talent Search, the GEAR UP among other programs. But I think today, if the gentleman would allow me just a few minutes to talk about one program, and that program exemplifies what it means to offer opportunity to an individual, what it means to offer opportunity to a family, a community and a country.
I think the gentleman is familiar with this program called Even Start. The budget calls for a $225 million cut from the Even Start program. That is a cut that would basically eliminate this program. In my own State, there are 90 Even Start programs in the State of Texas serving more than 5,500 families. In my part of the district, Seguin, Texas, there are 60 families that depend on this.
This is a very remarkable program that allows the parents to learn along with the children, where they are able to get their GED, where they are able to pull themselves up and not only educate their children but also to get trained, educated so they can get a job. It provides a sense of pride that makes them better parents, and that is what we are trying to do through our educational system.
I think the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) would agree that if we have these budget cuts in education, as is proposed, this will not make our families stronger, this education will not make our Nation stronger, and I believe these cuts in education will make it very hard on thousands of families that are working hard, playing by the rules to make this transition from poverty to prosperity.
You know, now as we are talking about providing the tools to break this cycle of poverty and provide more home and opportunity for the children, I think we need to talk about something you have been talking about, Mr. Spratt, and I would ask you this particular question. We agree that we need to have budget discipline. And, yes, we need to preserve educational programs like the Even Start program. So how do we do both?
And I think, just like you have said before, in order for us to do this, just do it just like we do the budget at home, we set priorities. We set priorities. We need to decide in Congress what are those priorities? Is it spending $280 million to study the icy moons of Jupiter, or do we educate our children? Is it spending $480 million to support the states of the former Soviet Union, or are we going to save America's farms?
I think, like you have been saying, Mr. Spratt, it is a time to set priorities for our Nation, and now it is the time to make sure that we set those priorities, not only for our Nation, but for our own individual districts. And I ask you to continue the efforts and the endeavor to make sure that the American public understands that we can have a budget, balance the budget, but at the same time, the way we lower the deficit is to set the priorities, the priorities in education and health care, and economic development.
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