Cornyn: Budget Funds Priorities, Insists on Restraint
CORNYN: BUDGET FUNDS PRIORITIES, INSISTS ON RESTRAINT
President Bush submits annual budget to Congress
Monday, February 7, 2005
WASHINGTON-President Bush submitted his annual budget to Congress on Monday with his funding proposals for fiscal year (FY) 2006 and beyond. The President's budget calls for robust funding of the nation's highest priorities, including: winning the global war on terror, defending the homeland, providing our military with necessary resources, and keeping our economy growing. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said the President's budget "funds the top priorities and insists on spending restraint elsewhere."
"Over the past four years we've heard a lot about how the deficit is hurting the economy. This budget shows that the President is serious about reducing the deficit. And I hope that those who criticized the deficit during the campaign season will be consistent now when we have to make the hard choices," Cornyn said. "This budget is a good start, and sets prudent limits where possible, but also increases funding for key needs."
The President asked Congress, which has the constitutional power of the purse, to limit overall FY 2006 discretionary spending to $840 billion in new budget authority, or a 2.1 percent increase over last year while still funding a number of important initiatives.
"The President has clearly shown his commitment to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars by proposing to reduce or eliminate some 150 programs which the administration believes have failed, are wasteful or are beyond reform," Cornyn said. "He has also recommended the consolidation of several duplicative programs spanning numerous federal agencies. Together, these proposals merit careful review by Congress."
The Budget Committee will now review the President's recommendations and present a budget to the Congress. Cornyn said, as a member of the Senate Budget Committee, he "will work with the President to craft and enforce a congressional budget that's fiscally prudent, continues to put defending our nation as its highest priority, and maintains pro-growth tax and economic policies."
The President's budget also includes several proposals for long overdue budget process reforms, including restoring multi-year discretionary caps and a constitutional line-item veto. And with the rapid approach of the first wave of early baby boomer retirees, the budget calls for the federal government to record the true costs of its long-term spending commitments for entitlement programs, especially Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to better understand the budgetary resources and trade offs needed to meet them.
"I believe more can and should be done to reduce federal spending and eliminate waste to ensure that every government program is not only necessary, but actually works," Cornyn said. "That's the least that Congress can do to ensure that every tax dollar sent to Washington is being wisely and effectively used. I also support the President's request to make his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. And we must move forward with his plan to modernize and permanently secure Social Security so that our children's future isn't mortgaged and jeopardized by an outdated system, yet fully protects the scheduled benefits of current and near retirees without tax increases. I believe these are critical."
Cornyn continued: "We can no longer ignore the approaching fiscal crunch that experts from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office to the Government Accountability Office warn is right around the corner. This budget rejects the policy of more taxes and higher spending. Instead, President Bush's vision emphasizes an ownership society that rewards wealth creation and hard work; that allows every American to keep more of their own resources to save, invest and spend based on their own circumstances and needs, rather than reflecting the priorities of special interests and bureaucrats in Washington."
http://cornyn.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=231665