Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro President's FY 2006 Budget

Statement of the Hon. Rosa L. DeLauro

President's FY 2006 Budget

WASHINGTON - 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 2006 budget proposal submitted to Congress this morning by President Bush. The budget calls for nearly $2.6 trillion in spending, which will increase the deficit. The budget does not include funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or the $2 trillion that will be needed to privatize Social Security as President Bush has outlined.

"The president's budget proposal fails to address the very real challenges facing our country. In addition to exploding our already record deficit by another half trillion dollars, it proposes to make permanent irresponsible, ineffective tax cuts for the wealthiest, and eliminate countless programs that have proved successful in helping us meet our education, health, housing, and transportation needs. In short, it does not reflect our national priorities or shared values as Americans.

"Nor is this budget realistic. For instance, the president claims his budget will cut our deficit in half by 2009. Yet it fails to account for the $754 billion in additional debt that would accrue in the five years following the introduction of private accounts to Social Security - a program that not coincidentally would begin in 2009. The budget also excludes future expenses of the continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, expected to total $80 billion this year alone. When these items are included, along with the impact of making the president's tax cuts permanent, it is estimated that deficit spending would increase by $6.1 trillion over the next decade.

"I support the proposal to buy 79 Black Hawk helicopters from Sikorsky and plans to steer millions of dollars in Air Force engine work towards Pratt and Whitney and millions more in shipbuilding to Electric Boat. But with our state's critical infrastructure already overwhelmed, I am concerned that the president's proposal to eliminate all federal support for Amtrak and decrease spending on housing and environmental programs will come at a great cost to Connecticut families' quality of life. I am also disappointed that the president's budget cuts $60 billion from Medicaid, decimating health care funding for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities while weakening one of our most important safety nets. The budget also raises health care costs for hundreds of thousands of veterans, increasing veterans' co-payments for prescription drugs by 114 percent and imposing a new requirement that forces some veterans to pay a $250 annual VA health care fee.

"As a member of the House Budget Committee, I believe that budgets are moral documents - an expression of shared values and the priorities that are important to us as a nation. By offering an unrealistic, unaffordable plan for the future, the president once again misses an opportunity for presenting a vision that brings the nation together to tackle its most pressing challenges."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/February/presidents_budget_02_07_05.html