Congressional Budget for the US Senate Government for Fiscal Year 2004-Continued

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CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004—CONTINUED

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, a few days ago I spoke about the serious concerns I had with the budget resolution that was proposed by the new majority. One of the areas where the resolution before us falls woefully short is transportation funding. We have an opportunity before us to increase funding for Federal highway and transit programs by adopting the Bond/Reid amendment.

As all Senators know, this year the Congress is scheduled to reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century also known as the TEA-21. This bill includes resources not just for highways, but for highway safety and mass transit. This will be an enormous task for four separate Senate authorizing committees and will require a great deal of resources if we are to be able to develop a consensus package that will get on and off the Senate floor.

What we do in this budget resolution will set the stage for TEA-21 reauthorization and demonstrate to the American people just how committed we are to investing in our nation's transportation infrastructure; to reducing congestion and improving the environment in our cities; to making our transportation system safer; and to putting people back to work. Simply put, the budget resolution as currently written simply doesn't do enough.

The amendment before us would increase the highway program to $255 billion and the transit program to $56.5 billion over the next 6 years. The Federal Highway Administration's own "Conditions and Performance Report" states that in order to improve our aging transportation infrastructure we should be investing an additional $42 billion in highways and bridges and $20 billion in mass transit each year.

The benefits of increasing transportation funding are multifaceted. First and most importantly, increased transportation investment will help stimulate our struggling economy since every billion dollars of highway funding generates 47,500 jobs and every dollar in transit investment generates $6 more in economic returns. I don't know about your State, but in my home State of Washington, we can use every bit of economic stimulus that we can get because Washington State was ranked either first or second in the Nation's unemployment rate for much of the last two years and we have lost a staggering 74,000 jobs in the last 18 months.

Second, improving our nation's highways and transit systems will also mean that Americans will spend less time in traffic and more time with their families and loved ones. And the people of Washington State—particularly in the Everett to Seattle corridor—know something about congestion and the toll it takes on family life and the pocketbook since this area is ranked third in the nation in congestion. Nationwide, the value of travel delay and wasted fuel that occurs in congested traffic is estimated at over $67 billion annually.

And finally, every year over 40,000 Americans die on our Nation's roads and highways—we need to continue to invest in transportation to make sure our infrastructure is safe; that trucks and vehicles meet safety standards; and that Americans drive responsibly by wearing their seatbelts and without the influence of drugs or alcohol.

We have much work ahead of us as we move forward with TEA-21 reauthorization. We have an opportunity to help our economy by creating good transportation jobs and to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans by ensuring that we have a transportation system that is safe and efficient. I urge my colleagues to support the Bond-Reid amendment.

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I strongly support Senator DASCHLE's amendment to increase funds for the Indian Health Service's clinical services by $2.9 billion. I believe access to good health care services is a basic human right. This is especially true for Native Americans, for whom the Federal Government has the trust responsibility to deliver health care services. But statistics tell us that when it comes to ensuring good health for Native Americans, we are failing.

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, S. 212, which I cosponsored last year, includes some sobering statistics. The bill reads, "In death rates for example, Indian people suffer a death rate for diabetes mellitus that is 249 percent higher than the death rate for all races in the United States, a pneumonia and influenza death rate that is 71 percent higher, a tuberculosis death rate that is 533 percent higher, and a death rate from alcoholism that is 627 percent higher." This is unacceptable.

When I meet with tribes from Washington State and around the country, improving access to health care for underserved populations—from neo-natal care for pregnant women to care for elders—almost always comes up. I understand that narrowing the health gap that exists between Native Americans and non-natives is a complex challenge. Good health care for Native Americans depends in part on decreasing poverty and unemployment, improving education, strengthening economic development, and overcoming physical and cultural barriers to accessing good health care.

But it also depends on adequate resources, and I believe we must do more in this area. In 2003, medical inflation exceeded 12 percent in the Pacific Northwest. With medical inflation in the double digits and growing Native American populations, we cannot accept cuts to the Indian Health Service. Nor can we accept only minimal increases in funding for IHS programs year after year.

But that is what this Budget Committee has proposed, in keeping with President Bush's 2004 budget request. This Budget Resolution assumes no discretionary increases in funding for IHS. The Bush Administration has asked for an increase of only 2 percent for IHS clinical services. This is woefully inadequate.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to increase funding to ensure good health care for Native Americans. This amendment to the budget resolution will provide an increase of $2.9 billion for IHS clinical services in fiscal year 2004 and a $40 billion increase over the next ten years. The cost of these increases for the Indian Health Service is paid for by a decrease in the proposed tax cut.

The Daschle amendment provides a crucial first step towards securing increased appropriations for Indian health care. Over 90,000 Indian people in the Northwest, and more than 1.5 million Native Americans nationwide, depend on IHS funds and services. We can no longer let down American Indians by continuing to under-fund vital health care services. I hope my colleagues will support this amendment.