Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2008

Floor Speech

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008

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Mr. RUSH. Madam Chair, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California and the other gentlewoman from California for their stellar and steadfast leadership on these and other matters that the American people are facing.

Madam Chair, as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus, I am pleased to come to the floor in support of three budget alternatives that reflect the Democratic priorities and values.

Today, I want to highlight the value added to the Democratic budget by the two alternatives and thank my colleagues who supported the CBC budget alternative. The CBC and Progressive budget alternatives offer to the American people and to this Congress rational budgets that are fiscally sound and morally responsible.

The Congressional Black Caucus and Progressive Caucus alternative budgets invest Federal resources in programs that benefit the constituencies of all the Members of this House: education, health care, economic opportunity, retirement security, and homeland security.

The CBC and Progressive alternative budgets make these investments while reducing the Federal deficit, which has spiraled out of control and out of sight over the last 6 years of Republican rule.

The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives make necessary investments in minority health care and for community health centers that provide critical health services to urban-based congressional districts like mine, and rural-based congressional districts as well, and investment in the care and treatment of victims of HIV and AIDS.

The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives invests in our Nation's veterans by restoring the cuts the President's budget proposed in the veterans health care and veterans benefits.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of the American people and in support of the CBC and Progressive Caucus alternative budgets.

As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive Caucus, I am pleased to come to the floor in support of three budget alternatives that reflect the Democratic priorities and values.

For the first time in more than 13 years, the Budget Committee's resolution fulfills many of the critical commitments that Democrats made to the American people in the last election: that we would reduce the Federal deficit and make investments in the key domestic programs that are so important to our constituents, and I will be proud to support it. Today, I want to highlight the value added to the Democratic budget by the two alternatives.

The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives offer to the American people and to this Congress rational budgets that are fiscally sound and morally responsible. The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternative budgets invest Federal resources in the programs that benefit the constituencies of all of the Members of this House: education, health care, economic opportunity, retirement security and homeland security. The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternative budgets makes these investments while reducing the Federal deficit--which has spiraled out of control and out of sight over the last 6 years.

The Congressional Black Caucus and Progressive budget alternatives focus on addressing the disparities that exist in America's communities and invest in the future of this Nation by fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act, expanding the Head Start programs, and funding the SCHIP program so that every uninsured child can have access to medical care. The CBC alternative also provides needed funds to rebuild schools and colleges damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives make necessary investments in minority health and for Community Health Centers that provide critical health services to urban-based congressional districts like mine and rural-based congressional districts as well, and investments in the care and treatment of the victims of HIV and AIDS.

The CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives invest in our Nation's veterans by restoring the cuts the President's budget proposed in veterans' health care and benefits. To meet these critical needs of America and its citizens, the CBC and Progressive alternatives repeal some of the tax cuts to the two top income brackets. Even after funding our domestic priorities, both of these alternatives achieve significant deficit reduction.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of the American people and in support of the CBC and Progressive Caucus alternatives.

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