Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS -- (House of Representatives - March 09, 2009)

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Ms. LEE of California. Thank you very much. Let me thank the gentlelady from Ohio for yielding, but also for your leadership and for that very clear and powerful statement and ensuring that the Congressional Black

Caucus each week has an opportunity to talk about those issues that are affecting the African-American community, communities of color and the entire country. So thank you, Congresswoman Fudge.

There are just a couple of things I would like to say tonight on the budget. I have to acknowledge and thank the Chair of the Budget Committee for the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressman Bobby Scott, who consistently each year pulls together his task force. I serve as a member of his task force to look at the overall budget and to make sure that the Congressional Black Caucus' focus is couched within the fact that historically we have been and continue to be the conscience of the Congress and that the budget reflects our values. The budget is a moral document, and it's within that perspective and lens that we look at the budget.

Let me say a couple of things with regard to the budget, specifically. As an example of what I am talking about, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is devastating the African-American community and communities of color both here and, of course, abroad, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

We believe the time has come to really put forth a national HIV/AIDS strategy, a plan, and fund it. We also established in 1999, under the great leadership of Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a minority AIDS initiative. And this year we are pushing to fund that minority AIDS initiative at least at $645, $650 million. That's really a drop in the bucket, but we have to start somewhere, and we want to make sure that our tax dollars, as it relates to HIV and AIDS, are targeted and directed to where the problem is the greatest.

And, of course, we know, when you look at the statistics in the African-American community, HIV and AIDS is off the scale. So we must do more and we have to get this moving very quickly.

Secondly, I would like to just mention this defense budget. Each and every year there are a few of us who talk about the fact that we all, and as the daughter of a lieutenant colonel, I am, as I always say, a military brat, support a strong military, a strong national defense and our troops.

It's time that we look at a realistic national security budget that reflects our national security priorities, not to continue to fund many of those Cold War-era weapons systems, which are being built for a threat that doesn't exist. So we are looking at ways, and I have found in the GAO studies that have been conducted on the defense budget, there's billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse in the defense budget.

It's time we look at closing some of those items that GAO identified, and I believe we could get up to some $80-some billion in cuts just based on closing the items that have been identified as waste, fraud and abuse.

So there is much to look at in terms of the budget. This is a very difficult year, it's a very difficult time, given the economic recession, and so we must have a budget that reflects the values of our country, including addressing poverty in a big way.

Eight more million people now are living in poverty as a result, unfortunately, of the policies of the last 8 years. We have to begin to look at how we address these moral gaps, and that's what they were. That's what they are, the dignity of all human beings must be reflected in our budget, and that is what the Congressional Black Caucus seeks to do to ensure that every man, woman and child, not only in the Black community, but throughout the country, have support and our Federal Government policies that support their dignity and their worth.

So I want to thank Congressman Bobby Scott and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge for their leadership on that and just know that we are working day and night to make sure that whatever budget comes out of here reflects the moral values of our country. Thank you.

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