Hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee - "President's FY 2012 Budget"
Statement
"Director Lew, I welcome you to the Ways and Means Committee and I look forward to your testimony. Your appearing before this Committee today, offers us the first opportunity to have a discussion about the Republican Budget for the remainder of 2011 that the House is currently debating and will be voting on this week.
"The President's Budget will be reviewed by all the House Committees. In fact, this is the Ways and Means Committee's third hearing on the Budget that was released on Monday. The Republican budget, on the other hand, was released last Friday and no hearings have been held. Without hearings and a chance to study the cuts proposed, we cannot know who we're impacting and the results.
"Cuts do not necessarily mean savings. The Republican proposal is severe and irresponsible because it will destroy jobs while harming middle class families, young adults, and seniors.
"Education, healthcare, and decent home are so important for a stronger and competitive America.
"Eliminating funds for the Corporation for National Community Service will result in:
* More than 3 million at-risk children not receiving instructional support; and
* More than 10,000 pre-school students served by Jumpstart tutors will no longer start school ready to read.
"Programs such as the Harlem Children's Zone, a neighborhood-based network of services, would be severely impacted -- if not completely eliminated. Children who benefit from these programs come from poor families, who often are on a waiting list just to receive these educational benefits. We want every child in America to be college-bound, and employable, so they can be taxpaying citizens.
"The Republican Plan would severely reduce Community Development Block Grants, which is a flexible program that gives grants to cities and states to provide a suitable living environment and opportunities to expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons. How would our communities be impacted without these grants when the cities and states have already included them in their budget?
"How would the Mayors across the country replace the funds they were expecting to receive? These are not Democratic or Republican issues. They are American issues.
"The Continuing Resolution would reduce the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) by approximately 48% from FY 10 funding levels:
* This cuts training for more than 200,000 unemployed who need skills to compete in the workplace; and
* It phases out state and local training programs beginning between April and July of this year, closing 3,000 One Stop Career centers, eliminating summer youth employment programs, denying access to job training and education for up to 7,000 disadvantaged students who would otherwise have benefited.
"The GOP plan would deny children's educational opportunities:
* Reduced funding for Head Start will remove 218,000 low income children and families from classrooms, by closing more than 16,000 Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms, leaving 55,000 teachers, teacher assistants and related staff without jobs. Head Start is a down-payment on Children's education--especially those at-risk.
* Nearly one million disadvantaged students served through the Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will no longer receive help. Nearly 10,000 teachers and aides could lose their jobs as a result of severely cut funding for the teachers, tutors and afterschool programs in the 2,400 schools that serve these students.
* Reduced funding for IDEA, would leave 7,000 special education teachers and staff unemployed.
"Furthermore, at time America needs to focus on out-educating our students, the Republican Budget reduces Pell Grants from $5,550 to $4,705. These are need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and grad students to promote access to postsecondary education, that do not have to be repaid. Many of the 9.4 million students who are projected to receive a Pell Grant in the 2011-2012 school years would see a lower grant award, requiring them to take out more loans to afford their college tuition and fees or delay their education.
"In order to be competitive, we cannot stop investing in programs like AmeriCorp or providing Pell grants to needy students. We need resources to train and educate everyone, so American can out-innovate, out-build, and out-educate. With preparation, people can do anything.
"The President's budget would continue implementing health reform, which will provide health coverage to an additional 32 million people by 2019 and will reduce the budget deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next two decades.
"In contrast, the Republican CR slashes Medicare funding, making it likely that we will not be able to pay doctors on time or continue inspecting health care facilities to make sure they're safe for seniors and disabled Americans.
"The President's budget reaffirms our commitment to paying people the Social Security benefits they earned on time, and would bring waiting times for disabled workers who are appealing benefit denials under a year for the first time in a decade.
"In contrast, the Republican CR would close the Social Security office for a month, making half a million people wait for their Social Security benefits.
"The President's budget invests in proven strategies to reduce overpayments and increase tax compliance, saving taxpayers $162.7 billion dollars just by enforcing the law.
"In contrast, the Republican CR slashes funding for those critical program integrity initiatives, letting overpayments and errors continue into the future.
"While the President's plan is not perfect, I look forward to working with him to develop a strategy to reduce the deficit, at the same time we continue to create jobs, spur innovation and support economic growth. The President's budget targets the concerns and the need to invest now for a better future for our families, communities, and our great country. I hope my Republican Colleagues would join us in this effort to win our future."
Source