Congressman John D. Dingell

March 13, 2008

Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) gave the following statement in support of H.Con.Res. 312, the House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2009. The House of Representatives passed the budget bill by a vote of 212-207 this evening.

"MADAM SPEAKER:  Today I rise in support of H.Con.Res. 312, the House Budget Resolution for fiscal year 2009.

"There are a number of reasons why the President’s budget was considered ‘dead on arrival’ by members of this House.  I can think of five off of the top of my head – 1) $200 billion in cut funding over five years from Medicare and Medicaid, 2) $570 million in cut funding from the Low Income Home Heating Assistance Program, 3) $800 million cut from the Federal-Aid Highways Administration, 4) $85 million from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and 5) $59 million cut from the Migration and Refugee Assistance.  The icing on the cake - the President proposed freezing spending for the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Institutes of Health.

"If this is not a sign that this President is out of tune with the American people, than I would advise this President that he spend more time reading the mail that comes to his office and less time on his ranch in Crawford.

"With today’s budget resolution, the House is holding true to its commitment to the American people and the priorities of our families.  Frankly, there is no excuse to continue to neglect the families that need help from their government.

"Recently the Congressional Budget Office projected that under the current policies of this Administration the budget deficit will reach $396 billion in 2008 and $342 billion in 2009.  These are the second and fourth largest deficits ever.  I would remind my colleagues that when this Administration took office we were fortunate have a projected $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus.  For a President who continues to advocate for fiscal responsibility, it appears to me that he has not followed his own advice. 

"Currently, 80 cents of every dollar of new debt since 2001 is owed to foreign investors.  This is not a trend that we will let continue.  Unlike the Bush Administration, the Democratic Budget will be balanced by 2012 and will remain in balance in 2013.  Furthermore, we will reduce the deficits over the next five years while continuing to follow pay-as-you-go.

"The Democratic Budget also holds true to its commitment to our veterans by increasing funding for 2009 by $3.6 billion above the current level.  At the same time that the Administration is demanding more and more from our troops, they have also shamefully proposed $18 billion over five years in new fees for veterans and military retirees.  Our troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan honorably and dutifully and they deserve to come home to quality health care and strong education benefits.  This budget will allow the VA to treat 5.8 million patients in 2009, 333,275 of which are Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

"On January 20, the Commission on the Guard and Reserve issued a report announcing that the military is not ready for a catastrophic attack on the country.  More worrisome is the conclusion that the National Guard is ill-trained and ill-equipped to handle the job.  The Democratic budget addresses this issue by focusing on improving military readiness and enhancing the pay and benefits for our troops in order to improve their quality of life.

"In the last seven years, this Administration has failed to support our first responder programs, firefighter assistance grants and the Community Oriented Policing Services.  The Democratic budget proposes to reverse this trend by placing a high priority on restoring funding.  It is imperative that while we are assisting those abroad with their security needs, that we are also supporting our own domestic security needs. 

"I am proud to say that this budget proposal will also follow through on our commitment to expand children’s health insurance coverage by providing a $50 billion increase to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) so that we can provide healthcare to millions more children who otherwise would go uninsured.  As we all witnessed last year, the President vetoed legislation expanding SCHIP on two occasions.  In my home state of Michigan we have seen the number of uninsured increase to 10.7 percent of Michigan’s population.  Rather than making healthcare coverage less accessible, Congress must be doing everything it can to ensure that every individual who wants healthcare coverage has the means to get it.

"The Democratic budget also rejects the proposed $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.  There is no doubt that this President does not place the health of our families on the top of his priority list, however, his budget did ensure that his fat cat friends in the insurance industry would still receive the overpayments to private managed care plans.  I am pleased to say that the House has proposed $1.9 trillion in mandatory spending programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

"As we have seen college costs and tuitions skyrocket, this President has proposed freezing funding to the Department of Education.  The President has again failed to provide funding for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), providing only $24.6 billion for 2009, making the cumulative shortfall for NCLB $85.6 billion.  On top of this, the President has proposed cutting Teacher Quality State Grants by $100 million.  At a time when we are asking our teachers and schools to meet rigorous standards of NCLB, how can we cut funding from a program designed to assist with professional development? 

"The Democratic budget rejects these cuts by providing $7.1 billion for education and job training above the President’s proposal.  If we want to turn our economy around we must have workers that are well-trained and equipped to compete in the global market.  However, to do so we must address rising college costs.  In the last year the average tuition and fees to attend a four-year in state public college increased 6.6 percent to $6,185, and for a four-year private college families are facing a bill of $23,712.  This budget resolution will help parents and students pay for college raising the maximum Pell grant and continuing Perkins Loans and Supplemental Opportunity Grants. 

"The Democratic budget provides funding that is crucial for job creation.  As we have seen here at home, our economy is heading towards a recession.  From 2001-2006 alone, Michigan lost 235,000 jobs, many of them high-paying manufacturing jobs.  With the rising unemployment rate, it is clear that we need to invest in our workers and new industries that would promote job creation here at home.

"This budget provides critical funding for the America COMPETES Act increasing funding for math and science education and research.  The Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which was drastically cut under the President’s budget, will receive continued funding which will help to retain 37,000 jobs.  It also supports the trade adjustment assistance program, which would provide 130,000 workers with both income support and access to training. 

"In the past year we have witnessed the danger of our neglected infrastructure in the tragedy of the Minneapolis bridge collapse.  Until the next surface transportation bill, we must ensure that our roads and bridges are receiving the funding and support needed to be safe and secure for our communities.  We must also address the negative effects of the rising costs in fuel.  Congestion on our roads has resulted in 26 gallons of wasted fuel per person, costing our constituents $78 billion annually. 

"Over the years we have heard time and again from the President that we must decrease our dependence on foreign oil, yet he has proposed cutting funding for our highway and transit programs, mass transit expansions and Amtrak by $2 billion below authorized levels.  The Democrats will not stand for this and instead propose increasing the investment in transportation infrastructure by $41.2 billion for highway programs, $10.3 billion for transit, $1.3 billion for highway safety and $3.9 billion in airport improvement grants.  This will save our constituents delays on the roads and in the airports and reduce pollution and fuel needs.

"Just this week it was announced that Michigan is sixth in the nation for foreclosures; nationally almost 2.8 million homeowners are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosures.  Last year the House passed legislation that would create an affordable housing fund, which is currently awaiting Senate consideration.  This budget takes a step forward by providing needed funding for the $2.8 billion shortfall for the project-based rental assistance program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and provides funding for tenant-based rental assistance. 

"The Democratic budget would also help those that are struggling with home heating costs by rejecting the President’s cut to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistant Program.  Since 2001, home heating costs have gone up by 80 percent.  There is no reason our families should be choosing between groceries and heat during the tough winter months.

"While the President can propose cutting funding, Congress will continue to provide funding for bipartisan programs such as our water and natural resources programs.  This budget rejects the proposed $2.9 billion in cuts and instead invests in water infrastructure that will promote and protect our clean and safe drinking water supplies.

"The Democratic budget provides tax relief for the middle-class families that need it most.  The Democratic budget will continue the tax cuts for the middle-class, while also preventing 20 million families from being subject to the alternative minimum tax.

"Finally, earlier this year, I wrote a letter to Chairman Spratt requesting that he keep in mind the plight of the millions of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons when preparing the budget priorities for this year.  I am happy that he was able to include language in the Committee Report accompanying the budget document recognizing this humanitarian crisis.

"Madam Speaker, I am pleased to say that not only have we received the last budget proposal from this Administration, but it is also the last budget of empty promises.  I look forward to passing the Democratic budget resolution proving Congress’s commitment to our American families.  More importantly, I look forward to working next year with my colleagues and the next Administration to develop a fiscally responsible budget that will finally put the needs of our country first."