Volume 150, No. 11 covering the of the 108th Congress (2003 - 2004) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“THE PRESIDENT'S 2005 BUDGET” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H279-H280 on Feb. 3, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE PRESIDENT'S 2005 BUDGET
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise in great disagreement with the funding priorities set forth by our President that was just unveiled a few days ago in his 2005 budget. Over and over again we hear that President Bush wants to create jobs, protect our environment, and help the uninsured and make our Nation a safer place for future generations.
However, the President has raised or released a budget with the record deficit of $521 billion that is, in my opinion, one of the most anti-worker, anti-health care, and anti-environmental proposals in modern times.
When the President took office it was the first time in 70 years that a President had a surplus, a surplus of $5.6 trillion. For the third year in a row, this administration has proposed more oversize tax cuts that just drive the budget further into the red and do nothing to bolster the priorities of the American public.
We need more jobs. We need better access to health care. We need more funding for education and more environmental protections. And most of all, we need a commitment by this administration to make these priorities.
Let us look at the reality facing our American families. Since President Bush took office, the economy is down 2.9 million private sector jobs; 2.9 million jobs lost. And I am referring to a chart here, unemployment rates in my own district. When I look at the cities that I represent, for example, the city of El Monte, we are still upwards of 7.9 percent in unemployment. In the area of east Los Angeles, where a large number of Hispanics live, we are almost up to 10 percent. It has been there stagnating for almost 3 years.
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It has not changed the course that the President would like us all to believe that somehow the economy is recovering; 90,000 workers a week are running out of unemployment benefits with no jobs in sight because the Bush economy is creating only one job for every three people that are unemployed. Yet we continually hear promises that the tax cuts will create jobs. Workers need more economic security, not tax cuts. And workers in small businesses, particularly in districts like mine who thrive and are the ones that are actually making a better life for us in our country, are having to face a 10 percent budget cut in the Small Business Administration. And since the year 2001, 2.4 million more Americans have lost their health care.
Again, we have heard the President prioritize health care for all Americans. However, creating a refundable tax credit to purchase health insurance does not ensure affordable insurance for individuals who are older and who have poorer health care. We are in the midst of a health care crisis, and the proposed tax care credit would only help 5 percent of the 44 million that are currently uninsured in this country.
The low-income families in my district do not want to hear false promises. They need to know that the programs they depend on, like Medicaid, are being supported and protected. We cannot ignore once again budget cuts, for example, that are being thwarted right now or lashed against; the Environmental Protection Agency will cut about 7 percent of their budget. We hear this administration telling us, we protect the environment; we are really doing all of these things because we want to have a safer environment, safer drinking water and cleaner air. But the majority of the funding that is being taken away at this time will, in fact, not protect our environment or public health.
We cannot make these kinds of trade-offs that we are hearing about. We cannot increase Superfund funding at the mercy of clean-water funding. We cannot steal from Peter to pay Paul. And the budget that the Bush administration is proposing cuts funding for leaking underground storage tank clean-up which is very critical in my district because you see blighted areas right now, you see gas stations that are abandoned. There are about 150 of these tanks in my district. They release toxic chemicals in our soil and in our water supply.
Our communities deserve clean air, land and water, and our children's health depends upon it. We cannot afford to ignore this.
The Department of Homeland Security might have received an overall 5 percent increase, according to this administration, but the President proposed cuts in grants to local fire, police, and emergency medical agencies which will result in about 18 percent cuts overall, first responders, public safety grant cuts by 18 percent from $4.4 billion to
$3.6 billion. So who is really taking care of the homeland?
In my district, police departments are already feeling a tremendous strain, and many police departments are already proposing massive layoffs. In fact, one of the best programs that I can tell you about in my district is known as a community-oriented police service program, the COPS program, which is one of the very basic programs that helps provide the local cop on the beat. That is now being penciled out.
Our first responders must provide critical lifesaving services. I can go on and on, but the fact of the matter is we are talking about cuts in jobs and in education.
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