mr. speaker , to my colleague on the other side of the aisle , i just might add that this is the people 's bill . 
but , unfortunately , this particular bill is not meeting the needs of the american public as has been aptly pointed out by my colleague from wisconsin . 
i also might say that there has been bipartisan support in the past because together we could come together and increase the opportunity , whether it was idea , whether it was for low-income assistance , whether it was for education , and it was a rallying point on a bipartisan basis to do something for the american people . 
mr. speaker , when we defeated this bill in november , it cut health research , college loans and low-income energy assistance . 
it cut assistance to working families and the unemployed by almost 4 percent . 
and at a time when america is falling behind competitors like china , whose economy is growing three times as fast as ours , it cut worker training . 
that bill failed by a bipartisan vote of 209 to 224 . 
what about the bill is so different this time that it warrants passage ? 
very little . 
indeed , this bill is at the same funding level , simply shifting money from one underfunded priority to another . 
if anything , once you consider the additional $ 1.4 billion in cuts that the republican leadership intends to impose with a 1 percent government-wide across-the-board cut , this bill is worse . 
i understand that the chairman and his staff are doing their best . 
i do recognize that this bill includes many programs that the president had slated for elimination , especially in the area of education and community services block grants . 
but his is an impossible mission . 
he has been asked to craft a spending bill with resources that do not even allow for us to meet last year 's levels with inflation . 
and why ? 
and why ? 
not because america can not fund these priorities . 
we are the richest country in the world . 
rather , it is because the republican leadership has chosen to use the funds we have for tax cuts that only impact americans earning over $ 200 , 000 per year . 
i might add that 53 percent of those tax cuts will go to people who make over $ 1 million a year . 
that is the real story behind this so-called budget crunch . 
that is as i said in november , ask any middle class family today what is important to them , tax cuts for wealthy americans or things like lowering the cost of health care , of heating their homes this winter or sending their kids to college ? 
they will tell you every time that all they want is something that makes a difference in their lives and in their family 's lives . 
this bill fails the test . 
i urge my colleagues to oppose it . 
