mr. chairman , i thank the distinguished ranking member for the time . 
i thank the chairman for yielding the additional time , and i do rise as well to thank the ranking member for a very creative , a very important statement on the alternative budget offered by the democrats , and i look forward to supporting that vision that really helps to balance the budget and bring us back on line and also keep us in line with social security , which i will discuss , does more for education , and of course we do not forget the veterans . 
just as an anecdotal story , we were in the committee on the judiciary earlier today looking at the bankruptcy bill , and there were several amendments that had to do with veterans ' catastrophic health conditions , and unfortunately , in the bankruptcy bill markup we did not succeed in supporting veterans , those of us who supported that , particularly democrats . 
so i rise to as well support the democratic alternative over the republican budget -- because both the cbc budget and the democratic budget supports people . 
i want to spend some time on the congressional black caucus budget and really focus on why this is so very important , what it means for us to rise on the floor of the house and to argue a certain focus , and i thank the gentleman from north carolina ( mr. watt ) xz4004240 for leading us in this direction and , of course , the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 , who will offer this amendment tomorrow . 
let me start out by saying something that i am not making up , but let me just hold up a sheet of paper that shows that the president 's mark , the administration 's mark , his first thought was to cut $ 60 billion out of medicaid . 
there is some plussing up , $ 15 billion , and so someone said there is a net of $ 44 billion in cuts because we have got a little increase , but let me just say the intent of the administration was to cut $ 60 billion out of medicaid . 
that goes to the very heart of health care for the uninsured , the disabled , those in nursing homes , and we are to pass a budget with that kind of insult , if you will , to the needs of americans around this nation ? 
in addition , the budget that was offered cut the community block grants $ 1.5 billion , and here is where the congressional black caucus budget comes into play . 
we understand the need to protect the troops . 
we have provided dollars for armor . 
in fact , mr. chairman , we have provided some $ 6.7 billion , or $ 75 million for body armor , $ 10 million for ammunition for the marine corps and small arms for army , $ 1 billion for building maintenance and $ 5 million for studying instances of waste , but at the same time we provide $ 1.12 billion back into the community block grant program which helped to reinvest in our local communities and helped to provide for affordable housing . 
we believe in investing in america . 
the community is the most important element of this budget process , the rural community , the urban community , and that is what the congressional black caucus does . 
so we restore the medicaid funds . 
we ensure that in restoring those community block grant funds we answer the question . 
in the president 's budget , child care funding , losses in purchasing power , billions of constant dollars , we will see in that budget the inability , up to 2010 , to be able to provide real child care for those who need it , and if there is anything that i get asked about when i go home , it is the parents , single parents and young parents , with low income who can not afford to provide child care , and as we can see the purchasing power will go down , down , down up to 2010 , and we will not have the ability to purchase child care in america for those who actually need it . 
so the congressional black caucus recognizes that and provides that funding . 
in addition we also , if you will , take care of social security . 
in the president 's mark , there is a mention of a social security transition cost , but there is no accounting for it . 
there is no money for it . 
so the congressional black caucus budget takes into account affordable housing , medicaid , the needs of our troops , investment in security and as well a provision for the border patrol agents and the customs agents . 
it is a comprehensive budget . 
it is a budget that should be passed . 
the congressional black caucus budget is a budget for all of us to support . 
mr. chairman , i rise today being very disturbed with the direction that the republican proposed budget and this administration is taking our great nation . 
the prime reason for my concern is the national budget which stands before this body today . 
the nussle budget clearly does not improve upon the severely flawed bush administration budget . 
the needs of average americans are still ignored . 
the interests of a wealthy few outweigh the needs of an entire nation in this budget . 
i say this not out of partisanship , but from a statement of the facts . 
i want to highlight a few areas in this budget that are particularly egregious . 
this president and the majority party in this body have spent so much time talking about their record on education and as hard as i try i can not see what they have to be proud of . 
it is one thing to address areas of critical need with rhetoric , but to advocate a policy and then not fund it sufficiently is plain irresponsible . 
this budget eliminates 48 education programs that receive $ 4.3 billion this year . 
these eliminations include wiping out $ 1.3 billion for all vocational education programs , our brave american veterans are another group who were outraged by the president 's budget and will unfortunately be disappointed with the republican house budget . 
i hear so much in this body from the majority party about the greatness of our armed forces , and their right , but again its just empty rhetoric on their part . 
those brave men and women fighting on the front lines in our war against terror will come back home and find that the republican party looks at them differently once they become veterans . 
almost all veterans need some form of health care , some will need drastic care for the rest of their lives because of the sacrifice they made in war , but the republican budget continues to turn a blind eye to their needs . 
the fact is that $ 3.2 billion more than the current budget proposal is needed just to maintain the current level of health care programs for veterans . 
the entire department of veterans affairs is going to suffer because of the republican agenda . 
i have heard from veterans groups throughout my district in houston and i am sure each member of this body has heard from groups in their own district because veterans are one group that come from all parts of this nation . 
these brave veterans have told me their stories of how they are suffering now with the current state of veterans affairs , i am going to have trouble telling them that not only will things continue to stay bad but if this budget passes this body things will only continue to get worse . 
that is not what our returning soldiers from iraq and afghanistan should have to look forward to , a future where their needs are not only unprovided for , but are in fact ignored . 
education and veterans affairs are not the only two areas where republican budget fails americans . 
the truth is there are many other programs and services vital to our nation that are at risk because of the republican agenda . 
at this point , an average american may be asking why the republican leadership finds it necessary to cut so many fundamental programs . 
the answer is simple , yet disturbing ; the majority is cutting important programs in order to finance all their irresponsible tax cuts . 
they will continue to make the argument that tax cuts provide stimulus for our economy , but millions of unemployed americans will tell you otherwise . 
in fact the congressional budget office itself said `` tax legislation will probably have a net negative effect on saving , investment , and capital accumulation over the next 10 years. '' while the republican leadership continues its offensive for irresponsible tax policies they allow our national deficit to grow increasingly larger . 
when president bush came into office he inherited a budget surplus of $ 236 billion in 2000 . 
now , however , this administration has raided those surpluses and its fiscally irresponsible tax policies have driven the country ever deeper into debt . 
a $ 5.6 trillion ten-year projected surplus for the period 2002-2011 has been converted into a projected deficit for the same period of $ 3.9 trillion -- a reversal of $ 9.5 trillion . 
much like the president 's budget , the resolution before us omits the longer-term costs of either the war in iraq or fixing the amt , yet still tries to make claims of reducing the deficit . 
it 's clear this body was made to stand for the will of all americans ; if we allow this budget proposal to take effect we will have failed our mandate . 
i for one will not stand by silently ; i have a duty to my constituents and indeed to all americans to work for their well being and i will continue to honor that duty . 
