mr. chairman , i thank the distinguished gentleman from south carolina for yielding me this time , and i thank him for his great leadership in putting together a budget that is a statement of our values , that is balanced in terms of our priorities and balanced fiscally . 
he has always conducted the process of creating a budget in a way that has informed members , has done so with great dignity and great fairness and great respect for all points of view . 
i wish we would all join in acknowledging the great leadership of the gentleman from south carolina , our ranking member on the committee on the budget . 
mr. chairman , in 1994 , the first item in the republicans ' contract with america was the fiscal responsibility act . 
republicans pledged `` to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control congress , requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses. '' more than 10 years later , an out-of-touch republican majority has taken fiscal responsibility to a new low . 
it is clear that in the 10 years the republicans have become addicted to deficits . 
the budget deficit for this year is a record $ 427 billion . 
the february budget deficit , my colleagues , of $ 114 billion for the month of february , a deficit of $ 114 billion , is the highest monthly deficit ever and the first time it ever went over $ 100 billion in one month . 
in 2001 , president clinton left president bush with a projected $ 5.6 trillion in surplus . 
in just 4 years , president bush has turned that record surplus into a record deficit of nearly $ 4 trillion , a $ 10 trillion swing in the wrong direction . 
make no mistake , these deficits are the direct result of republican policies , huge tax cuts for the wealthy , a refusal to pay as you go , poor planning for a war of choice in iraq . 
the list goes on and on and on . 
america is awash in red ink because of republican budget irresponsibility . 
tragically , this republican budget is yet another missed opportunity to return to fiscal discipline . 
not only is this budget fiscally irresponsible ; the republican budget is dishonest . 
it does not cut the deficit in half as republicans claim . 
in fact , it makes the deficit worse . 
republicans leave out the realistic cost of the war , the cost of expiring tax provisions , the true cost of fixing the alternative minimum tax and the cost of any changes to social security . 
the budget is dishonest in another way : it fails to show any deficit figures at all after 2010 . 
in our new partnership for america 's future , democrats have made a commitment to honor the value of accountability , including eliminating deficit spending and holding those in power accountable for their actions with a high ethical standard . 
democrats support honest , accountable budgets that pay as you go . 
the democratic alternative offered by the gentleman from south carolina achieves balance by 2012 . 
the republican budget never reaches balance . 
it heaps tons of debt onto our children and grandchildren , and it will eventually lower our standard of living . 
we can not let that happen to our country . 
and on top of all of that , the republican budget undermines the solvency of social security . 
while republicans ignore the real crisis of ballooning budget deficits , the president falsely claims there is a crisis in social security . 
but just because the president says it does not make it so . 
he is simply wrong . 
according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office , social security 's trust fund will grow every year until a high of $ 8.3 trillion in 2032 and continues to be solvent until 2052 . 
i want to call your attention to this chart , my colleagues . 
the left bar represents the deficit in the general fund between now and 2035 , a staggering $ 15 trillion . 
the bush administration has taken us onto a trajectory of reckless budgeting that will take us to $ 15 trillion in deficit in 2035 . 
from 2006 to 2035 , $ 15 trillion in deficit . 
this bar here , the second bar , social security , 2006 to 2080 , twice as long , more than twice as long , the social security deficit is $ 2 trillion . 
it is clear that there would be plenty of money to deal with the social security trust fund if the president were not using the social security trust fund as a slush fund to give tax cuts to the wealthiest people in america . 
instead of doing that , we have a moral and legal obligation to pay back to the trust fund the money the president has taken out . 
we can not let the president do this . 
by running enormous deficits , the republicans want to force the government to break its promises to the elderly . 
how on earth are they going to pay the social security trust fund back if they have gone broke on the other side by running up these deficits in the general fund ? 
democrats will keep america 's promises to our seniors . 
democrats have done it before , and we will do it again . 
when bill clinton was president , we had 3 years of surpluses . 
and with the surpluses , imagine , think of it . 
zero deficits . 
$ 427 billion in deficit for this year , over $ 100 billion in deficit for the month of february alone , this year . 
and when president clinton was president , the 3 years at the end of his term , we had zero deficits . 
and with the surpluses that were produced he was able to pay nearly $ 400 billion off of our indebtedness , strengthening the solvency of social security . 
likewise the democratic alternative that was offered today included pay-as-you-go rules that would block new tax or spending legislation that is not paid for . 
not only is the republican budget fiscally reckless and dishonest , it is morally irresponsible . 
the leaders of five protestant denominations , the episcopal church usa , the evangelical lutheran church in america , the presbyterian church usa , the united church of christ and the united methodist church recently called president bush 's budget unjust . 
they reminded us of the words of the prophet , micah , who said , `` what does the lord require of you but to do justice , to love mercy and to walk humbly with your god ? 
`` does this budget do justice for americans ? 
you be the judge . 
is it doing justice to our children to give tax cuts to people making more than $ 500 , 000 a year , while underfunding head start , no child left behind , student loans and grants and other education initiatives by $ 2.5 billion ? 
is that doing justice to our children ? 
is it doing justice to our communities to give tax cuts to the wealthy while funding for community police and local fire fighters who are vital to our homeland let us hear it for the other body . 
it undermines the community development block grant initiative with all considered restructuring and a massive 35 percent cut . 
it makes huge cuts to the earned income tax which takes 2 million children , lifts 2 million children out of poverty . 
but this budget , the republican budget , makes cuts there . 
no . 
the republican budget does not do justice , it does great damage to our country . 
instead of being a statement of our values , the republican budget is an assault on our values . 
and it is a blueprint for financial disaster . 
i urge my colleagues to return to fiscal discipline , to honor our values and to oppose this disgraceful republican budget . 
thank you , my colleagues . 
vote `` no '' on this budget . 
