mr. speaker , i would like to thank my good friend and colleague , the gentleman from florida , for yielding me time .  mr. speaker , i rise in support of the rule and the budget resolution .  the rule allows for debate , along with three substitutes , two of which were offered by the minority .  i think it is a good rule .  i commend the gentleman from iowa ( chairman nussle ) and members of the committee on the budget on a good product that addresses several of the concerns that i have had with president bush 's budget .  i am pleased that the budget provides for extension of tax cuts that have brought 20 months of job growth to our nation 's economy .  i also agree with the increases for our national defense and homeland security to provide for our troops fighting the war on terror and to keep our communities safe .  one source of concern for me was the community development block grant program .  it is crucial to city and rural areas across my district .  the president 's budget proposed reducing funds to the cdbg and 17 other economic development programs from $ 5.31 billion to $ 3.71 billion .  i am pleased that the committee on the budget added an additional $ 1.1 billion to the president 's request for the functional category encompassing these programs .  this budget resolution makes no assumption on the president 's proposed communities initiative .  our veterans deserve the very best health care and services our nation can offer them .  funding for veterans have increased by 47 percent over the past 4 years , and i am pleased that the committee added $ 297 million this year to the president 's budget proposal for veterans , and i will continue to seek further and additional funding for our veterans and their health care .  i continue to have some concerns with the budget .  i am a strong supporter of vocational education and trio programs .  the president 's budget proposal would combine these into a high school intervention initiative and reduce funding .  trio programs are very successful .  i actually worked in one in helping low income students with their transition to college .  vocational ed programs offer many high school students the motivation to work hard in all of their classes and provide job skills who do not go on to college .  i look forward to working with appropriators to ensure adequate funding levels for both trio and vocational ed .  medicaid funds are very important also to all west virginians , particularly low income west virginians , and i urge my colleagues to avoid cuts to medicaid as the reconciliation instructions found in this resolution are implemented .  i look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that these priorities like veterans education , economic development and medicaid are adequately funded as the process continues .  i support the rule and the resolution .  