mr. chairman , the federal budget should be a statement of our country 's values .  it should reflect the priorities of the american people : good jobs , safe communities , quality education , and access to health care .  the republican budget , h. con .  res. 95 , is not aligned with these priorities ; and i , therefore , rise in opposition to its passage .  like president bush 's budget proposal , the republican budget calls for sweeping cuts in mandatory and non-defense discretionary spending that could harm the effectiveness of vital federal programs .  perhaps in an effort to obfuscate the truth , house republicans fail to provide the specificity the president does in his budget , so we are left to wonder which programs may get slashed or eliminated .  but we do know this : the republican budget resolution instructs various house committees to make almost $ 69 billion in cuts to mandatory spending programs .  the energy and commerce committee , for example , would be forced to find $ 20 billion in savings over five years .  all indications are that medicaid , which provides health coverage for more than 52 million low-income americans , will take the brunt of the cuts .  the proposed budget will also cut veterans ' health care by $ 14 billion , education programs by $ 2.5 billion and clean water programs by $ 700 million .  it will slash economic development programs by $ 1.5 billion , possibly leading to the elimination of the extraordinarily successful community development block grant ( cdbg ) program .  the cdbg provides federal funding for locally-identified projects , like affordable housing , economic redevelopment , roads and public libraries .  the republican budget , in fact , neither adequately funds our national priorities , nor does it offer a strategy for achieving fiscal discipline .  the resolution calls for a $ 376 billion deficit in fy 2006 , but the deficit is worse than it appears .  in calculating the deficit , house republicans use surpluses in the social security trust funds to offset spending on other programs .  if the social security surpluses are not counted , the projected deficit for fy 2006 would be $ 564.5 billion .  democrats , on the other hand , will be offering an alternative proposal today that reflects the priorities of the american people .  the democratic budget provides $ 4.5 billion more for education and training programs , $ 1.6 billion more for veterans programs , $ 2 billion more for community and regional development and $ 1.1 billion more for law enforcement and justice programs .  it does all this while instituting a plan to balance the budget by 2012 and protecting medicaid and social security .  mr. chairman , it is clear that the republicans have chosen to neglect the needs of the many in order to maintain and extend tax cuts for the elite few ; it is clear where their priorities lie .  i urge my colleagues to align their priorities with those of the american people , and vote against the republican budget resolution and for the democratic alternative .  