Barbara Boxer: “the budget that passed the Senate was bad. This budget is worse. Though the budget is supposed to set priorities, this…”

“the budget that passed the Senate was bad. This budget is worse. Though the budget is supposed to set priorities, this budget does not reflect America's priorities. Overall, for domestic needs, this budget cuts $6.9 billion from what was passed by the Senate. That means less for education, less for health care, less for homeland security. It means $4 billion less next year for education than what passed the Senate--and $20 billion less over the next 10 years. This budget begins by failing our kids. It provides $8.9 billion less than what was promised in the No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law with great fanfare just 1 year ago. That would leave millions of kids behind, and in the program to help States educate disadvantaged children, it would leave more than 600,000 California kids behind. This budget also cuts afterschool programs by 40 percent-- kicking 570,000 kids nationally and over 81,000 kids in California out of their afterschool programs. This budget fails our young people struggling with rising college tuition. Conferrees stripped out the Senate provision to increase Pell grants for 4.8 million students nationwide and for almost 600,000 students in California. That means a loss of $165 million in Pell grant aid for California students. On health care, this budget fails to address national needs. This budget stripped out the Senate provision adding $38 billion to help the uninsured get health care.”