Hilda L. Solis: “today I rise because I am deeply concerned with respect to the President's budget, his proposed cuts to women and…”

“today I rise because I am deeply concerned with respect to the President's budget, his proposed cuts to women and children. In particular, the budget of fiscal year 2007 fails on all accounts and provides insufficient funding for our Nation's greatest investment, its children. Domestic programs, as we know, are vital to women and children, particularly the WIC program, which will see its funding decline by almost $5 billion over the next 5 years. For low-income families who rely solely on WIC to feed their children and keep them healthy, these cuts are simply unacceptable. We will see a continued rise in poverty and food shortage among these families. The President's budget is also hurting women who work to provide for their families by cutting back on their health care. Despite the huge budget cuts made already to the Medicaid program in the budget reconciliation bill, the President proposes to slash another $17 billion over the next 5 years. Medicaid, as many of you know, helps women and children, the most vulnerable in our population. I urge the Congress to reject this morally irresponsible budget. ____________________”