María Elvira Salazar: “thank you for the debate we are having on the floor of the Senate this evening. I rise in opposition to the conference…”

“thank you for the debate we are having on the floor of the Senate this evening. I rise in opposition to the conference report on the budget resolution. This budget keeps mountains of debt on our children and fails to fund the priorities of our Nation from veterans to children, law enforcement, and rural America. It is a bad budget. The first problem is that this budget heaps more debt on our children and grandchildren than ever before. Counting what the President wants to borrow to privatize Social Security, this budget will add an additional $600 billion in debt each year for the next 5 years. That is irresponsible. That will amount to over $3 trillion in additional debt--debt which is more and more funded by foreign central banks. This mountain of red ink ought to alarm the Nation. It has alarmed Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who has been warning us to do something about it, and other great Americans like Warren Buffet. We also know that this budget turns our priorities upside down. We ought to fulfill our commitment to the men and women who have laid their lives on the line for this country. Yet this budget shortchanges our veterans by at least $1.6 billion. The paltry increase in the veterans health care budget in this conference report will not even cover the cost of inflation. The VA says that increases in its payroll and prescription drug inflation alone will cost $1.4 billion.…”