John W. Olver: “the President's budget is not perfect, but the President's budget does prove that we can balance the budget in 6 years…”

“the President's budget is not perfect, but the President's budget does prove that we can balance the budget in 6 years without extreme cuts in health care and education and housing and law enforcement and environmental protection. But while those extreme proposals get most of the attention, I would like to point out to other areas of the extremist Republican budget that have at least as many bad implications for our future, and those areas are scientific research and development and our public transportation. The Committee on the Budget plan cuts civilian science by $l5 billion over 6 years. It phases research and solar and renewable energy way down and wipes out energy conservation and research in fossil energy efficiencies. It eliminates technology partnerships with businesses, including advanced technology development and manufacturing extension. Now, these are the very investments that create high-paying jobs to grow our economy while protecting our environment and quality of life. Now, public transportation gets people to jobs and to their medical appointments while conserving energy and protecting the environment. Completely missing the interconnection between public transportation and our energy and environmental security needs, the Republican budget slashes support for transportation systems that are used in every urban community, large and small, all over America. What kind of future will those policies leave us? Well, a bleak future at best.”