Jim Baird: “I appreciate that. What I just wanted to clarify was, we both participated in the same budget hearing, and my…”

“I appreciate that. What I just wanted to clarify was, we both participated in the same budget hearing, and my recollection in that budget hearing was that in the outyears, the veterans budget increases at a mere 0.5 percent per year. So while it is a fine thing to speak about what we are doing for our veterans, no one seriously believes that 0.5 percent per year in the outyears will keep up with inflation, let alone medical inflation, and, further, let alone the inflation in medical costs of the young men and women who are returning from Iraq. Mr. Chairman, that illustrates I think one of the fundamental problems with the budget we are considering today. I believe it makes false promises. Now we are going to shift the topic to the environment and we are going to discuss not only the environment, but the false promises that underlay the President's promises and the majority promises on the environment. My colleagues from the other side often say people know how to spend their money better than the government. There is some truth to that. But I will tell you this, people want to protect their environment, people want to invest in their national parks, people want clean air and clean water and are they willing to invest in that. Unfortunately, President Bush has a string of unending, almost, broken promises on the environment.”