Robin Carnahan: “when families across the country plan for the future, they first determine their essential priorities. Then they put…”

“when families across the country plan for the future, they first determine their essential priorities. Then they put money aside to make sure they can pay for them. Only after those priorities are met, do our families decide whether money is left over to pay for other things. I believe we would be wise to approach the Federal Government's budget the same way. First, we should determine how much we need to invest for vital national priorities. The remaining funds should be returned to the people through a tax cut. We can meet our national priorities and still provide for substantial tax relief to America's working families. But the budget we are considering seems to have been constructed exactly the opposite way. It appears to have been built around the $1.6 trillion tax cut, leaving us without adequate funds to meet our budgetary needs. One of the most glaring shortfalls in the President's budget is in the area of national defense. Of the $5.6 trillion in anticipated surpluses, the budget proposed by President Bush spends only $60 billion--about 1 percent--on defense. I believe that this level of military funding is inadequate to meet our military's current and long-term needs. The amendment that Senator Landrieu and I have proposed will remedy this flaw by increasing defense spending over the next 10 years by $100 billion above what the President has proposed.”