Jon L. Christensen: “this body should be ashamed of itself. The healthcare and education of the citizens and residents of this country are in…”

“this body should be ashamed of itself. The healthcare and education of the citizens and residents of this country are in a stranglehold because of a greedy oversized tax cut, and we couldn't even vote to consider reducing it by just a small amount--to allow us to provide as better education for this country's children so this country itself can be better and stronger, and help to reduce the premature, preventable deaths that occur everyday in our communities of color and poor and rural areas. Mr. Chairman, it is a travesty that this body is moving ahead today with H.R. 2660 the 2004 Labor HHS appropriations bill as passed by the Republican members of the committee. Democrats did not support it for good reason, and we must oppose it now. There are many reasons why this bill is a terrible insult to the people of this country, but let me just focus on health care for my brief time: Even for its centerpiece--community Health centers--it provides the smallest increase since 1998. There is no increase at all for the Maternal and Child health block grant or for childhood immunization, further turning our back on our children.”