Jon L. Christensen: “today I rise as the Health Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to express my strong support for the Congressional…”

“today I rise as the Health Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to express my strong support for the Congressional Black Caucus' alternative fiscal year `08 budget and to urge its passage. I want to begin by applauding our leadership, our chairwoman, Carolyn Kilpatrick, and the person who headed up our Budget Task Force for his hard work, skill, leadership and commitment to justice it represents, Congressman Bobby Scott. This is a smart and responsible budget that is as fiscally sound as it is congruent to the needs, hopes and aspirations not only of African Americans, but of all Americans. This budget uses the Democratic budget, a good budget itself, as a starting point and takes a step further by putting $112 billion more in education, training, employment and social services; $9 billion more in veterans benefits and services; $8 billion more in homeland security. And over a 5-year period, it spends more than $101 billion on health care. It does all of this and more while balancing the budget in 2012 and creating $141 billion surplus, beginning to reduce the burden that the Republican spending spree would have placed on future generations.”