Donald M. Payne: “during the first 6 years of the Bush administration, the President and congressional Republicans squandered away large…”

“during the first 6 years of the Bush administration, the President and congressional Republicans squandered away large budget surpluses that were left to them by the Clinton administration; yet they failed to properly fund key national priorities. Again this year, the Bush administration proposed a budget that ignores the real needs of American people, particularly at a time of such economic uncertainty. This week, congressional Democrats will bring a budget to the House floor that fully funds Medicare and Medicaid, the health care programs for the Nation's most vulnerable people, including our children and our seniors. Unlike the President's budget, our budget fully invests in environmental protection and low-income heating programs such as LIHEAP so that low-income families, including those in my district in New Jersey who are facing skyrocketing home heating bills this winter, will receive some much-needed assistance. We also fully invest in the COPS program so that we can better protect our streets against crime. Mr. Speaker, we do all of this without raising taxes by one single penny. This is a well-crafted budget, and it deserves strong bipartisan support.”