Burgess Owens: “again, the Congressional Black Caucus budget has demonstrated that we can balance the budget, and we can balance it…”

“again, the Congressional Black Caucus budget has demonstrated that we can balance the budget, and we can balance it without pain. Our budget shows how we can cut more corporate welfare and balance the budget without cutting Medicare and Medicaid. We can balance the budget and still increase funding for education. One of the big problems with this budget is that the deal that was made has taken out some vital parts. One of the parts taken out was the construction initiative that the President proposed for schools. The construction initiative is very important. It is a pivotal kingpin issue with respect to the improvement of education. We cannot go forward and really improve education unless we have safe places for children to sit, unless we take care of the enormous amount of disrepair that has taken place over the years in our schools. We cannot have telecommunications going forward if we cannot wire the schools properly because they are too old to take the proper wiring. We cannot institute a national curriculum and national tests if we do not provide safe places for children to sit or conducive places for them to study. None of the education improvements are going to prevail if they do not have a conducive setting in which to operate; construction is very important. Early in the discussion the Republican majority introduced the controversy of Davis-Bacon with respect to its impact on school construction. That was false, a red herring.”