KENNEDY, COLLEAGUES CALL FOR AN EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE BUDGET THAT AMERICA DESERVES

KENNEDY, COLLEAGUES CALL FOR AN EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE BUDGET THAT AMERICA DESERVESWashington, D.C.--Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy joined Senators Boxer, Harkin and Stabenow and Congressmen Chris Van Hollen and Xavier Becerra, and hundreds of students and workers to rally against the Bush Administration’s budget that slashes vital programs and initiatives Americans depend on. Senator Kennedy spoke about the need to invest in America’s future by making sure every family in America has the opportunity to send their children to college and that students—not banks—are given the financial assistance they need to complete higher education. Kennedy also spoke about his bill, with Senator Debbie Stabenow, to fix the Medicare prescription drug plan that has created chaos and confusion with America’s seniors and the disabled. Today, Senator Democrats will offer a resolution to the budget that calls for an increase in America’s investment into education and reverses the backslide in education funding seen under the Bush Administration. Senator Kennedy said, “The gap between the President’s words and deeds has grown by leaps and bounds each year as he fails to live up to his promises, instead leaving ordinary Americans behind. Budgets are moral documents, and sadly this one show’s an agenda that puts special interests above the interests of America’s families. It shortchanges our opportunities, it shortchanges our future, and it shortchanges our global competitiveness.” Senator Kennedy’s remarks at the rally as well as fact sheets on President Bush’s budget for health care and education is attached. A copy of the Resolution being offered by Senator Democrats is also included.Remarks of Senator Edward M. Kennedy Rally on the Budget. Thank you Barbara for that introduction. You and Tom Harkin have been real leaders on health and education and I’m thrilled to join you in introducing a resolution to lay out a plan to improve education in this country. I am also proud to have worked on important health care issues, like prescription drugs, with Debbie Stabenow. And I appreciate all the hard work of our colleagues from the House on these issues.Families today are being hit on all sides with higher health costs, higher heating costs, higher education costs, and higher gas prices. They’re dealing with insecure jobs and unstable pensions, and they know that savings are at an all-time low. They’re stuck with a prescription drug benefit that isn’t working for them, because it’s working for lobbyists and the drug companies and the insurance industry instead. And they’re fighting for safe and wholesome neighborhoods where their children can grow up.They’re doing their part. They work hard, play by the rules, take care of their families, invest in their communities, and pay their taxes. They expect us to do our part too. Families aren’t asking for much from us. Just a chance at a fair shake. We need to help them get a fair shake. To start, we need to fix the prescription drug program.In the two months since the drug program began operation, seniors have been denied the drugs they need, or forced to pay exorbitant fees to fill their prescriptions. The Bush Administration and its allies in Congress say they believe in competition, but they refuse to put it into practice. If those who wrote this bill are so sure that private plans can do a better job of delivering prescription drug coverage than Medicare, let’s put it to the test? The legislation that Senator Stabenow and I introduced will give every senior citizen in every community in the nation a choice. They can continue with their current plan if they feel it’s satisfactory, or they can stay in traditional Medicare and obtain drug coverage as well. And our bill reverses one of the most flagrant abuses of the Administration’s plan—its outright ban on allowing Medicare to bargain for a senior discount on drugs. Those are the right priorities for the country. We must also ensure that the nation’s budget reflects the nation’s priorities. As we move to consider the budget here in Congress in coming weeks, we must remember that a budget is a basic statement of our values and priorities as a nation, and this budget obviously has the wrong values and the wrong priorities for many reasons. How can any President who cares about life propose a budget that slashes Medicaid, which can mean life or death, good health or constant illness for millions of low income Americans. It covers prenatal care. It covers one third of all the births in America. It means decent health care for millions of Americans who live in poverty and enables them to have lives of health and strength and dignity. But this budget says none of that matters. It says tax cuts for millionaires are more important than keeping Medicaid strong. It cuts $14 billion from Medicaid over the next five years – on top of the drastic reductions recently enacted. Tell me, is that the right priority for America? But this budget doesn’t stop there. It’s not enough for the budget to deny health care to the poor and the disadvantaged. It cuts health care for seniors too. Medicare funding will be slashed by $36 billion over the next five years – and by a preposterous $105 billion in the next decade. Hospitals, home health care, and basic patient care of all types will be devastated. Is that the right priority for America? And that’s not all. It’s not enough to undermine health care now. No, this budget undermines future care as well. It denies NIH the research funds to develop the miracle drugs for tomorrow. For the second year in a row, NIH won’t even get enough funds to keep up with inflation. That means we’ll fall behind in the battle against cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other illnesses. Is that the right priority for America? Instead of investing in education, this budget cuts education programs overall by the largest amount in history. Is that the right priority for America? Instead of helping workers get trained for new jobs, it eliminates job training and vocational education programs. Is that the right priority for America? Instead of helping our young people afford college, it freezes the Pell Grant and eliminates programs aimed at helping disadvantaged students make the transition to college. Is that the right priority for America? Are we going to defeat a budget that devastates health care and education for millions of Americans? You bet we are. So let’s get it done. BUSH EDUCATION BUDGET JEOPARDIZES AMERICA’S FUTUREProposes Largest Cut to Education in the History of the Department of Education Senator Edward Kennedy “Our ability to compete in the global economy hinges on providing a strong education from birth through adulthood. We must provide a top-notch teacher in every elementary and secondary school classroom. We must provide incentives to bring high quality math and science teachers into high-poverty schools, and make significant investments in state-of-the-art classroom technology. To ensure our workforce is prepared to compete in the global economy, we must ensure our high school graduates can afford a college education or have access to high quality job training programs. Instead of meeting these goals with new investments in education, the budget released by President Bush today shortchanges our competitiveness, shortchanges our opportunity, and shortchanges our future.” Less than a week after touting his State of the Union commitment to improving education to meet the challenge of global competition, President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2007 budget proposes the largest cut to federal education funding in the 26-year history of the Education Department – a $2.1 billion reduction, and a 3.8% cut below last year. His budget proposal: • Underfunds the No Child Left Behind Act by $15.4 billion. o Leaves behind 3.7 million children by freezing Title I grants to school districts at $12.7 billion. As a result, 29 states, including Massachusetts, are projected to lose funding. In Massachusetts, 54,478 children would be left behind. o Leaves behind 2 million students who are eligible to receive after-school services, by flat-funding the program at $981 million. o Flat funds the Math and Science Partnership teacher training program.• Provides $100 million for a new voucher program for students in schools identified for restructuring under NCLB. After 5 years of being starved of the $2.5 billion in school improvement grants they were promised, public schools would receive $200 million in grants to help them meet the goals of NCLB and avoid the need for restructuring.• Retreats on the government’s commitment to students with disabilities, by providing a smaller share of States’ total costs for special education for the second year in a row.• IDEA funding would increase by only $100 million, for a total of $10.7 billion o This would provide 17% of the average per pupil cost, less than half of the federal government’s commitment, and down from 18% last year and 19% in FY 2005.• Eliminates the Perkins Loan program, and freezes the Pell grant at $4,050 for the fifth year in a row, despite the fact that tuition has increased 46% since 2001. In 1975, the Pell Grant covered 80% of the cost of a four-year public education, today it covers only 40%.President Bush’s modest proposed increases in funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, IDEA, math and science instruction, and new funding for another run at his high school initiative are paid for by eliminating 42 programs ($3.5 billion), many of which the President proposed eliminating last year, including vocational and technical education, education technology state grants, safe and drug free schools state grants, and programs to improve college access and retention including GEAR UP, TRIO Talent Search and Upward Bound. Once again robbing Peter to pay Paul.The President’s FY 2007 Education Budget Continues his Track Record of Broken Promises:• In 2001, President Bush said he would leave no child behind. But since the No Child Left Behind Act passed, the President and the Republican Congress have shortchanged funding for the law to the tune of $55.7 billion. The Republican budget bill passed in December cuts funding to $1 billion below last year’s level. This is the second year in a row that President Bush called to end federal funding for key programs that support family literacy, classroom technology, dropout prevention, and smaller learning communities.• For the fifth year in a row, the maximum Pell grant remains a thousand dollars lower than the President promised in 2000. This is the second year in a row that the President called to end the Perkins Loan program and eliminate federal funding for vocational education and programs that support college access and retention.• In December the Senate passed a bill that would have leveled the playing field for needy college students, by adding an additional $6 billion to help all Pellgrant recipients, but the program was rejected in the final Republican budget. The President’s budget includes no increase in the maximum Pell grant. If President Bush were truly committed to helping America meet the challenge of global competition he would: • Fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act at $39.4 billion, as promised. His proposed $529 million increase is one-fifth the $2.6 billion increase promised in the law. o Fully fund Title I at $25 billion, as promised. o Fully fund after-school programs at $2.5 billion, as promised. o Fully fund the math and science teacher training programs at the Department of Education at $450 million, as promised. o Fully fund education technology grants at $1 billion, as promised. o Fully fund school improvement grants at $500 million, as promised. • Stay on track to meeting the federal government’s commitment to fully fund its share of special education services by 2011, by providing $6.3 billion to meet the FY07 funding level promised in the law.• Provide $1.3 billion for key NSF programs to improve K-12 and postsecondary math and science education, including $400 million for the Math and Science Partnership program that trains teachers in cutting-edge instruction.• Raise the maximum Pell grant to $5,100 as he promised in his 2000 election, and increase funding for vocational education and programs that improve college access and retention.