NEWS FROM
Congressman George Miller
7th District, California
For Immediate Release / Contact: Daniel Weiss
CLINTON BUDGET EMPHASIZES EDUCATION, SOCIAL SECURITY, AND ENVIRONMENT, BUT MILLER SAYS HUGE INCREASE FOR WEAPONS PROGRAMS UNWARRANTED Monday, February 1, 1999
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) praised President Clinton for sticking to his pledge to use the budget surplus to protect Social Security instead of supporting an across the board tax cut that would primarily benefit well-to-do Americans.
"The budget surplus is a historic opportunity to protect Social Security, one of this country's most important programs for all Americans," Miller said. "The President was right to reject the short-sighted and politically motivated call for a tax cuts espoused by Republican leaders in Congress."
Miller also praised the President for increasing the budget for programs in education, the environment and health care. But he criticized the president's call for increasing military spending by $112 billion over the next six years.
"President Clinton has made an historic commitment to the preservation of national parks, open spaces, urban recreation and species protection," Miller said. "There is a genuine opportunity for bipartisan progress towards permanent funding for these long overlooked priorities. But It will not be without a fight. Already, some of the extreme elements in the anti- environmental community have issued threats against such efforts. Congress must stand up against those special interests and act for all Americans and for future generations."
Specifically, Miller cited the Lands Legacy initiative, a plan to use $1 billion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to protect public lands and open spaces. Miller will introduce his own legislation this month that will share common interests with Clinton's plan.
"I also appreciate the Clinton administration's continued commitment to the Bay Delta by including $96 million for the CAL-FED process," he said.
Miller said he was encouraged by the President's heightened focus on tying education money to quality programs, including $400 million for after-school enrichment activities and $320 million to bring new accountability and turn around low-performing schools in the Title I program for disadvantaged children. Miller will introduce his own school reform legislation later this month that will emphasize higher standards for teachers and students.
Miller said the President is proposing particularly large increases for quality education programs that he has championed:
-- a 42% increase in funding for the Berkeley-based National Writing Project, which would bring total funding to $10 million. The program raises three private dollars for each federal dollar, to train teachers to become better writing teachers.-- a 53% increase for programs to promote reforms in the training and recruitment of teachers. The program received $75 million this year; Clinton calls for funding to $115 million for FY 2000.
And Miller said he supports the President's call for investing $20 billion over five years to help working families access and pay for child care and to help States and communities improve the safety and quality of care.
But Miller challenged the President's unbalanced emphasis on new military spending. Miller agreed with Clinton that benefits and pay in the military must increase and said that he will examine the President's plan in this area to ensure that it is used to boost troop morale and preparedness.
But Miller questioned the need for billions of dollars in new advanced weapons programs. "They are designed for an enemy that does not exist and a war we cannot afford," he said. "Buying unneeded new weapons programs will damage our ability to invest in our children's schools and in our families' health and well being.
"The President's budget undermine's his own commitment to critical social problems, such as long-term care," Miller said. "Either the long-term care problem is not as severe as the President has said it is, or he should have devoted greater resources to remedying it. By offering only $6 billion for new long-term care assistance and $112 billion for military spending, the President is sending a message to American families that they will remain largely on their own in caring for sick and needy elderly relatives. That is a mistake and I will speak up in Congress to try to rebalance our nation's budget priorities."
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