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DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED
AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 -- (Extensions of Remarks - June 15,
2000)
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SPEECH OF
HON. MAX SANDLIN
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Wednesday, June 14, 2000
The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under
consideration the bill (H.R. 4577) making appropriations for the Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Service, and Education, and related agencies for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes:
- Mr. SANDLIN. Mr. Chairman, today we voted on H.R. 4577, the Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education bill for fiscal year 2001 (FY 2001). On
behalf of the educators, administrators and students in East Texas, I would
like to express my strong opposition to the education appropriations outlined
in this measure. The inadequate overall funding in H.R. 4577 completely
undermines the public prioritization of education as a paramount concern in
2000.
- Make no mistake--these education cuts come as no surprise. Beginning with
the passage of the House budget resolution for FY 2001, my Republican
colleagues have shown their true intentions with regard to education funding.
As passed, the budget resolution provide $56.8 billion for 2001 appropriations
for education, training, employment, and social services--almost $5 billion
less than the level provided in the House Democratic budget and the
President's budget. The conference agreement on the budget would eliminate
Head
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for more than 40,000 children and their families and provide 316,000 fewer
Pell Grants to low-income students by 2005.
- If enacted, these cuts would have serious consequences on the future of
our schools and our children. Although our children have no legislative voice,
they represent our nation's future and deserve our investment in their
education today. As it stands, H.R. 4577 would cut funding for reading tours,
teacher quality initiatives, bilingual instruction, class size reduction,
school modernization, violence prevention initiatives, afterschool services
and many other vital programs.
- Specifically, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill would cut
$1 billion in targeted investments to improve teacher quality and recruit new
teachers. Further, it would completely repeal last year's bipartisan
commitment to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size in the early
grades. H.R. 4577 also would ignore our disadvantaged children by eliminating
Head Start assistance to 53,000 children, cutting bilingual instruction to
143,000 students, ending college preparation assistance for 644,000 low-income
middle and high school students and denying school violence prevention aid to
40 urban, suburban and rural communities.
- If enacted, H.R. 4577 would be a grave disservice to our children and the
future of our nation. For these reasons and more, I oppose the unsatisfactory
education funding levels in this appropriations bill.
- Unfortunately, underfunded education initiatives is not the only problem
with this bill. Particularly offensive is the language in the bill that would
prohibit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA ) from using funds to advance its
ergonomics standard. Each year,
our nation's workers experience almost two million work-related
musculoskeletal disorders from overexertion or repetitive motion injuries due
to unsatisfactory working conditions. A third of these injuries result in lost
workdays and decreased worker productivity.
- As a result of limiting funding to implement the ergonomics standard for the past five
years, America's workers have lost approximately $45 million in workers
compensation and other related costs while failing to prevent 1.5 million
disabling injuries. It is time for Congress to provide relief to the hundreds
of thousands of workers who continue to suffer these painful injuries by
allowing OSHA to move forward
with its safety standard for work-related ergonomic hazards.
- H.R. 4577 also fails to provide the requested adequate levels of funding
to further workforce development by eliminating employment services assistance
for over 400,000 dislocated workers. In addition, this bill cuts millions of
dollars of requested funding levels for programs specifically designed to
improve working conditions while providing the means to protect employment
insurance, wages and pensions. As corporations continue to maximize their
profits through mergers, the need for Congress to look after the health,
safety and welfare of working families is now more pressing than ever.
- Finally, this legislation lacks appropriate funding levels for health care
and senior citizen programs. Even as my Republican colleagues bemoan the state
of health care, they refuse to fund the necessary programs to increase access
and decrease costs. H.R. 5477 denies $125 million requested by the President
for over 250,000 Americans with long-term care needs. This bill eliminates $36
million to ensure that 1.6 million elderly and disabled receive quality
nursing care. Additionally, instead of working to ensure that retiring
Americans receive their Social Security benefits in a timely manner, H.R. 5477
cuts Social Security Administrative expenses by $156 million. The result of
this cut will be increased waiting times for 26 million individuals and
delayed claims for 100,000 individuals.
- H.R. 5477 does not only neglect the elderly and the disabled, but it also
targets children for critical health program cuts. Rather than meeting the
President's request for funding for mental health treatment services, this
bill cuts $40 million from programs to care for 2,200 children with serious
mental illnesses and blocks grants to 50 communities to reach individuals not
currently receiving services within the mental health system. Finally, H.R.
5477 falls $44 million short of the amount needed to adequately address
substance abuse treatment for over 28,000 addicted individuals seeking
treatment.