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Congressional Testimony
March 6, 2002 Wednesday
SECTION:
CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH:
5681 words
COMMITTEE: HOUSE
APPROPRIATIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE: LABOR, HHS, EDUCATION
HEADLINE: FISCAL 2003 APPROPRIATIONS
TESTIMONY-BY: TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY
BODY: STATEMENT BEFORE THE HOUSE L/HHS
APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE TOMMY G. THOMPSON SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
MARCH 6, 2002
Good Morning Chairman Regula,
Congressman Obey and members of the Committee. I am honored to appear before you
today to discuss the President's FY 2003 budget for the Department of Health and
Human Services. I am confident that a review of the full details of our budget
will demonstrate that we are proposing a balanced and responsible approach to
ensuring a safe and healthy America.
Before I discuss the FY 2003
budget, I would like to thank the committee for its hard work and dedication to
the programs at HHS. Over the past year, I have come to really appreciate your
support and interest in the issues and health needs of the American people. Like
you, I believe in the services HHS programs provide including our commitment to
the war against bioterrorism. I look forward to furthering our relationship and
building on the successes achieved during the past year. The budget I present to
you today fulfills the promises the President has made and proposes creative and
innovative solutions for meeting the challenges that now face our nation. Since
the September 11th attacks we have dedicated much of our efforts to ensuring
that the nation is safe. HHS was one of the first agencies to respond to the
September 11th attacks on New York City, and began deploying medical assistance
and support within hours of the attacks. Our swift response and the overwhelming
task of providing needed health related assistance made us even more aware that
there is always room for improvement. The FY 2003 budget for the Department of
Health and Human Services builds on President Bush's commitment to ensure the
health and safety of our nation.
The FY 2003 budget places increased
emphasis on protecting our nation's citizens and ensuring safe, reliable health
care for all Americans. The HHS budget also promotes scientific research, builds
on our success in welfare reform, and provides support for childhood development
while delivering a responsible approach for managing HHS resources. Our budget
plan confronts both the challenges of today and tomorrow while protecting and
supporting the well being of all Americans.
Mr. Chairman, the total HHS
request before this committee for FY 2003 is $312.1 billion in outlays. The
discretionary component of the HHS budget totals $59.5 billion in budget
authority, which is an increase of $2.3 billion, or +4.1 percent over FY 2002.
The mandatory component before this committee totals $252.7 billion, which is an
increase of $19.4 billion or +8.3 percent. Let me now discuss some of the
highlights of the HHS budget and how we hope to achieve our goals.
PROTECTING THE NATION AGAINST BIOTERRORISM
Mr. Chairman, as you
know, the Department of Health and Human Services is the lead federal agency in
countering bioterrorism. In cooperation with the States, we are responsible for
preparing for, and responding to, the medical and public health needs of this
nation. The FY 2003 budget for HHS bioterrorism efforts is $4.3 billion, an
increase of $1.3 billion, or 45 percent, above FY 2002. The amount before this
committee totals $4.1 billion. This budget supports a variety of activities to
prevent, identify, and respond to incidents of bioterrorism. These activities
are administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Office of Emergency Preparedness
(OEP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). These efforts will be directed by the newly established
Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP).
On January 31, 2002, HHS
announced plans for making $1.1 billion available to States. This funding is
available for hospital preparedness, laboratory capacity, epidemiology, and
emergency medical response. Approximately 20 percent of this total either has
already been provided (or will be provided within the next few weeks) for
immediate expenditure to all eligible entities in base awards that will be used
to establish core programs and address current needs for bioterrorism
preparedness. The remaining 80 percent will be made available for expenditure
once the Secretary has approved the States' work plans for their awarded funds.
States will submit plans which will be reviewed by the HHS staff to ensure that
funding is used wisely for bioterrorism efforts.
In order to create a
blanket of preparedness against bioterrorsm, the FY 2003 budget provides funding
to State and local organizations to improve laboratory capacity, enhance
epidemiological expertise in the identification and control of diseases caused
by bioterrorism, provide for better electronic communication and distance
learning, and support a newly expanded focus on cooperative training between
public health agencies and local hospitals.
Funding for the Laboratory
Response Network enhances a system of over 80 public health labs specifically
developed for identifying pathogens that could be used for bioterrorism. Funding
will also support the Health Alert Network, CDC's electronic communications
system that will link local public health departments in covering at least
ninety percent of our nations' population. Funding will be used to support
epidemiological response and outbreak control, which includes funding for the
training of public health and hospital staff. This increased focus on local and
state preparedness serves to provide funding where it best serves the interests
of the nation.
An important part on the war against terrorism is the
need to develop vaccines and maintain a National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. The
National Pharmaceutical Stockpile is purchasing enough antibiotics to be able to
treat up to 20 million individuals in a year for exposure to anthrax and other
agents by the end of 2002. The Department is purchasing sufficient smallpox
vaccines for all Americans. The FY 2003 budget proposes $650 million for the
National Pharmaceutical Stockpile and costs related to stockpiling of smallpox
vaccines, and next generation anthrax vaccines currently under development.
Another important aspect of preparedness is the response capacity of our
nation's hospitals. Our FY 2003 budget provides $518 million for hospital
preparedness and infrastructure to enhance biological and chemical preparedness
plans focused on hospitals. The FY 2003 budget will provide funding to upgrade
the capacity of hospitals, outpatient facilities, emergency medical services
systems and poison control centers to care for victims of bioterrorism. In
addition, CDC will provide support for a series of exercises to train public
health and hospital workers to work together to treat and control bioterrorist
outbreaks.
The FY 2003 budget also includes $184 million to construct,
repair and secure facilities at the CDC. Priorities include the construction of
an infectious disease/bioterrorism laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the
completion of a second infectious disease laboratory, an environmental
laboratory, and a communication and training facility in Atlanta. This funding
will enable the CDC to handle the most highly infectious and lethal pathogens,
including potential agents of bioterrorism. Within the funds requested, $12
million will be used to equip the Environmental Toxicology Lab, which provides
core lab space for testing environmental samples for chemical terrorism. Funding
will also be allocated to the ongoing maintenance of existing laboratories and
support structures.
The FY 2003 budget also includes $60 million for the
development of new Educational Incentives for Curriculum Development and
Training Program. The goals of this program will be the development of a health
care workforce capable of recognizing indications of a bioterrorist event in
their patients, that possesses the knowledge and skills to best treat their
patients, and that has the competencies to rapidly and effectively inform the
public health system of such an event at the community, State and national
level.
INVESTING IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Advances in scientific
knowledge have provided the foundation for improvements in public health and
have led to enhanced health and quality of life for all Americans. Much of this
can be attributed to the groundbreaking work carried on by, and funded by, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our FY 2003 budget enhances support for a
wide array of scientific research, while emphasizing and supporting research
needed for the war against bioterrorism.
NIH is the largest and most
distinguished biomedical research organization in the world. The research that
is conducted and supported by the NIH offers the promise of breakthroughs in
preventing and treating a number of diseases and contributes to fighting the war
against bioterrorism. The FY 2003 budget includes the final installment of $3.9
billion needed to achieve the doubling of the NIH budget. The budget includes
$1.75 billion for bioterrorism research, including genomic sequencing of
dangerous pathogens, development of zebra chip technology, development and
procurement of an improved anthrax vaccine, and laboratory and research
facilities construction and upgrades related to bioterrorism. With the
commitment to bioterrorism research comes our expectation of substantial
positive spin-offs for other diseases. Advancing knowledge in the arena of
diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines in general should have enormous impact on
the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent major killers-diseases such as
malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, West Nile fever, and influenza.
The FY 2003
budget also provides $5.5 billion for research on cancer throughout all of NIH.
Currently, one of every two men and one of every three women in the United
States will develop some type of cancer over the course of their lives. New
research indicates that cancer is actually more than 200 diseases, all of which
require different treatment protocols. Promising cancer research is leading to
major breakthroughs in treating and curing various forms of cancer. Our budget
continues to expand support for these research endeavors. The FY 2003 budget
also includes a total of $2.8 billion for HIV/AIDS-related research. NIH
continues to focus on prevention research, therapeutic research to treat those
already infected, international research, and research targeting the
disproportionate impact of AIDS on minority populations in the United States.
SUPPORTING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
The FY 2003 budget includes $25
million for a Healthy Communities Innovation Initiative - a new
interdisciplinary services effort that will concentrate Department-wide
expertise on the prevention of diabetes and asthma, as well as obesity. Of this
amount, $20 million is available in HRSA. The purpose of the initiative is to
reduce the incidence of these diseases and improve services in 5 communities
through a tightly coordinated public/private partnership between medical,
social, educational, business, civic and religious organizations. These chronic
diseases were chosen because of their rapidly increasing prevalence within the
United States. In addition there is $5 million in CDC for a national media
campaign to promote physical fitness activities, with an emphasis on families
and communities.
More than 16 million Americans currently suffer from a
preventable form of diabetes. Type II diabetes is increasingly prevalent in our
children due to the lack of activity. In a recent study conducted by NIH,
participants that were randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention
experienced a reduced risk of getting Type II diabetes by 58 percent. HHS plans
to reach out to women and minorities to help make this initiative a success.
INCREASING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
Of all the issues confronting
this Department, none has a more direct effect on the well-being of our citizens
than the quality and accessibility of health care. Our budget proposes to
improve the health of the American people by taking important steps to increase
and expand the number of Community Health Centers, strengthen Medicaid, and
ensure patient safety.
Community Health Centers provide family oriented
preventive and primary health care to over 11 million patients through a network
of over 3,400 health sites. The FY 2003 budget will increase and expand the
number of health center sites by 170, the second year of the President's
initiative is to increase and expand sites by 1,200 and serve an additional 6.1
million patients by 2006. We propose to increase funding for these Community
Health Centers by $114 million in FY 2003. Our long-term goal is to increase the
number of people who receive high quality primary healthcare regardless of their
ability to pay. With these new health centers we hope to achieve this goal.
In addition to expanding Community Health Centers, we are seeking to
expand the National Health Service Corps by $44 million. Currently, more than
2,300 health care professionals are providing service to health center patients
and others in under served communities.
The Medicaid program and the
State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provide health care benefits
to low-income Americans, primarily children, pregnant women, the elderly, and
those with disabilities. The FY 2003 budget we propose strengthens the Medicaid
and SCHIP programs by implementing essential reforms in the way we pay for
prescription drugs and by extending expiring SCHIP funds.
We propose to
work with stakeholders to develop legislative proposals that build on the Health
Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) demonstration in order to give
states the flexibility they need to design innovative ways of increasing access
to health insurance coverage for the uninsured. The Administration's plan would
allow at State option those who receive the President's health care tax credit
to increase their purchasing power by purchasing insurance from plans that
already participate in their State's Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance, or
State employees' pro grains. This could help keep costs down and provide a more
comprehensive benefit than plans in the individual market.
We also need
to make an effort to narrow the drug treatment gap. As reflected in the National
Drug Control Strategy, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
estimates that 4.7 million people are in need of drug abuse treatment services.
However, fewer than half of those who need treatment actually receive services,
leaving a treatment gap of 3.9 million individuals. Our budget supports the
President's Drug Treatment initiative, and to narrow the treatment gap. We
propose to increase funding for the initiative by $127 million. These additional
funds will allow States and local communities to provide treatment services to
approximately 546,000 individuals, an increase of 52,000 over FY 2002.
BUILDING UPON THE SUCCESSES OF WELFARE REFORM
President Bush has
said that American families are the bedrock of American society and the primary
source of strength and health for both individuals and communities. Our budget
includes a number of new initiatives that support this principle by targeting
resources to strengthen our nation's families. We look forward to working with
Congress in considering the next phase of welfare reform and other elements of
the President's proposals to help America's low-income families succeed.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
As a former governor, I
can tell you that the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program - or TANF
- has been a truly remarkable example of a successful Federal-State partnership.
States were given tremendous flexibility to reform their welfare programs and as
a result, millions of families have been able to end their dependency on welfare
and achieve self- sufficiency.
In New York City, where we are
understandably most concerned about job opportunities, the City has achieved
more than 53,000 job placements for welfare recipients from September through
December 2001. While the number of TANF recipients increased briefly directly
because of the tragedy on September 11, by December there were about 15,000
fewer TANF recipients on the rolls than there were in August. Indeed, in
December the City had its lowest number of persons on welfare since 1965.
Our reauthorization proposal embraces the needs of families by
maintaining the program's overall funding and basic structure, while focusing
increased efforts on building stronger families through work and job advancement
and adding child well-being as an overarching purpose of TANF.
Our
budget proposes $16.5 billion each year for block grants to States and Tribes;
$319 million a year to restore supplemental grants; $2 billion over five years
for a more accessible Contingency Fund; and a $100 million a year initiative for
research, demonstration and technical assistance primarily to promote child
well-being through strengthening family formation and healthy marriages. In
addition, our proposal will call for modification of the bonus for high
performance to reward significant achievement in promoting employment of program
participants.
Other Programs Supporting TANF Goals
The
President's Budget also includes funding for several other programs at the State
and community level that work to support the goals of TANF. The Social Services
Block Grant (SSBG) provides a flexible source of funding for States to help
families achieve or maintain self-sufficiency and provide an array of social
services to vulnerable families. The President's Budget request for SSBG is $1.7
billion.
The President's Budget extends the Transitional Medical
Assistance (TMA) program which provides valuable health protection for former
welfare recipients after they enter the workforce. This important program allows
families to remain eligible for Medicaid for up to 12 months after they are no
longer eligible for welfare because of earnings from their new job. TMA is an
important stepping stone in helping workers and their families successfully
transfer from welfare to work without fear of losing vital health coverage.
Child Care
Child Care has played an important role in the
success of welfare reform by providing parents the support they need to work.
The President's Budget recognizes this critical link and maintains a high level
of commitment to child-care. Continuing the substantial increase in funding that
Congress has provided over the last several years, the President's Budget
includes a total of $4.8 billion in child-care funding in conjunction with our
request to reauthorize the mandatory and discretionary funding provided under
the Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Child Care Entitlement.
States will also continue to have significant flexibility under the TANF program
and under the Social Services Block Grant program to address the needs of their
low income working families. These additional funding opportunities have
substantially increased the amount of resources dedicated to child care needs.
For example, in FY 2000 States transferred $2.3 billion in TANF funds to the
Child Care and Development Block Grant.
Child Support Enforcement
The Child Support Enforcement program offers another vital connection to
families' ability to achieve self-sufficiency and financial stability. The
President's Budget proposes to increase child support collections and direct
more of the support collected to families transitioning from welfare. Under our
proposal, the Federal government would share in the cost of expanded State
efforts to pass through child support collections to families receiving TANF.
Overall collections would be increased by expanding our successful
program for denying passports to parents owing $2,500 in past-due support,
requiring States to update support awards in TANF cases every three years, and
authorizing States to offset certain Social Security Administration payments
when they determine such action would be appropriate to collect unpaid support.
Our child support legislative package would also impose a minimal annual
processing fee in any case where the State has been successful in collecting
support on behalf of a family that has never received assistance.
Strengthening Families
The FY 2003 budget contains funds for
four competitive grant programs, targeted at community and faith based
organizations, to assist in delivering innovative services, to strengthen
families and help change lives. The Compassion Capital Fund, at $100 million,
will expand the capacity of groups and organizations willing to step up and help
provide these critical social services.
Over 25 million children live in
homes without fathers. To assist non-custodial fathers to become more involved
in the lives of these children, the budget provides $20 million in competitive
grants to faith-and community-based organizations to encourage and help fathers
to support their families and avoid welfare, improve fathers' ability to manage
family business affairs, and encourage and support healthy marriages.
The budget also provides $25 million for the mentoring children of
prisoners initiative first proposed last year. This funding will enable public
and private entities to establish or expand programs providing mentoring for
children of incarcerated parents.
Finally, young pregnant mothers and
their children will be provided safe environments through the $10 million
included for Maternity Group Homes. Approximately 80 grantees will provide a
range of services such as child-care, education, job training, counseling and
advises on parenting and life skills.
Promoting Safe and Stable Families
The President's Budget would increase the funding level for this program
to $505 million, fully supporting the increased authorization included in the
new law. These funds will be used to help promote and support adoption so that
children can become part of a safe and stable family, as well as for increased
preventive efforts to help families in crisis.
This landmark legislation
also authorized a new program to provide vouchers to youth who are aging out of
foster care so that they can obtain the education and training they need to lead
productive lives. The President's Budget includes $60 million for these
vouchers, bringing the total request for the Foster Care Independence Program to
$200 million.
Child Welfare/Foster Care/Adoption
Our budget
framework includes resources for a number of additional programs targeted to
protecting our most vulnerable and at-risk children. Foster Care, Adoption
Assistance, Adoption Incentives and Child Welfare Services enhance the capacity
of families to raise children in a nurturing, safe environment. The President's
Budget provides resources to help States provide safe and appropriate care for
children who need placement outside their homes, and to provide funds to States
to assist in providing financial and medical assistance for adopted children
with special needs who cannot be reunited with their families, and to reward
States for increasing their number of adoptions. The budget also supports Child
Welfare Services programs with the goal of keeping families together when
possible and in the best interest of the child.
The budget provides $4.9
billion for Foster Care, $1.6 billion for Adoption Assistance, and $43 million
in Adoption Incentive funds. The President's Budget seeks almost $300 million in
funding for child welfare services and training. Together, these funds will
support improvement in the healthy development, safety, and well being of the
children and youth in our nation.
Abstinence Education
This
budget meets the President's goal of providing $135 million for supporting
abstinence education, an increase of $33 million. Of this total, $50 million in
mandatory funding will be awarded to States. These resources complement the
proposed $85 million in abstinence education grants to community-based
organizations. All of these grants will continue to support the message, through
mentonng, counseling and adult supervision, that abstinence from sexual activity
is the only sure way for teens to avoid out-of- wedlock pregnancies and sexually
transmitted diseases.
Head Start
Our budget continues to provide
support for Head Start and supports early childhood education and school
readiness. The President's Budget request includes $6.7 billion for Head Start,
an increase of $130 million over FY 2002. In FY 2003, almost 915,000 children
will receive Head Start services including 62,000 children in Early Head Start.
The funding increase will maintain current enrollment levels, strengthen
training and technical assistance, and support competitive salaries for Head
Start teachers.
In FY 2003, the Department will continue to focus on
early literacy through investments in teacher quality and credentialing and,
specialized efforts such as Head Start Centers of Excellence on Literacy and the
Head Start Family Literacy Project. In 2003, Head Start will meet its statutory
goal, assuring that 50 percent of all Head Start educators have a college
degree.
STRENGTHENING MEDICARE
The FY 2003 President's Budget
dedicates $190 billion over ten years for immediate targeted improvements and
comprehensive Medicare modernization, including a subsidized prescription drug
benefit, better insurance protection, and better private options for all
beneficiaries. Let me assure you, the President remains committed to the
framework he introduced last summer, and to bringing the Medicare program up to
date by providing prescription drug coverage and other improvements. We cannot
wait: it is time to act. Recognizing that there is no time to waste, the
President's Budget also includes a series of targeted immediate improvements to
Medicare.
- HHS has just released a revised and improved version of the
proposed drug card program, which will give beneficiaries immediate savings on
the cost of their medicines and access to other valuable pharmacy services. The
President is absolutely committed to providing immediate assistance to seniors
who currently have to pay full price for prescription drugs, and this initiative
will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive Medicare drug benefit.
-
Recently, I announced a model drug waiver program-Pharmacy Plus- to allow States
to reduce drug expenditures and expand drug only coverage to seniors and certain
individuals with disabilities with family incomes up to 200 percent of the
federal poverty level. This program is being done administratively. The recently
approved Illinois initiative illustrates how states can expand coverage to
Medicare beneficiaries in partnership with the federal government. The Illinois
program will give an estimated 368,000 low-income seniors drug coverage.
- This budget proposes additional federal assistance for comprehensive
drug coverage to low-income Medicare beneficiaries up to 150% of poverty - about
$17,000 for a family of two. This policy would eventually expand drug coverage
for up to 3 million beneficiaries who currently do not have prescription drug
assistance, and it will be integrated with the Medicare drug benefit that is
offered to all seniors once that benefit is in place. This policy also helps to
establish the framework necessary for a Medicare prescription drug benefit and
is essentially a provision that is in all of the major drug benefit proposals to
be debated before Congress.
Some of these initiatives give immediate and
tangible help to seniors. But, let me make clear: these are not substitutes for
comprehensive reform and a universal drug benefit in Medicare. They are
immediate steps we want to take to improve the program in conjunction with
comprehensive reform, so that beneficiaries will not have to wait to begin to
see benefit improvements. I want to pledge today to work with each and every
member of this Committee to fulfill our promise of health care security for
America's seniors- now and in the future.
IMPROVING MANAGEMENT AND
PERFORMANCE OF HHS PROGRAMS
I am committed to being proactive in
preparing the nation for potential threats of bioterrorism and supporting
research that will enable Americans to live healthier and safer lives. And, I am
excited about beginning the next phase of Welfare reform and strengthening our
Medicare and Medicaid programs. Ensuring that HHS resources are managed properly
and effectively is also a challenge I take very seriously.
For any
organization to succeed, it must never stop asking how it can do things better,
and I am committed to supporting the President's vision for a government that is
citizen-centered, results oriented, and actively promotes innovation through
competition. HHS is committed to improving management within the Department and
has established its own vision of a unified HHS -- One Department free of
unnecessary layers, collectively strong to serve the American people. The FY
2003 budget supports the President's Management Agenda.
The Department
will improve program performance and service delivery to our citizens by more
strategically managing its human capital and ensuring that resources are
directed to national priorities. HHS will reduce duplication of effort by
consolidating administrative management functions and eliminating management
layers to speed decision-making. The Department plans to reduce the number of
personnel offices from 40 to 4 and consolidate construction funding, leasing,
and other facilities management activities. These management efficiencies will
result in an estimated savings of 700 full time equivalent positions, allowing
the Department to redeploy staff and other resources to advance primary
missions.
HHS continues working to improve budget and performance
integration in support of the Government-wide effort. Although we work in a
challenging environment where health outcomes may not be apparent for several
years, and the Federal dollar may be just one input to complex programs, HHS is
committed to demonstrating to citizens the value they receive for the tax
dollars they pay.
By expanding our information technology and by
establishing a single corporate Information Technology Enterprise system, HHS
can build a strong foundation to re-engineer the way we do business and can
provide better government services at reduced costs. By consolidating and
modernizing existing financial management systems our Unified Financial
Management System (UFMS) will provide a consistent, standardized system for
departmental accounting and financial management. This "One Department" approach
to financial management and information technology emphasizes the use of
resources on an enterprise basis with a common infrastructure, thereby reducing
errors and enhancing accountability. The use of cost accounting will aid in the
evaluation of HHS program effectiveness, and the impacts of funding level
changes on our programs.
HHS is also committed to providing the highest
possible standard of services and will use competitive sourcing as a management
tool to study the efficiency and performance of our programs, while minimizing
costs overall. The program will be linked to performance reviews to identify
those programs and program components where outsourcing can have the greatest
impact. Further, the incorporation of performance-based contracting will improve
efficiency and performance at a savings to the taxpayer.
GOVERNMENT
PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS ACT
HHS is committed to continual improvement in
the performance and management of its programs and the Administration's efforts
to provide results-oriented, citizen-centered government. The budget request for
FY 2003 is accompanied by annual performance plans and reports required by the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The performance measures cover
the wide range of program activities essential to carrying out the HHS mission.
Some notable FY 2001 achievements include:
- Moving Families Toward
Self-sufficiency: ACF reported that 42.9 percent of adult recipients of TANF
were employed by FY 1999. This is a primary indicator of success in moving
families toward self-sufficiency. It improves on the FY 1998 baseline of 38.7
percent and exceeds the target of 42 percent.
- Families Benefiting from
Child Support Enforcement: The Child Support Enforcement program broke new
records nationwide in FY 2001 by collecting $18.9 billion, one billion over FY
2000 levels. In one such initiative in FY 2000, the government collected a
record $1.4 billion in overdue child support from Federal income tax refunds,
and more than 1.42 million families benefited from these collections.
These are just a few of the dozens of impressive success stories found
in the 13 performance plans and reports. Performance measurement has been, and
will continue to be, an important part of our effort to improve the management
and performance of our programs.
WORKING TOGETHER TO ENSURE A SAFE AND
HEALTHY AMERICA
Mr. Chairman, the budget I bring before you today
contains many different elements of a single proposal; what binds these
fundamental elements together is the desire to improve the lives of the American
people. All of our proposals, from building upon the successes of welfare
reform, to protecting the nation against bioterronsm; from increasing access to
healthcare, to strengthening Medicare, are put forward with the simple goal of
ensuring a safe and healthy America. I know this is a goal we all share, and
with your support, we are committed to achieving it.
LOAD-DATE: March 12, 2002