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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 90 (Monday, June 5, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7706-S7707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

               THE BUDGET RESOLUTION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1996

 Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I was forced to cast my vote 
against the budget resolution for the upcoming fiscal year.
  As a member of the Budget Committee, I take seriously my 
responsibilities to form and oversee our Nation's budget. Accordingly, 
I believe the budget resolution is one of the most important documents 
produced by the Congress each year.
  This resolution is critical legislation because it sets our Nation's 
priorities. It steers our economic policies. And, it carries weight 
with the American people.
  I believe this process should be used to give the American people 
hope. The American people deserve a sound budget, which reflects their 
spending priorities. And, they deserve economic security in youth as 
well as in older years.
  Unfortunately, Mr. President, this budget fulfills none of these 
requirements. It is truly the worst of slash and burn politics. It is 
misguided economic policy. It robs our constituents of hope and our 
children of their future.
  Mr. President, our colleagues offered a number of amendments which 
would have gone a long way to improve this bill.
  I must say, Mr. President, I was pleased that a strong bipartisan 
coalition of Senators supported a sense of the Senate measure I offered 
on impact aid. Impact aid is critical educational assistance for our 
federally impacted school districts. I hope my amendment will ensure 
that the Federal Government lives up to its responsibilities to our 
Nation's schoolchildren who live on Federal property. That is the 
minimum we owe the children of our women and men in uniform, and I am 
pleased the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee, Mr. 
Domenici, accepted my amendment as part of his resolution.
  Unfortunately, many other amendments which would have improved this 
bill failed to pass on largely party-line votes.
  I was pleased to support a substitute budget proposed by my friend, 
the Senator from North Dakota, Mr. Conrad. His proposal--the fair share 
plan--reached balance, closed loopholes, excluded Social Security, but 
smoothed the glidepath of reduced spending. It is my sincere belief 
that the budget proposed by Senator Conrad would have been a better 
starting point than the one put forth by my Republican colleagues. The 
Conrad plan was not perfect, but it would have been better for our 
children, our elderly, the environment, and the most vulnerable members 
of our society.
  My friends, the distinguished junior Senator from South Carolina, 
Senator Hollings, and the Senator from Iowa, Mr. Harkin, offered a wise 
amendment which aimed at restoring the draconian cuts to education. I 
was pleased to speak in favor of this amendment, and [[Page S7707]] an 
truly sorry that our Republican friends were unable to join colleagues 
on this side of the aisle in restoring some hope for our children's 
future.
  Similarly, my Budget Committee colleague, the Senator from New 
Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg, and my friend from West Virginia, Mr. 
Rockefeller, offered an important amendment to restore some of the 
nasty cuts to the Medicare and Medicaid Programs. This amendment would 
have given some much-needed security to our elderly. It would have also 
loosened the squeeze on the middle class--average Americans like me, 
who are caught between elderly, frail parents, and kids at home.
  I was honored to join two of my distinguished colleagues from the 
Finance Committee, Senator Bradley and Senator Breaux to roll back the 
tax increase on our country's working families. This budget plan raises 
the taxes on families earning less than $28,000 per year. I think 
nearly everyone in this country would agree it is inherently unfair to 
raise taxes on the lower middle class and give a break to the 
wealthiest among us. Unfortunately, this amendment was rejected on 
party lines. That is a tragic and sad mistake.
  Time and again, some of our colleagues attempted to restore common 
sense to this budget, but we were caught up in the partisanship of this 
body. One of the worst examples of this came with the defeat of the 
Murray amendment. My amendment simply would have protected kids from 
Medicaid cuts. Despite the defeat of my amendment which would have put 
the Senate on record that children should not be left without 
insurance, I will continue to fight for the interests of children in 
this Nation as the Medicaid system is reformed by this Congress.
  Lastly, I was very disappointed that an amendment offered by my 
colleague from Delaware, Senator Roth, was defeated. The Senator from 
Delaware correctly called attention to the risks to our environment if 
oil exploration were to be extended in the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge. This amendment was important for the future of our Nation's 
environment, and its defeat is shortsighted and ill-advised.
  Mr. President, without these amendments, without this safety net for 
our children, without protections of our environment, and without other 
safeguards for our most vulnerable citizens, this resolution is fatally 
flawed. And, I cannot support this draconian and risky budget 
plan.

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