User:Speedracer/mail:Patty Murray 2007-05-15
From WikiYourRights
(This is a letter I received from the Honorable Patty Murray, United States Senator.)
(Salutation omitted)
Thank you for alerting me to your budget priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2008. As a member of both the Budget and Appropriations Committees, I take this matter very seriously. I appreciate your input.
On March 23, the Senate passed its FY2008 budget resolution and set broad guidelines for federal spending. I was proud to pass a resolution that addresses the concerns of American families by investing in some of the areas that matter most to our country and our state: education, health care, port security and veterans. The budget does this while still providing every dollar the President seeks for defense spending over the next five years.
As I mentioned, the Senate budget resolution focuses resources on issues important to Americans and Washingtonians. It would increase education funding by $4.3 billion, meaning more funding for Head Start and Pell Grants. In addition to increasing funding for Community Health Centers, the budget would provide health insurance for six million additional low-income children by allotting $50 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) over the next five years.
The Senate budget recognizes the challenges we face in regards to protecting our homeland and supporting our troops, both in the field of combat and back home when they return. It would fund the SAFE Ports Act by providing $400 million for Port Security Grants. As a co-writer of the SAFE Ports Act, I am very proud to fight for full funding for this essential legislation. In addition to providing the President’s requested defense funding, the Senate budget would provide $3.5 billion more for veterans than the President’s budget and protect veterans from higher fees and co-payments in the VA health system as proposed by the President.
The budget resolution also makes sense at the local level. The Senate budget resolution would provide $3.8 billion for Community Development Block Grants and restore the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program with $552 million in badly needed funding. The President proposed to eliminate the COPS program all together.
As you are well aware, it is not easy to balance a budget. America has watched with increasing anxiety as the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress have run up record deficits. I feel that Congress should be held to the same standard as American families. Our budget aims to balance the budget in five years. We would do this by demonstrating fiscal responsibility and reinstating the Pay-as-You Go (PAYGO) rules that helped us produce budget surpluses in the nineties.
Your input is necessary and highly regarded, and I appreciate you taking the time to write me. If I can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.
Sincerely,
Patty Murray
United States Senator
P.S. I'd like to invite you to receive Patty Murray's Washington View, my weekly legislative update by e-mail. If you are interested in receiving my update, please sign up here: http://murray.senate.gov/updates.
