(Washington D.C.) –Today,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) delivered the following opening remarks at the
Senate Budget Committee Hearing on the FY 2011 Budget Resolution.
Key excerpts:
“A
budget is a statement of priorities, and ours are very clear: We put families
and small business owners first, and we begin to get this country back on track
by investing in our future.”
“Turning
our economy around requires continued investment in health care, education, and
infrastructure priorities that we know will make families and small businesses
more competitive in the 21st century economy.”
“And
we must fulfill the promise to clean up the waste at nuclear sites like Hanford
in my home state, where workers and the local community served and sacrificed
to help us win WWII and the Cold War. Cleaning up these sites is a
national and moral obligation.”
“I
have a nine year old grandson. I don’t want him to inherit crumbling
infrastructure or an economy in which he can’t achieve the same dreams as his
parents or grandparents – but I also know we can’t pay for our future on the
backs of his generation. That’s why I strongly support President Obama’s
three year freeze on discretionary spending. It’s why I have been a
long-time advocate for reinstating the Pay-As-You-Go rules that helped our
country produce budget surpluses in the nineties. And we will continue to
look to for places to decrease spending while making the right – and smart
investments – to continue our recovery.”
“So
as we work on this over the coming days, I’m going to fight to ensure that the
voices of Washington state families and small business owners are heard loud
and clear, that we don’t stop making the responsible investments we need to get
our economy back on track and our workers back on the job, and that we
continue moving our country toward a responsible and balanced budget.”
The
full text of Senator Murray’s opening statement follows:
“Thank
you Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Gregg.
“Chairman
Conrad—I want to start by commending you for your leadership as well as your
hard work and dedication to the priorities and concerns of the members of this
committee.
“Putting
a budget together is never an easy process, but you make a true effort at investing
in the areas we know will make America stronger long-term, while working to put
our nation on the path to balanced budgets and deficit reduction. And I am
confident we will be able to do that once again this year.
“Because
a budget is a statement of priorities, and ours are very clear: We put families
and small business owners first, and we begin to get this country back on track
by investing in our future.
“To
be very clear, we have inherited great challenges.
“Under
the Bush Administration, the American people were told we could have it all:
two wars paid for off-budget with no sacrifice by anyone other than our
servicemembers and their families and unpaid tax cuts for the wealthiest
one-percent of Americans.
“Well,
some people did have it all – Wall Street CEOs and the big banks, but for
average Americans, the consequences of these policies were stark.
“By
the time President Obama took office: we were losing 700,000 jobs a month, our
economy was shrinking rapidly, and our national debt had ballooned to over $12
trillion.
“Turning
that around isn’t going to happen overnight. But thanks to the hard work of
this Committee and the work done here in the Senate, we have begun the hard
work of turning our economy around and creating jobs for the millions of
workers who need them.
“But
we still have a lot of work to do. Turning our economy around requires
continued investment in health care, education, and infrastructure
priorities that we know will make families and small businesses more competitive
in the 21st century economy.
“We
need to continue the middle class tax cuts put in place last year as well as
targeted job creation programs that put Americans back to work and help our
small businesses hire and grow.
“But
we won’t be able to maintain our long-term strength unless we make sure
America’s workers have the education, skills, and training to fill the
in-demand jobs of the future and I support efforts to invest in those training
and education efforts in the budget this year.
“We
must also continue working to help all students achieve a post-secondary
education that will help them move into a career, whether it be through
registered apprenticeships, community colleges or four-year institutions.
“And
I’m going to continue working to support the retraining of America’s workers
for careers in high growth and emerging industries such as health care,
renewable energy, and energy efficient construction.
“As
a nation, we’ve got to change the way we think about training our workers for
careers –and I’m going to fight to make sure this budget reflects that
need.
“And
as we invest in our future we can never turn our backs on who have worked to
make our country great. Our budget must fulfill the promise to care
for our veterans and their families. These brave men and women have
sacrificed so much for this nation and they deserve the health care, benefits
and job skill resources to help them succeed when they return home.
“And
we must fulfill the promise to clean up the waste at nuclear sites like Hanford
in my home state, where workers and the local community served and sacrificed
to help us win WWII and the Cold War. Cleaning up these sites is a
national and moral obligation.
“And
another national and moral obligation is to future generations by balancing our
budget, and reducing our debt in smart ways.
“I
have a nine year old grandson. I don’t want him to inherit crumbling
infrastructure or an economy in which he can’t achieve the same dreams as his
parents or grandparents – but I also know we can’t pay for our future on the
backs of his generation.
“That’s
why I strongly support President Obama’s three year freeze on discretionary
spending. It’s why I have been a long-time advocate for reinstating the
Pay-As-You-Go rules that helped our country produce budget surpluses in the
nineties. And we will continue to look to for places to decrease spending
while making the right – and smart investments – to continue our recovery.
“Mr.
Chairman, before I finish, I want to briefly mention the new health insurance
reform law that so many of us in this room worked so hard to make a reality.
“Because
I believe that this effort demonstrated clearly that our country can do big things.
We can make real change for real people. And we can do it in a way that is
fiscally responsible, and that will actually reduce the deficit by bringing
down the cost of care and bringing all Americans into the insurance pool.
“We
took a great leap forward this year on health insurance reform. And I am
confident we can continue this work for our families and small business owners
in this budget.
“So
as we work on this over the coming days, I’m going to fight to ensure that the
voices of Washington state families and small business owners are heard loud
and clear, that we don’t stop making the responsible investments we need to get
our economy back on track and our workers back on the job, and that we
continue moving our country toward a responsible and balanced budget.
“Thank
you.”
English 
Spanish