WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement today following the release of the President's budget request for Fiscal Year 2007.
"I will carefully review the details included in the President's budget proposal for the next year. In this time of escalating deficits, it is important that we exercise fiscal responsibility in the upcoming budget. I am pleased that the President remains committed to cutting the deficit in half by 2009 and that he has recommended saving $5 billion by cutting agricultural subsidies that primarily benefit large corporate agro-businesses to help further reduce the deficit.
"I am particularly pleased that the President's budget requests funding for seven new warships, including $2.6 billion to begin construction on two new DD(X) next generation destroyers, one of which will be built at Bath Iron Works (BIW). In addition, the President's budget requests $957 million for the acquisition of two Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), of which BIW employees have played a key role in its design, engineering, and construction. I believe we must continue to enhance the strength and size of our country's fleet as we continue to counter current and future threats to our national security. It is imperative that we keep the DD(X) program on track, while keeping the costs down. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue to work to strengthen our fleet and to preserve our critical naval shipbuilding industrial base. I will spare no effort to ensure that the skilled workforce at Bath Iron Works continues to play a vital role in our national security, by continuing to build the ships that our Navy needs, including the DD(X).
"As chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, it is satisfying to see that the President has made homeland security funding a priority. The President's budget includes a number of funding increases that will help the Department of Homeland Security make our nation stronger.
"It provides increases for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to better protect our borders and to help bring an end to the practice of releasing aliens apprehended at the border. It prioritizes intelligence gathering and analysis at the Department and it provides an increase in funding for the Coast Guard.
"In addition, the budget would create an office within the Department to strengthen the security of chemical facilities nationwide. This is of particular interest to me, as I have held four hearings on chemical security and recently introduced bipartisan legislation, with Senator Lieberman and others, to authorize the Department to establish performance-based standards to enhance the security of our chemical plants that pose the greatest risk.
"But the President's homeland security budget is not all good news. It cuts grants to states and local governments, to police, firefighters, and other first responders. It also fails to adequately fund the Deepwater program, which is needed to provide the Coast Guard with the tools it requires to carry out its many critical missions. A similar problem is the reduced funding for the Air and Marine programs within Customs and Border Protection.
Others areas of interest include:
ENERGY
• "I am pleased that the President has proposed to increase research funding for cleaner, cheaper, more reliable energy. I share the President's goal of reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy. I strongly believe that we need to promote renewable energy sources and develop new energy technologies.
• "The President's budget recognizes the impact of high energy prices on low-income families by requesting a 27% increase in LIHEAP funding from current levels, to $2.78 billion but the request still falls far short of the $5.1 billion it would take to fully fund this important program.
• "It is disappointing that the President's budget, again, calls for the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and includes funds to prepare for potential oil and gas leasing there. I have consistently opposed efforts to allow for drilling in ANWR and will fight to protect this pristine wilderness.
HEALTH CARE
• "It is discouraging that the President has recommended $36 billion in cuts to Medicare and an additional $12 billion cut to Medicaid over the next five years. Medicare and Medicaid recipients should not be the victims of our efforts to reign in spending and decrease the deficit. Any cuts to these important programs are real dollars lost to states. States are already faced with inadequate resources to meet growing demands as health care costs rise and the population of uninsured Americans grows.
• "It is also troubling that the President has requested cuts to the National Institutes of Health including massive cuts that could hamper the search for a cure for devastating diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
EDUCATION
• "It is encouraging to see that the President continues to recognize the importance of the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) by recommending continued funding for the program that I authored. REAP was designed to help school systems that receive less federal formula funding and are frequently at a disadvantage when applying for competitive grants. It levels the playing field for small and high poverty rural school systems and makes sure all students in Maine have access to the same high quality education.
• "However, it is disappointing that the President did not recommend increasing the maximum Pell Grant award from $4,050 to $4,500 a year and that the increase to Special Education (IDEA) is minimal. I am an original cosponsor of legislation to increase funding for IDEA.
TRANSPORTATION
• "The President's budget cuts funding for Amtrak by $400 million dollars and I am concerned that the budget proposal will have a negative impact on our nation's passenger rail service. In addition, the proposal calls for cuts to the Essential Air Service Program that is vital to maintaining air service for rural communities in Maine.
TRADE
• "The President has recognized the importance of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program by including funding of $13 million for the program in the budget. This grant program is critical to American workers who have been displaced by their jobs because
of foreign trade. However, I would have preferred to see that the program was fully funded at $16 million, its fully authorized level.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
• "I look forward to learning more about the President's proposal to grow our economy by investing in the areas of math and science. The President's has proposed doubling federal funding for basic research programs, to $50 billion, in the physical sciences over the next ten years. I am an original co-sponsor of the Protecting America's Competitive Edge (PACE) Act that would greatly increase federal investment in science and technology and help ensure our country is producing the mathematicians, scientists, and engineers who can fill the high-wage jobs of the future."