Kennedy On Bush Veto Of Labor HHS Bill

November 13, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to President Bush’s veto of the Labor HHS bill.

"With today's veto, the President has shown once again how out of touch and out of step he is with the values of America's families. Cancer research, investments in our schools, job training, protecting workers, and many other urgent priorities have all fallen victim to a President who squanders billions of dollars in Iraq but is unwilling to invest in America's future."

The below fact sheet details the education, labor, and health care priorities that the President is rejecting by vetoing the Labor HHS bill and compares their cost to that of the war in Iraq.

PRESIDENT’S VETO OF LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION FUNDING BILL PRIORITIZES IRAQ OVER AMERICAN FAMILIES

President Bush, by vetoing the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill, will again be choosing to fund his failed policy in Iraq over the priorities of millions of American families. He is rejecting this bill because it includes $11.8 billion more for education, healthcare, and worker assistance and protections — at the same time that he is asking for $158 billion for the war in Iraq this year (or $433 million per day). He can justify spending $11.8 billion on less than four weeks of his failed policy in Iraq, but he’s saying that the same amount is too much to improve the lives and prosperity of children and working families here at home.

Education

The bill includes $4.5 billion more for education than the President thinks children and families deserve, but he’s willing to spend that amount on just over 10 days of failed policy in Iraq. The funding in this bill means:

· $14.3 billion to ensure our neediest children have access to a high quality education.

o For the cost of just over a month in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to serve more than 4 million low-income children – he’s denying help to 69,000 children in Massachusetts alone.

· $500 million to help our struggling schools implement the interventions they need to turnaround.

o For little more than the cost of 1 day in Iraq, the President is rejecting school improvement funds that were promised five years ago and are finally being delivered to our schools and districts to implement proven interventions and the comprehensive supports required to turnaround schools and improve education for all of their students.

· $3 billion to improve the quality of our teachers.

o For the cost of 1 week in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding that our schools could use to hire 30,000 teachers to reduce class sizes so teachers can spend more time with individual students, provide high quality induction programs for 100,000 beginning teachers, AND provide high quality professional development for an additional 200,000 teachers. In Massachusetts, these funds could provide high quality induction and professional development for 10,000 teachers.

· $7 billion to provide comprehensive preschool and other developmental services in Head Start.

o For the cost of 16 days in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to ensure that nearly 1 million of our most vulnerable children receive the support they need to begin school ready to learn. In Massachusetts alone, this funding would serve 13,000 children.

· $723 million to help English language learners learn to speak English.

o For the cost of less than 2 days in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to help over 630,000 children learn to speak English.

· $1.1 billion for high quality after-school programs.

o For the cost of 2½ days in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to provide high quality after-school programs for more than 1.4 million of our neediest children nationally – 21,000 in Massachusetts alone.

· $11.3 billion for children with disabilities.

o For the cost of just over a month in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to assist 6.8 million children with disabilities – 166,000 children Massachusetts will be left without the services they need to succeed in school.

Labor

The bill includes $1.1 billion more for worker assistance and protection than President Bush thinks they deserve, but he’s willing to spend that amount on just two and a half days of failed policy in Iraq. The funding in this bill means:

· $183 million for enforcing our nation’s wage and hour laws to ensure workers are treated fairly.

o For the cost of 10 hours in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to protect hardworking families who rely on overtime pay, prevent violations of our child labor laws, and ensure that parents who need to care for sick children can meet their family needs and still return to their jobs.

· $340 million for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to make sure mine workers stay safe on the job.

o For the cost of just under 1 day in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for hiring desperately needed additional inspectors to keep the country’s 345,000 miners safe.

· $501 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers’ safety on the job.

o For the cost of just over 1 day in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for 38,589 federal safety and health workplace inspections, including 1,792 in Massachusetts.

· $83 million for the International Labor Affairs Bureau to help level the global playing field for American workers and combat child and forced labor.

o For the cost of just over 5 hours in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for investigating and combating such deplorable practices as international child labor and forced adult labor.

· $228 million to help veterans find jobs and protect their employment rights.

o For the cost of just half a day in Iraq, the President is denying veterans training, help finding a job, transition assistance, and enforcement of their rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

· $2.9 billion for core job training under the Workforce Investment Act.

o For the cost of just 1 week in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to train more than 200,000 workers for better jobs.

Health

The bill includes $5.8 billion more for health and health care than the President thinks our families deserve, but he’s willing to spend that amount on 2 weeks of failed policy in Iraq. The funding in the bill means:

· $6.6 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

o For the cost of just over 2 weeks in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for key programs on chronic disease prevention and childhood immunizations.

· $29.7 billion for cutting edge research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

o For the cost of less than 10 weeks in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for 600 additional researchers that could develop new life saving treatments.

· $2.2 billion for community health centers to deliver quality healthcare for millions of Americans that cannot otherwise afford health insurance.

o For the cost of just over 5 days in Iraq, the President is denying 1 million people the opportunity for healthcare coverage.

· $307 million for Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education, which helps train doctors in 60 children’s hospitals nationwide.

o For the cost of less than 17 hours in Iraq, the President is limiting families’ access throughout the country to well-trained doctors.

· $104 million for preventive health services for states

o For the cost of less than 6 hours, the President is limiting states’ ability to provide preventive and screening services. In Massachusetts this would mean keeping 59,000 children from getting basic dental screenings they need. It also would impose a financial hardship on 17 rape crisis centers in Massachusetts and reject all funding for the Massachusetts Office of Multicultural Health.

· $379 million for training more doctors, nurses, and other health providers.

o For the cost of one day in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to expand the number of health practitioners in primary care fields, reduce health provider shortages in underserved urban and rural areas, and training providers from minority populations.

· $957 million for protecting Americans against a potential flu pandemic.

o For the cost of just over 2 days in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding to research and develop vaccines, purchase medical supplies, and increase the readiness of state and local health departments and hospitals to protect the public against a pandemic.

· $145 million for rural health programs, area health education centers.

o For the cost of less than a day in Iraq, the President is rejecting funding for 1,200 small, at-risk rural hospitals providing care to over 775,000 residents in underserved areas.

Source: Senator Ted Kennedy

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