U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

February 5, 2007

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director
303-455-5999


  Sen. Salazar Expresses Concerns About President’s Budget

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, the President sent his $2.9 trillion budget proposal, including a nearly quarter of a trillion dollar deficit for next year alone, to Congress. United States Senator Ken Salazar released the following statement after reviewing the budget:

“Overall, I am frustrated with the President’s budget. It fails to protect America or fight for the middle class, and forgets rural America.

“The President’s proposed budget eliminates the highly-successful Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) program and Justice Assistance Grants (JAG), which have been critical to Colorado law enforcement: in 2006, Colorado received $657,000 in COPS funding and $4.4 million in JAG funding. The President’s budget also fails to support our first responders, cutting $355 million – more than 55 percent – from the Firefighter Assistance Grant program, which has already been cut by 60 percent over the last 3 years.

“The President’s budget fails middle class Coloradans as well. I expect many of the 400,000 Coloradans receiving Social Security benefits will be as disappointed as I am that the President has revived his ill-advised privatization plan. This plan could cut nearly $7,000 from their benefits. And while the President claims he will balance the budget by 2012, he only achieves this by leaving out the long-term financial costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The public will not tolerate this kind of accounting gimmickry and heaping more and more debt onto taxpayers and their children, and neither should Congress.

“In addition, the President’s budget continues to forget rural America. The President’s request for $190 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program would represent the lowest funding for PILT in eight years. Gutting PILT will directly affect the counties like Mesa, Gunnison, Park and the other 52 Colorado counties that received more than $17 million in 2006. And after touring the National Renewable Energy Lab with me less than a year ago, the President is proposing to cut investment in wind energy by $9 million and solar energy by $7 million, despite the promise these technologies hold in helping rural communities diversify their economies.

“There are several items in this budget for which I applaud the President: Pueblo Chemical Depot is being funded at $132.6 million, which should help keep the Army on-target for a 2020 completion date for weapons destruction. The budget contains good news for Supermax in Florence as well: funding for the Bureau of Prisons is up $400 million, including an increase of $150 million for personnel.

“I look forward to working in Congress to realign these budget priorities to help keep America secure, stand up for the middle class and fight for our rural communities.”

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