Government

Cornyn: Budget holds line on spending; Must fund border security, national security, Texas priorities

President Bush submits annual budget request to Congress

From the Office of Senator John Cornyn

February 7, 2006

WASHINGTON—President Bush submitted his annual budget proposal to Congress on Monday with his funding requests for fiscal year FY 2007. The President’s budget calls for funding of the nation’s top priorities, including: winning the global war on terror, securing our homeland and borders, maintaining a strong national defense, and keeping our economy growing. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, said the President’s budget “holds the line on spending, while ensuring that we fund our most critical priorities.”

“Now that the President has submitted his budget request, Congress will review it and work with him to ensure that the final product is fiscally responsible, continues to put defending our nation as its highest priority, and maintains pro-growth tax and economic policies,” Cornyn said. “There are many key priorities for Texas that must be funded, including hurricane recovery efforts, and along those lines I’ll keep fighting to make sure that our state is made whole.”

The President asked Congress, which has the constitutional power to set funding of the federal government, to keep overall discretionary spending for FY 2007 below the rate of inflation and to cut spending in non-security discretionary programs to below 2006 levels.

“This proposal is a good start,” Cornyn said. “I’ll work with my colleagues on the Budget Committee to ensure that we maintain spending limits and fund our most critical needs.”

Cornyn, the chairman of the Immigration and Border Security subcommittee, said he’s encouraged by the President’s request for border funding: “I applaud the President’s commitment to fund our border security needs. His requests in many aspects track closely with what would be implemented in the comprehensive border security and immigration reform bill I’ve introduced. The request would increase the number of border patrol agents, fund new surveillance technology, and provide better tools to apprehend illegal immigrants. Those enhancements would move us closer to a “virtual fence” that could control our southern border. In addition, the proposed funding for detention beds is critical, because as the ability to apprehend illegal immigrants increases, so does the need for detention space.”

Sen. Cornyn’s bill, the Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act, S.1438, also includes an employer verification component, which the President requested in this budget. “We cannot get control over our borders, or regulate the flow of legal workers, until all employers are required to electronically verify whether their workers are legal,” Cornyn said. “The days of fake documents and employers looking the other way must be part of the past. Nearly five years after 9/11, the fact that millions of illegal workers are still able to use fake documents is very troubling to me.”

Regarding national defense, Sen. Cornyn, a member of the Armed Services Committee said: “Texas contributes to America’s national defense in important ways. So as the budget process moves forward I’ll continue fighting for the thousands of military personnel, veterans and their families in our state, as well as the many important weapons systems built in Texas. Their components are critical to our national defense.”

Cornyn continued: “This budget is a positive step in living up to our national defense obligations. Over the coming months the Senate Armed Services Committee will examine the defense budget to ensure critical programs are properly funded.”

The 2007 Budget proposal would save taxpayers nearly $15 billion through reductions or eliminations of 141 federal programs, building on the Deficit Reduction Act passed by Congress last year to reduce the federal deficit by billions of dollars. The Senate Budget Committee will now review the President’s recommendations and present a budget to the Congress.

“It’s critical that we continue working to reduce federal spending and eliminate waste,” Cornyn added. “Congress must seek to ensure that every tax dollar sent to Washington is being used wisely and effectively. In addition, to grow the economy, we must make the President’s tax cuts permanent, allowing Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money to save, invest and spend based on their own circumstances and needs, rather than reflecting the priorities of special interests and bureaucrats in Washington.”

Sen. Cornyn is a member of the following key Senate Committees: Armed Services; Judiciary; Budget; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and Joint Economic. He is also the chairman of the subcommittees on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship; and Emerging Threats and Capabilities.