Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) was critical of the proposals put forward by both House Leadership and the White House for budget cuts, specifically for the pain they inflict on low- and middle-income families.  The White House’s budget proposal is reportedly excluding funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), while simultaneously the House Appropriations Committee released a series of proposed cuts for scores of programs.  The vast majority of these cuts will affect working families and low-income communities.

“It is stunning to see budget proposals flying left and right which put the burden for digging out of our budgetary problems on our working class.  Only a few weeks ago, the White House and Congressional Republicans struck a deal to permit the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts, taking another $700 billion out of the Treasury and lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires.  While hard choices need to be made to balance the budget – the door swings both ways, and too many of the cuts will come at the expense of the poor, the elderly and our most needy,” said Rep. Engel.

Published reports have indicated that the White House budget proposal for FY12 – to be released on Monday, February 14 - will cut the LIHEAP funding by $3 billion, mirroring the FY08 appropriation.  “You only have to peek outside to see how brutal this winter has been, and there are many weeks of cold weather to come across the country.  Home heating assistance is a lifeline for many low-income families and seniors on a fixed income.  I understand the Administration needs to look at all avenues for budgetary solutions, but leaving the most vulnerable to face the hardships of winter without help is a poor choice,” said Rep. Engel.

Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee proposed 70 cuts to the never-enacted FY11 budget proposal, a sign of what is to come for FY12.  The reduction included such wide-ranging targets as the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, food assistance for low-income women, infants and children, NASA, Amtrak, renewable energy research, and massive cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and to family planning services.

“Reading the list of cuts is like reading a Who’s Who of services the Republican Party has long opposed.   Taking $2 billion from Job Training Programs during a time of high unemployment just shows how out of touch they really are, and how their self-proclaimed ‘laser-like’ focus on jobs lacks any substance.  Where do you even start the outrage – is it the cutting of funds for child health block grants?  Is it half a billion removed from HUD Community Development Funds, which benefit poor neighborhoods?  Or perhaps the millions taken away from flood control and coastal emergencies?  All of these, once again, coming weeks after the tax breaks for the wealthy were allowed to continue costing out nation billions of dollars,” said Rep. Engel.

The 12-term Congressman added, “This budget inadequately funds very important domestic programs, while it does not do nearly enough to put our nation’s fiscal house in order.  To achieve that, we need to look beyond cutting programs to help the poor, and to put more of a focus on eliminating the free ride for the richest Americans.  We enjoy the lowest tax rate since the Korean War, while more and more Americans are forced into poverty.  Balancing the budget on their backs is both inhumane and impossible.  It is time we had a real conversation about our national economy and come together – Democrats and Republicans – with a plan that takes the focus away from grandma’s heating bill and inner city revitalization, and places it more in the hands of those who can already afford it.”

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