House Budget Funds Environment and Wildlife

House Budget Funds Environment and Wildlife



March 2007 - Environmentalists today 
praised the House Budget Committee and its chairman John 
Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat, for beginning to reverse 
years of budget cuts to programs that protect the environment 
and natural resources. 
The House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2008, passed late 
last night by the budget panel, would provide a total 
appropriated level of $31.4 billion for environment and 
natural resource programs for FY 2008. 
House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt 
This amount is $2.6 billion over the request of President 
George W. Bush and $1 billion over the final Fiscal Year 2007 
levels. 
The Spratt budget resolution would balance the budget by 2012. 

In the Senate, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North 
Dakota Democrat, said the budget resolution passed by his 
panel today, "with Republican support," would also balance the 
budget in five years. 
"This is a budget that will balance by 2012," said Conrad. 
"That is a significant turning point for the country after 
years of running up massive deficits, and adding dramatically 
to the debt." 
"This budget will not only balance in 2012, but will stop the 
growth of the debt as a share of gross domestic product. 
Spending as a share of gross domestic product will go down," 
he said. 
"Obviously, we now have to go to conference, and come back and 
get a conference report adopted, but this is a critically 
important step," Conrad said. 
The Spratt budget accommodates comprehensive energy 
legislation promoting renewable energy, moving toward energy 
independence, increases conservation funding, and rejects 
administration cuts in environmental programs. 
It also provides new funding to assist Gulf communities and 
rebuild housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 
Neither Spratt’s nor Conrad's version of the budget raises 
taxes. Instead, they seek to enhance revenues by going after 
the "tax gap," the difference between taxes owed and taxes 
collected, and by cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in 
government programs. 
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad 
On the Senate floor today, Conrad gave an example of the type 
of tax evasion the Democrats intend to go after. 
"This is a picture of a sewer system in Europe," Conrad said, 
showing an image to his colleagues. "What does a sewer system 
in Europe have to do with the budget of the United States? 
Unfortunately, a lot because wealthy investors and companies 
bought this sewer system in Europe, depreciated it on the 
books in the United States to reduce their tax in America, and 
then they leased the sewer system back to the European city 
that built it in the first place. There are hundreds of 
billions of dollars involved in these tax scams. It is 
growing, and it is a cancer that has to be stopped." 
Conrad claims Republican support, but some Senate Republicans 
are critical of the resolution. By not extending existing tax 
policies past 2010, Dems raise taxes by more than $900 billion 
– the largest tax hike ever," said Ranking Member Judd Gregg, 
a New Hampshire Republican. 
"Assumed revenues from closing the tax gap are grossly 
overstated and are essentially an illusion; used as a "magic 
offset," Gregg said. 
For environmentalists, the House budget resolution is a breath 
of fresh air. 
"Under the leadership of Chairman Spratt, the House Budget 
Committee has taken an important first step in renewing our 
nation’s commitment to protecting our natural heritage after 
years of slash and burn budgets by the Bush administration," 
said Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen. 
Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen looks 
forward to restoration of conservation funding. 
"The funding levels included in the House Budget Resolution 
represent a significant down payment that will help us to 
rebuild our deteriorating public land and wildlife agencies," 
Schlickeisen said. 
Spratt said it is under the Republicans that profligate 
spending has run rampant. "The fiscal outlook we are 
confronting has deteriorated dramatically over the past six 
years," said Spratt. 
"In 2001, the administration inherited a projected 10 year 
(2002-2011) budget surplus of $5.6 trillion. Within two years, 
that surplus was gone and the United States began accumulating 
a mountain of national debt, adding $2.8 trillion to our 
federal debt burden since 2001," he said. 
"Most of this debt has been purchased by foreign investors, 
making the U.S. economy more vulnerable to economic and 
political instability and political pressure from abroad," 
warned Spratt. 
"The President calls for nearly $2 trillion in tax cuts, so in 
the name of balancing the budget by 2012, he cuts domestic 
priorities such as health care, education, and the 
environment," Spratt said. 
The House budget blueprint rejects the president’s cuts to 
endangered species protection, the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund, many Farm Bill conservation programs, and other 
important wildlife, habitat and public lands programs. 
The funding provided also would begin to restore the National 
Wildlife Refuge System, which has been undergoing a 
restructuring and downsizing in the face of budget shortfalls. 

In addition, the resolution includes a deficit-neutral reserve 
fund that supports an increase of $20 billion over the next 
five years for reauthorization of the Farm Bill. 
"Chairman Spratt has taken the first step toward restoring 
environmental programs that were essentially on life-support 
following years of cuts by the Bush administration," said 
Schlickeisen. "We look forward to working with him, the House 
and Senate Budget Committees, and Congressional appropriators 
in the coming years to secure the funding to make them whole 
again so our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy 
a vibrant and healthy environment." 
For more budget analysis, see Bush Budget Slashes Environment, 
Funds Nuclear Development. 





 

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