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E-Newsletter

Date: Nov. 18, 2005
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income Entitlements and the Safety Net Arts, Entertainment, and History


E-Newsletter
November 18, 2005

Dear Friends:

Shortly before 2:00am this morning in Washington, Republican leaders in the U.S. House rammed through a fiscally irresponsible budget bill by a vote of 215-217. While millions of Americans struggle to pay for college, healthcare and spiraling home heating costs, Republicans chose to cut $50 billion from vital services to pay for $70 billion in tax give-aways for
the wealthiest Americans, increasing the deficit by $20 billion. These cuts include:

- Over $14.3 billion in cuts to federal student aid programs - the largest cuts in history
- $11.9 billion cuts to Medicaid; a majority of the recipients are children, the disabled and elderly
- 300,000 Americans will be taken off food stamps

This is another indictment of the Republican leadership's willingness to cast aside the most vulnerable members of society - seniors, children and students - in favor of special tax breaks for wealthy investors and political donors.

Earlier this week, I hosted a Congressional Global Health Caucus briefing on the United Nations response to the avian flu. Dr. David Nabarro, the U.N. System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, addressed members of Congress and staff about an effective and coordinated global effort to control the epidemic of avian influenza. Read the Voice of America article on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Betty McCollum
Member of Congress
Serving Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District

http://www.mccollum.house.gov/vertical/Sites/%7B6CD95013-7C42-4AD8-A464-EB8D8679E9C9%7D/uploads/%7B72289061-66C4-48AF-8705-0D5D61EB9D98%7D.PDF

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