"Earlier this month, President Bush released his proposed budget for 2008. Unfortunately, the president missed an opportunity to restore funding for a variety of vital programs.

"New York is consistently faced with a funding imbalance. Under the Bush Administration, our state has sent more money to Washington than we receive in funding and services. This imbalance has held back progress in several areas. Key programs have been consistently underfunded and this year's proposed budget again makes the wrong choices for New York's communities and families.

"Gang violence is a growing problem on Long Island. Our police departments and community groups are doing all they can with small budgets. Unfortunately, those budgets will be further reduced if this budget is signed into law. This budget request attempts to eliminate two of New York's most effective crime fighting tools: the Community Orientated Policing Service (COPS) Program and the Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) Program. These two programs allow law enforcement agencies to hire police officers and support crime prevention initiatives. Police departments rely on this money to purchase new technology and equipment and to educate their members on how to best combat crime such as gang violence.

"In 2006, New York received more than $27 million in COPS and JAG funding. If this money is not available, our law enforcement will not have the resources they need to continue to keep our families and communities safe.

"But it is not just our communities that are put at-risk with the president's budget. College assistance programs to help New York's students will be slashed unless Congress intervenes.

"The education of our nation's students is one of the most important issues today. I have traveled to China and India and have seen firsthand the attention those countries give to educating their students.

"The Federal government must do a better job of funding our education programs to give our students the tools they need to compete in the global economy.

"However, under this budget, key programs such as Work Study and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants will be frozen. Tuition at New York's state schools has increased over 20 percent over the past four years. These new cuts in student aid will put the cost of college further out of reach for many New York's students. This is the wrong message to be sending students who work hard in high school and dream of going on to college.

"We can do a better job, but need adequate funding to help our students achieve their dreams.

"As many of you know, our health care system needs serious attention.

"Over 40 million Americans are without health insurance. In New York, 2.5 million are uninsured. In his State of the Union address, President Bush vaguely outlined a proposal to deal with this very issue. I applaud the president for bringing this issue to the forefront of the debate. However, I do not agree with the president's plan. I am afraid his proposal will raise health care costs for New York's working class while doing little to help the 2.5 million uninsured. The money President Bush requested for his plan could be better used to lower premiums and truly make health care more affordable for all Americans.

"Since the start of the 110th Congress, the House has done the people's work. We have raised the minimum wage, cut student loan interest rates and helped Medicare beneficiaries. We have changed the focus of our nation to help all Americans.

"The president's budget request misses the mark and will harm already underfunded programs. We in Congress must devote more attention and funding to our nation's education and health care. These issues have been underfunded for too long.

"I look forward to working with my colleagues to refocus our priorities and fully fund our education and health care programs to give New York and Long Island the funding it deserves."