On a per capita basis. increases in veterans health care funding average only 0.1 percent per year. well below inflation. Two days ago. President Bush announced that he will deploy up to 6.000 National Guard members to "assist the Border Patrol" along our southern border. It is important to note that in 2004. Congress authorized annual increases of 2.000 border patrol agents from 2006 through 2010. Ironically. for the first two years of this increase. the Administration and the Republican Congress have failed to meet this target. The Presidents budget proposal for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 failed to include enough funding for an additional 2.000 Border Patrol agents. and subsequently. Congress failed to appropriate full funding for the authorized increase. Under the tight spending constraints provided by the Republican budget framework. the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee reported a bill that provides only 1.200 new border patrol agents800 agents less than the authorized level. In contrast. the Democratic Substitute provides more than enough funding to provide for an additional 2.000 Border Patrol agents. Education also takes a hit in this budget resolution. The Department of Education is cut by $2.2 billionthe second year in a row that Republicans will cut federal education funding despite school districts need for promised assistance to meet demanding standards under No Child Left Behind. and the increasing cost of higher education.
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