WASHINGTON – Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) today issued the following statement in response to the release of President Bush's FY 2008 budget:

“When President Bush puts forward his budget each year, it is a reflection of his priorities. I believe the President's priorities are wrong. It's disappointing that President Bush has chosen yet again to give billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of families trying to make ends meet. The President is continuing his assault on Medicare and Social Security and wants to slash funds for programs that help children obtain health care, middle-class Americans save for their retirements, and veterans recover from the traumas of war.

“As a Member of the Senate Budget Committee, I will work to recommend a budget that truly reflects the needs of American families. We need to refocus our priorities to ease the strain on middle-class families and bring the federal budget into balance.

“The President's FY 2008 budget will have a particularly negative impact on Maryland. The President's budget offers no hope to the hundreds of thousands of Marylanders who live each day without health insurance. The state will receive less money to provide health care coverage for its neediest children, and Maryland's veterans returning from war will find it increasingly difficult to obtain quality health care. President Bush has once again taken aim at Maryland's unique environment, slashing a host of Chesapeake Bay clean-up projects and completely ignoring the impact that global warming is having on our coastlines. While I am pleased to see that the President's budget includes funding for BRAC construction projects, it fails to adequately support the needs of other federal agencies which are also critical to Maryland's economy.

“The American people want to see a new direction for our nation, both at home and abroad. The President's budget will simply take us down the same path that is leaving millions of middle-class Americans behind.”