121 STAT. 2630
CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—MAY 17, 2007 years, in the four budget functions: Function 400 (Transportation), Function 450 (Community and Regional Development), Function 550 (Health), and Function 750 (Administration of Justice) that fund most nondefense homeland security activities; and (3) the homeland security funding provided in this resolution will help to strengthen the security of our Nation’s transportation system, particularly our ports where significant security shortfalls still exist and foreign ports, by expanding efforts to identify and scan all high-risk United States-bound cargo, equip, train and support first responders (including enhancing interoperable communications and emergency management), strengthen border patrol, and increase the preparedness of the public health system.
SEC. 504. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE ONGOING NEED TO RESPOND TO HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA.
The sense of Congress is as follows: (1) Critical needs in the Gulf Coast region should be addressed without further delay. The budget resolution creates a reserve fund that would allow for affordable housing that may be used to focus on areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as new funding for additional recovery priorities. (2) Additional oversight and investigation is needed to ensure that recovery efforts are on track, develop legislation to reform the contracting process, and better prepare for future disasters. Those efforts should be made in close consultation with residents of affected areas. For example, the budget resolution provides additional 2007 funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, some of which may be used for this purpose. SEC. 505. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF ENTITLEMENTS.
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(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: (1) The aging of the United States population is going to put unprecedented pressure on the Nation’s retirement and health care systems. (2) The long-term strength of Social Security would be improved through a fiscally responsible policy of reducing the deficit and paying down the debt that has accumulated since 2001, thus reducing debt service payments and freeing up billions of dollars that can be dedicated to meeting social security’s obligations. (3) A policy of reducing and eventually eliminating the deficit and paying down the debt is a key factor in improving the long-term strength of the economy as a whole, because a lower debt burden frees up resources for productive investments that will result in higher economic growth, provide a higher standard of living for future generations, and enhance the Nation’s ability to meet its commitments to its senior citizens. (4) The most significant factor affecting the Nation’s entitlement programs is the rapid increase in health care costs. The projected increasing costs of Medicare and Medicaid are not unique to these programs but rather are part of a pattern of rising costs for the health sector as a whole.
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