On February 26, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson presented the President’s FY2004 budget for the department to the House Budget Committee. Secretary Thompson noted that the budget request “will help improve the health and safety of our nation” and “continues to support the needs of the American people.”
Secretary Thompson outlined several of the budget’s programs, including the Faith-Based and Community Initiative. The President’s budget would provide $50 million in FY2004 for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program, which would help approximately 30,000 adolescent children of prisoners. The budget request also would provide $100 million for the Compassion Capital Fund, to be used for faith- and community-based organizations.
Additionally, Secretary Thompson noted that the President’s request would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Child Care and Development Block Grant and would increase support for children in foster care, child support enforcement, and Head Start. The President’s budget also would provide $20 million to support programs encouraging responsible fatherhood and the “formation and stability of healthy marriages.”
Dr. Gail Wilensky of the President’s Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for our Nation’s Veterans and Judith Feder of Georgetown University also testified before the committee, discussing the President’s FY2004 budget for Medicare and Medicaid.
In FY2004, the President would provide $537.7 billion in mandatory and discretionary spending for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In FY2003, HHS received $319.1 billion.
