WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shirley Chisholm, D-N.Y., her voice breaking, charged Wednesday that President Reagan's budget cuts would seriously hurt the needy without stopping inflation or solving the nation's economic problems.
The Brooklyn Democrat told the House Education and Labor Committee the administration has made no plans for thousands of persons who would be thrown out of work when the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act's public sector project is ended this year.
Mrs. Chisholm testified on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, and engaed inspirited exchanges with committee members.
Rep. Ken Kramer, R-Colo., remarked that a lot of the programs -- some of which, committee members said, date back to Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman and Franklin Roosevelt -- have not done the job because the problems remain.
'You don't throw out the baby with the bathwater,' replied Mrs. Chisholm. ing 'You don't completely devastate and annihilate, and have nothing in return. What are you going to do with these thousands of persons on CETA?'
'The administration has not targetted where they're going to put these people when they come off CETA this September,' she said. 'Will they put them once again on public welfare rolls?'
Reagan has proposed abolishing CETA's public sector employment program, in which 300,000 persons are now enrolled.
Committee Chairman Carl D. Perkins, D-Ky., asked whether she believes the administration's program would succeed in terms of stopping inflation and helping the economy.
'No, no, definitely not,' she replied.
Does she believe Reagan's cutbacks were being shared equally by all segments of the population?
'No, not at all,' Mrs. Chisholm replied.
Moments later, her voice broke as she quoted Hubert Humphrey's final speech, saying the moral test of government is how it treats 'those in the dawn of life -- children; in the twilight of life -- the aged; and those in the shadow of life -- the sick, needy and handicapped.'
Rep. John Erlenborn, R-Ill., asked Mrs. Chisholm to suggest alternatives.
'There are many, many loopholes that could be clogged,' she said. 'For example, you talk about cutting school lunches and you're still talking about special considerations for three-martini lunches.'
