President Bush stared resolutely into the camera during his Jan. 31 speech and pledged, “Preparing our nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share.”

Yes, Bush sounded emboldened and determined with his statement, but with the recent passage of the White House’s 2007 fiscal budget, his actions have proved his words were no more than empty promises.

For the second straight year, the White House proposed a budget that will cut student aid programs. The 2007 budget, approved 51-49 by the Senate Thursday, would cut $12.7 of $60 billion in federal education loans. The Senate budget freezes the maximum Pell Grant at $4,050 for the fifth straight year. The budget also seeks to eliminate the Perkins loan program, which provides low-interest, fixed-rate loans for students with financial need.

Senators Ted Kennedy, Robert Menendez and Susan Collins proposed an amendment to the budget that would provide an additional $6.3 billion in discretionary spending for education, but it was shot down March 14 by a 50-50 vote. The Senate did pass an amendment two days later that will restore $7 billion in funding to education and health programs, but this money will not go toward federal funding for needy college students.

How can Bush pledge to prepare our nation to compete when his actions will make a college degree harder to obtain for those in financial need? Congress has approved $337 billion in supplemental war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11.

According to a recent CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll, 57 percent of Americans believe the March 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake. How are we, in Bush’s words, “preparing our nation to compete in the world” by funneling obscene amounts of money into a war most Americans don’t even agree with?

We applaud the Senate for passing an amendment to the Bush budget, but $7 billion isn’t enough. Students of all income levels should have an equal chance at a college degree. With cut after cut to student aid, Bush’s goal of a competitive America in the area of education has taken a step — or more accurately, a leap — backward.