May 3, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H 4519

Mr. TATE. Mr. Speaker, we were sent

here to keep our word with the Contract With America, and that is exactly what we did. Now we plan to keep

a contract with our older Americans.

Bill Clinton’s own Medicare Board of

Trustees, which includes the Cabinet

members of Mr. Rubin, Secretary

Shalala, and Secretary Reich, came out

with a report that said that Medicare

will be insolvent in the next few years,

within 7 years. But have we heard

something from the President? I am

still listening. I have heard nothing.

This report that came out is not a

Republican fact, it is not a Democrat

fact. It is the Board of Trustees, and it

is a fact.

Now, the Democrats’ proposal as

well, we had health care reform last

year and that had Medicare reforms. If

you have a leaky roof, you do not tear

off the entire roof, you fix the leak.

And that is what we want to do. Republicans are committed to preserve, to

protect, and to improve Medicare, not

to bury our heads in the sand, and that

is exactly what we are going to do.

(Ms. PELOSI asked and was given

KEEP MEDICARE SOLVENT

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, our seniors depend on Medicare, and its solvency is a national priority. That is

why President Clinton addressed this

issue as soon as he took office in 1993.

The omnibus budget bill of 1993 not

only reduced the deficit; it also

strengthened the Medicare Trust Fund

and made it solvent for 3 additional

years. President Clinton and the Democrats in Congress did this without one

Republican vote. The administration

also recognized that Medicare could

only be solvent if we have comprehensive health care reform. These initiatives passed out of committee without

one Republican vote.

b 1145

Now, Mr. Speaker, Republicans are

poised to take $300 billion over 7 years

from the Medicare Program. The Republicans plan to use the Medicare Program as a bank for their tax cuts. We

must not let this happen. These Medicare cuts will cost seniors $3,000 over

the next 7 years, using up most of their

Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

Chief of Staff Panetta said it well

when he said, ‘‘No amount of accounting gimmicks, separate accounts, dual

budget reconciliations can hide the reality that you,’’ the Republicans, ‘‘essentially are calling for the largest

Medicare cut in history to pay for tax

cuts for the well-off.’’

TRADE IMBALANCE WITH JAPAN

We must fight these cuts.

(Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas asked and

fwas given permission to address the

House for 1 minute and to revise and

extend her remarks.)

Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, today U.S. Trade Representative

Mickey Kantor is meeting with Japanese Trade Representative Hashimoto

in Canada to discuss United States

auto sales in Japan. Last year, as in

previous years, the largest share of our

trade imbalance with Japan was in the

automotive sector. In 1994, this imbalance was about $37 billion and represented 56 percent of our total trade

deficit with Japan.

Japan has the second largest auto

market in the world, but has by far the

lowest sales of imported cars and

trucks of all industrialized nations

that manufacture cars.

General Motors has been building

cars in the Third District of Kansas

since the late 1940’s, and I hope they

will be there for another 50 years. But

to ensure the success of our domestic

automobile manufacturers, we must

gain access to the second largest auto

market in the world.

Right now Japanese auto makers

hold 22 percent of the United States

market, while the United States ‘‘Big

Three’’ has only 1 percent of the Japanese market. United States Trade Representative Kantor should take all

steps necessary to level this playing

field with Japan. So long as this automotive imbalance exists, we will never

be able to reduce our trade deficit with

Japan.

WALK AMERICA

f(Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin asked

and was given permission to address

the House for 1 minute and to revise

and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr.

Speaker, today I rise to recognize the

25th anniversary of Walk America, the

annual fundraiser for the March of

Dimes, and one of the most important

walking events in the Nation.

In 1938, President Franklin Delano

Roosevelt, a man who wanted to save

future generations from the pain of paralysis that he understood so well,

founded the National Foundation for

Infantile Paralysis, which later became

the March of Dimes.

For almost 60 years, the March of

Dimes has been helping America’s children live healthier lives. In Wisconsin,

grants from the March of Dimes have

provided prenatal care for low-income

women, bought soccer tickets for children with disabilities, and funded research that has lead to breakthroughs

in understanding birth defects.

Building a healthy future for our

kids is an important part of what this

Congress is all about, and the March of

Dimes has provided invaluable assistance and dedication for our work in

this direction.

I appreciate this opportunity to

thank the March of Dimes on behalf of

my State and to wish the foundation

continued success.

OPENING JAPANESE MARKETS

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it was 10

years ago that MARCY KAPTUR and I

met with Japanese officials about

opening their markets to United States

auto parts. Imports then had less than

1 percent of Japan’s protected market.

Today, despite incessant American efforts, that figure is only 2.4 percent.

The Japanese sell their automotive

products on every United States Main

Street, but they make it difficult,

often impossible, to sell United States

products even on Japanese side streets.

The negotiations that begin today in

Vancouver are make it or break it for

opening the Japanese market. That is

why there is broad support on a bipartisan basis here in Congress and in the

U.S. business community, from the

Business Roundtable and NAM to semiconductors and motion pictures.

Japan’s protected markets undermine the world trading system. Resolution of this issue with Japan will affect

this Nation’s economic future, the confidence of Americans in their Nation’s

trade policy.

CIVIL LIBERTIES FOR ALL

f(Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts asked

and was given permission to address

the House for 1 minute.)

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr.

Speaker, I am fascinated with the process by which right-wingers have become devotees of civil liberties. A few

years ago, when a lot of them were getting indicted, they became great supporters of such procedural protections

as due possess and the fifth amendment.

Now we have seen a great rightwing

rush, late in life, but I always like conversions, to embrace the principles of

free speech. They have now decided

that people who say crazy, irresponsible, dangerous things under the first

amendment should be allowed to say

them. I agree with them. I have always

felt that way.

The problem is that they only imperfectly understand that. Because the

fact is that the right to say these kinds

of things—irresponsible and obnoxious

and in some cases threatening—cannot

only go to their rightwing caricatures.

It goes to the left as well.

I am particularly struck by the fact

that many of those who wanted the

rapper Ice-T to be shut up and taken

off the air, because he talked about

killing policemen—and he certainly

was, in my judgment, obnoxious and irresponsible—turn around and want to

honor G. Gordon Liddy.

Now, they got a little embarrassed

after the Oklahoma bombing, so they

backed away from Liddy a little bit.

But the fact is, there is very little difference morally or in the nature of the

rhetoric between Ice-T and G. Gordon