S6506 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE May 11, 1995 

It is true that Russia agreed to join 

the partnership for peace at this summit—as they previously agreed to do 

last year, before abruptly changing 

their minds at the OSCE summit in Budapest. At this summit, Russia continued to express strong opposition to the 

expansion of NATO. 

Mr. President, summit diplomacy has 

a long and distinguished history. Historically, summits have succeeded 

when the parties had clear agendas, 

pursued their interests consistently, 

and were ready, willing, and able to 

meet each others’ concerns. And if 

agreement is not reached, history 

shows it is better to state the disagreements clearly rather than paper them 

over. In the case of the Moscow summit, it is clear that President Yeltsin 

was not in a position to address our 

concerns. We should admit that forthrightly and respond appropriately. Congress will respond by looking closely at 

all forms of aid to Russia—especially 

aid to the government. Certain types of 

aid such as democracy support, or 

Nunn-Lugar funding for nuclear clean 

up still promote important American 

interests. Other aid programs may not, 

and may be halted. 

The United States must remain engaged with Russia. It was and is our 

hope that democracy and free market 

reforms will prosper. We hope that the 

Russian elections planned for this year 

and next year proceed on time—and 

that they are free and fair. But Russia 

is not our only strategic relationship—

we have other interests in other areas. 

That is why I support the President’s 

decision to visit Ukraine. That is why 

NATO expansion should not be subject 

to a Russian veto. And that is why we 

cannot allow Iran to become a nuclear 

weapons state. 

f 

WAS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE? 

THE VOTERS HAVE SAID YES 

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, it does 

not require one to be a rocket scientist 

to realize that the U.S. Constitution 

forbids any President’s spending even a 

dime of Federal tax money that has 

not first been authorized and appropriated by Congress—both and House of 

Representatives and the U.S. Senate. 

So when you hear a politician or an 

editor or a commentator declare that 

‘‘Reagan ran up the Federal debt’’ or 

that ‘‘Bush ran it up,’’ bear in mind 

that the Founding Fathers, two centuries before the Reagan and Bush 

presidencies, made it very clear that it 

is the constitutional duty of Congress 

to control Federal spending. 

The fiscal irresponsibility of Congress has created a Federal debt which 

stood at $4,856,766,568,058.09 as of the 

close of business Wednesday, May 10. 

This outrageous debt (which will become the debt of our children and 

grandchildren) averages out to 

$18,436.37 on a per capita basis. 

PRESERVING MEDICARE FOR OUR 

SENIORS 

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise 

to speak about the Medicare Program 

and the need to protect it from drastic 

cuts. The Republicans have announced 

their plans to cut the Medicare budget 

by over $250 billion in order to fund tax 

cuts for the rich. 

Let me start by saying that I want to 

make sure that we keep the care in 

Medicare. I believe that the basic values of honoring your father and your 

mother should be the anchors of our 

public policy. 

I do not believe our seniors should 

have to pay almost $900 more in out of 

pocket health care costs each year. I do 

not believe that the typical Medicare 

beneficiary should have to see 40 to 50 

percent of his or her Social Security 

cost-of-living adjustment eaten up by 

increases in Medicare cost sharing and 

premiums. 

We cannot let this happen. We owe it 

to our mothers and fathers, and to our 

family members. 

Last week I spoke at the White 

House Conference on Aging. It was an 

impressive gathering of 2,500 seniors 

and senior advocates from all over this 

Nation. Many of the delegates were 

current or former doctors, lawyers, administrators, business owners, nurses, 

social workers, gerontologists, and senior service providers. 

The delegates were charged with 

coming up with a navigational chart to 

meet the needs of our seniors today 

and to take us into the 21st century. 

The White House Conference on 

Aging came at a very crucial time in 

our history. We all know that our senior population is growing and growing 

rapidly. Demography is destiny. We 

must anticipate the future and what 

their needs are and what they will be. 

At the end of the conference, the delegates voted on priorities. Ensuring 

the future of the Medicare Program 

was one of the top five priorities. More 

specifically, the conference stated that 

the United States should: 

. . . reaffirm the covenant that it established with the American people 30 years ago 

with the enactment of Medicare and act to 

maintain and strengthen the program’s 

structure and purpose, its fiscal solvency, 

and widespread public support. 

. . . continue to protect older Americans 

and disabled Americans, especially those on 

low and fixed incomes with respect to health 

care affordability and access, giving special 

consideration to the burdens imposed by copayments, deductibles, and premiums. 

. . . ensure that programmatic changes 

safeguard the viability of the Medicare trust 

funds. 

. . . ensure that any changes to Medicare 

provide access to a standard package of benefits which includes affordable long term 

care, strengthens the program’s financial 

well-being, preserves the social insurance nature of Medicare, enhances the quality of 

care and improves the program for beneficiaries within the broad context of health 

care reform 

There is much talk about another 

contract with America, but I believe 

the real contracts we must honor are 

Medicare and Social Security. We must 

preserve the covenant that we established with our seniors and their families to provide them with health insurance for their old age. Seniors have 

worked hard all their lives, paid their 

dues, paid into the system. 

We must remember who are seniors 

are. On May 8, we commemorated victory in Europe and the beginning of the 

end of World War II. Our seniors were 

part of the generation that saved Europe from tyranny and changed the 

course of history. We must never forget 

that. 

We cannot forget them and we cannot forget who will be the next generation of seniors. They will be many of 

us. And the next generation after that. 

They will be our children and grandchildren. We must continue to ensure 

that all seniors now and into the next 

century have the resources they need 

for their health care. Without such resources I fear they will become impoverished, their children may become impoverished, and we as a country will 

become impoverished. 

f 

THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON 

CIVIL RIGHTS 

Mr. COHEN. Mr. President, in recognition of the 45th anniversary of the 

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 

I believe it is appropriate to reflect 

upon this country’s history on the 

issue of civil rights and express some 

thoughts about the direction the country is heading today. 

In 1950, when the Leadership Conference was first formed, we essentially 

had a system of racial apartheid in 

many parts of the country. It was illegal for black and white children to attend school together, it was illegal for 

black and white adults to marry. Black 

Americans were shut out of the political system—they were not permitted 

to serve on juries, run for office, or, in 

many cases, cast a ballot. There was no 

meaningful equal protection of the 

laws, especially the criminal laws. 

Blacks who dared to assert their political rights or buck the mores of the racial caste system, were beaten or 

lynched. The police and formal legal 

system always looked the other way. 

Blacks could not receive a fair trial in 

a court of law as racial prejudice 

clouded the normal American presumption that justice is blind. 

Through Federal court litigation, 

and eventually legislative action by 

the U.S. Congress, many of these barriers were cast aside, the chains of Jim 

Crow were unlocked, and the Constitution’s promise of equal opportunity 

began to become a reality. As the decades passed and progress was made on 

many fronts, other groups of American 

citizens—women, racial minorities, religious groups, and the physically disabled, to name a few—rose to assert 

the rights that accrue with American 

citizenship. Their claims have been 

simple, clear, and powerful: treat us 

mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS