S6472 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— SENATE May 11, 1995 

tried last year; our plan was not acceptable; and therefore we are not 

going to do anything. 

That is not a strong leadership position. That is not a position that the administration should take. Nevertheless, the issue has to be dealt with. We 

propose to deal with it. The budget will 

suggest that in terms of part A the 

remedy might be found in the area of 

reducing growth—not cuts, not draconian cuts but, rather, reducing the 

growth from 10 percent to 7 percent, 8 

percent, and that we can do this by 

changing some of the processes. 

I think that this is the important 

thing that we have to talk about; that 

there ought to be some choices for seniors; that we ought to have some opportunities to use managed care; that 

there ought to be some incentives for 

people to find better ways of receiving 

services. 

But the idea that we can simply sit 

back and continue to do what it is—the 

suggestion was made yesterday, if we 

can do something with the budget, we 

simply ought to take more money and 

put it into the program without changing. 

Mr. President, that is not a useful solution. We have to find some ways to 

make the program work better. It 

seems to me that that is the great opportunity that we have had in this Congress for the first time in a number of 

years, to examine programs; not to do 

away with programs, but to find ways 

to deliver services more efficiently, to 

find ways, better ways, to deliver services to people who are eligible for those 

services. That is the challenge that we 

have. 

Mr. President, I yield to my colleague, the Senator from Tennessee. 

Mr. THOMPSON addressed the Chair. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

Chair recognizes the Senator from Tennessee. 

f 

FACING UP TO OUR 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Mr. THOMPSON. I thank my colleague from Wyoming. As usual, he 

hits the mark squarely. He outlines the 

problem. 

Mr. President, I think what we are 

about here today is a part of a broader 

consideration, and that is our responsibility to the American people. We are 

getting about, I believe, responding to 

an issue here that is on the minds of 

the American people and we are doing 

something that is different, I think, 

than what has been going on in this 

body and in this city for a long time. 

And that is, we are facing up to our responsibilities. 

Mr. President, I feel that for a long 

period of time in this country the U.S. 

Congress, in being more interested in 

the next election and the next election 

cycle than the next generation, for a 

long time has been putting its problems off and rolling them forward 

again and again and again hoping that 

perhaps the next generation or someone else will figure out how to dig out 

from under the present problems that 

we have laid on them. 

This Medicare situation falls into 

that category. We have to face up to it. 

I believe it is the responsibility of this 

body to identify those items, those 

matters which we have concluded represent a substantial affect on peoples 

lives in the future. I think the Medicare trustees have put us in that position. They have given us information. 

We have the bully pulpit. We must inform the American people of what is 

happening. There is no room for recriminations right now as to how we 

got there, why we got there. We need 

to get about solving this problem. 

Put in blunt terms, Mr. President, 

the trustees have informed us that, if 

we do not do anything, in 7 years Medicare is going to go broke. I do not 

know how much more simply we can 

explain it. 

Medicare expenditures are increasing 

at the rate of 10 percent a year. We 

cannot sustain 10 percent a year. Now, 

the budget that has been put forward 

by the Budget Committee increases 

Medicare spending. It increases Medicare spending at the rate of 7.1 percent 

a year; not the 10 percent, but 7.1 percent. 

We can get the job done at that rate, 

Mr. President. We can save the trust 

fund. Obviously, it has budget implications. But, separate and apart from any 

budget considerations, the Medicare 

problem, the Medicare crisis, must be 

addressed. 

The budget that was submitted at 7.1 

percent is an increase of Medicare 

spending of twice the rate of inflation. 

We can increase Medicare spending at 

twice the rate of inflation and still, by 

not going the full 10 percent, we can 

get out of this problem and save the 

Medicare Program for the 36 million 

Americans that depend on it. You 

would think that when you have a 

clear problem like that pointed out by 

a bipartisan commission—everyone in 

this body knows there is a substantial 

problem—that you would have both 

branches of Government, the executive 

branch and the legislative branch, pulling together. You would think you 

would have both political parties pulling together; that this is indeed a matter of national interest that we all 

have to work together to solve. 

Unfortunately, Mr. President, it 

seems that the President of the United 

States has taken the position that, because we did not pass his health care 

bill last year, he is going to somehow 

get back at us by not being a player in 

this game. 

These are tough decisions. These are 

tough political decisions. Even reducing the rate of growth on any program 

in America is a tough political decision, one that we are prepared to face 

up to. 

But next year, being an election 

year, apparently the President has decided to sit on the sidelines and not 

participate because we did not pass his 

broad-sweeping health care program 

last year. 

I think the President misses the 

point. People knew last year that the 

problem was not in the private sector. 

The problem was with the Federal sector; that is, the Medicare-Medicaid sector. In the private sector, costs are actually stabilizing; in many cases costs 

are actually going down in the private 

sector. 

What the American people said ‘‘no’’ 

to was a broad-sweeping, perceived-tobe Federal takeover, which included 

the private sector. They did not say 

‘‘no’’ to reforming and saving the Medicare Program that we have in this 

country. And that is what we are dealing with here today. 

So let us decouple that. Let us get 

away from the past politics and who 

did what when. Let us give the President the benefit of the doubt. Let us 

say everything he says from a political 

standpoint is true; that he tried to save 

the entire health care system and we 

would have saved all this money. The 

facts are otherwise in my opinion, but 

let us give him the benefit of the 

doubt. 

Let us say, assuming all that is true, 

assuming all that is true, that is the 

past. This is the future. The problem is 

a severe one. We have been told by a bipartisan commission that we are going 

to go bankrupt in this system within 7 

years if we do not do something. We 

have to pull together to save the Medicare system for the 36 million Americans that depend on it. 

How do we do that, Mr. President? I 

do not know anybody in this body or 

anybody on this side of the aisle who 

claims that we have all the answers as 

to exactly how to do that. The Senator 

from Wyoming has mentioned several 

different proposals, possibilities. It has 

been suggested that a commission be 

formed to look at ways of saving additional moneys, hopefully keeping the 

same amount of benefits; not being 

under the illusion that we can squeeze 

providers forever and get it from that 

source, but to have more choice, give 

elderly people more choice and more 

opportunity, perhaps, to save moneys 

that have heretofore been spent on the 

Federal program by availing themselves of options in the private sector. 

There are any number of possibilities 

there. But we have to work together to 

solve this problem. We have to put 

aside partisan politics. We have to put 

aside past politics. The problem is too 

great. There are too many people that 

depend on our solving that problem. 

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the 

floor. 

Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the 

Chair. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 

Chair recognizes the Senator from Minnesota. 

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I 

ask unanimous consent to speak as if 

in morning business for 10 minutes. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

mmaher on MIKETEMP with SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS