May 17, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H 5087

breaks. As we repair the Medicare program, and attempt to slow its growth,

we must do so in the broader context of

health care reform to ensure that older

Americans—and indeed all Americans—

have access to quality, affordable

health care.

fTOP TEN

(Mr. HAYWORTH asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, from

the home office in Scottsdale, AZ, the

President’s top 10 excuses for not offering a credible balanced budget alternative: Ten, pollsters told me not to;

nine, don’t worry, be happy; eight, the

flowers are blooming, the sun is shining—who can think about budgets in

the spring; seven, what’s a couple trillion dollars between friends?; six, distracted by the start of the baseball season; five, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up;

four, contract-fatigue; three, those

darn Republicans have taken all the

good ideas; two, when the going gets

tough, stick your head in the sand.

And the President’s No. 1 excuse for

not offering his own credible balanced

budget alternative: The dog ate my

budget.

(Mr. BROWN of California asked and

CALL A CUT A CUT

fwas given permission to address the

House for 1 minute and to revise and

extend his remarks.)

Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure whether to call this

room the Hall of the House or the Casino of the Capitol because right now,

the Republicans are playing a billion

dollar shell game with Medicare.

The Republicans say they are increasing funding for Medicare over the

next 7 years. What they really do is cut

the amount needed to maintain the

current level of services by $282 billion.

That does not sound like much of an

increase to me.

What this really means for the average senior citizen is that they will have

to pay more out of their own pocket for

health care. In fact, they will have to

pay over $3,500 more out of their own

pockets over the next 7 years.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Republicans to come clean. They have prided

themselves on opening up government

and being honest with the American

people. If that is true, then they should

be honest enough to call a cut a cut.

The American people, especially our

senior citizens, will remember this act

of dishonesty on November 5, 1996—

election day.

fb 1015

WE MUST ACT NOW ON MEDICARE

AND THE BUDGET

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

minute.)

Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, in the coming months we face two extraordinary

battles—the battle to protect the future of our Nation’s seniors and the

battle to preserve the future of America’s children.

We cannot fail in either of these battles. Our opponents will do everything

they can to distort what we are trying

to do. They will use fear tactics to

scare innocent Americans into a false

sense of security about the status quo.

The status quo is the enemy. If we do

nothing Medicare will be bankrupt in 7

years. What would the Democrats have

our seniors do then? By acting now we

can save the Medicare system and offer

security to our seniors.

If we do nothing about the budget,

our children will pay more than

$187,000 over the course of their lives

just to pay for interest on the national

debt. We must balance the budget now

if we want to protect the American

dream for our children.

Mr. Speaker, we must stand firm and

deliver. The stakes are too high to do

nothing.

(Mr. DURBIN asked and was given

REPUBLICANS AND MEDICARE

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, to say

that the Republicans are saving Medicare is like saying Colonel Sanders is

saving the lives of chickens. Republicans are cutting Medicare with their

budget today. They are lowering the

amount of money available. They know

there will not be enough as the population grows of seniors needing Medicare and health care costs go up.

So as they talk about more money

for Medicare, sure, they are tossing a

25-foot rope to someone 30-feet offshore

drowning. They say that is compassion.

So why are the Republicans cutting

Medicare and Social Security in their

budget? It is simple. To give tax breaks

to wealthy Americans. It is a tax break

plan that even 100 Republicans wrote

their leadership and said, please do not

do this; it is unfair. But Speaker GINGRICH pushed it through, and now with

this ironclad discipline, the Republicans will be voting for it today.

I hope America tunes into this debate. What is at stake is not only

health care for seniors and their out-ofpocket costs, but for a lot of working

families with senior parents and grandparents this debate gets right to your

pocketbook.

(Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given

A HISTORIC DAY

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, here

we are. This is it. We are on the brink.

For the first time since 1969, the U.S.

House of Representatives will be passing a balanced budget amendment.

This is a historic moment. This is significant. This is real.

We spend almost $20 billion each

month on the interest alone on the national debt. It is the third largest item,

third largest expenditure in our annual

budget. In 2 years it will exceed all of

military spending. This has got to be

brought under control.

As my Democrat friend, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. PETE GEREN,

said, who benefits from balancing the

budget? Senior citizens, children, students, the disabled. If you want to do

something for them, you have got to

give them a tomorrow. If you are going

to give them a tomorrow, you have to

spend your money properly today.

This is not time for partisan rhetoric. This is not time for

grandstanding. There are a lot of

things you can criticize in this balanced budget amendment, but offer

your own. This is the time to do it.

This is a crucial crossroads for the

United States of America.

(Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was

THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET

fgiven permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker,

country and western singer Jerry Reed

must have had the Republican budget

in mind when he sang, ‘‘She got the

gold mine and I got the shaft.’’

The proposed budget which the Congress will vote on today will give the

gold mine to wealthy special interests

while America’s elderly who depend

upon Medicare and depend upon Social

Security get the shaft.

The Republican budget cuts Medicare

by $283 billion over 7 years, slashing

Medicare spending by 25 percent. Outof-pocket costs for seniors will increase

by over $1,000 in 2002 and $3,500 over 7

years.

My constituents have not been asking me to raise the cost of their health

care to provide tax breaks for the

wealthy and to escalate cold war

spending. The budget also cuts Medicaid by $180 billion over 7 years and cuts

Social Security benefits by $24 billion

between 1999 and 2002, all to pay for tax

cuts for the rich.

Mr. Speaker, why are Republicans

cutting Medicare to pay for tax cuts

for the privileged few?

(Mr. LAZIO of New York asked and

FISCAL YEAR 1996 BUDGET

fwas given permission to address the

House for 1 minute and to revise and

extend his remarks.)

Mr. LAZIO of New York. Mr. Speaker, we are at a point where we are

about to make history. We will soon

vote on the budget resolution that contains a strong moral message. That

message is that the status quo is unacceptable. A $4.7 trillion debt is unacceptable. Annual deficits close to $200