H 4678 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE May 10, 1995

THE CLEAN WATER ACT, H.R. 961

(Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr.

Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.

961, the legislation to reauthorize the

Clean Water Act. As someone with experience in growing trees, I understand

the concerns about the so-called

nonpoint source pollutions from forests. I appreciate that we have extensive regulations which address other

sources and that we are looking to control runoff of water from all sources.

You would not know it from the rhetoric, but the forest industry has done a

pretty good job already in controlling

the problem.

When I was in the State legislature,

I cosponsored sedimentation legislation that today on North Carolina’s

basis controls runoff from forests as

well as other sources. Every State in

the country with any significant forest

activity has what is called best management practices which are sets of

very detailed practices which have to

be in place before forest practices are

undertaken.

For example, the best management

practices include everything from ways

to build temporary roads with water

bars to prevent runoff in other ways.

I urge support of the Clean Water Act

and the bill of the gentleman from

Pennsylvania [Mr. S

fHUSTER].

MEDICARE

(Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute.)

Ms. VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise

to take strong exception to the Republicans’ proposed massive Medicare and

Medicaid cuts. These cuts will hurt the

most vulnerable of Americans, our

children, our seniors, the poor and the

disabled.

Large reductions in Medicare payments will mean increased out-of-pocket costs for seniors. On average seniors

will have to come up with another

$3,000 for medical expenses once the Republican plan goes into full effect.

The Republican plan also puts the

squeeze on urban and rural health centers, institutions that rely heavily

upon Medicare reimbursement.

The end result would be hospital closures and declining health among poor

and working families. Why are they

cutting this program? In order to fund

corporate welfare programs and tax

cuts for the 1 percent of the families

who control 40 percent of the assets in

this country. That is right, for the

wealthiest Americans.

Let us stop this charade and consider

real health care reform.

GEORGE ORWELL, SPIN DOCTOR

(Mr. DREIER asked and was given

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, apparently George Orwell has become the

spin doctor for the leadership on the

other side of the aisle. Only in Orwell’s

world or the old Washington, DC, when

the Congress was under different leadership, could an increased of from

$4,700 to $6,300 for Medicare be considered a draconian cut. That is right.

Under our proposal we are increasing

the level of spending for Medicare from

$4,700 to $6,300 over the next 7 years,

and time after time our colleagues

have gotten down here and labeled this

a draconian cut which is simply to pay

for a tax cut for the rich. Nothing

could be further from the truth.

It is wrong for this message to be

getting out and tragic that people are

being frightened by this kind of message.

Mr. Speaker, the American people

want the truth, not the spin. George

Orwell should not be the guide for any

leadership in this Congress.

REPUBLICANS IN THE MEDICARE

fBOX

(Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are in a box. They are trying

to divert attention from what they are

trying to do to Medicare. They are cutting Medicare by $300 billion, and they

do not know how to explain it.

The reason is that they have to find

a way to pay for their tax cuts for a tax

cut that benefits 1 percent of the population making over $230,000 per year.

That is not class warfare. Those are

the facts.

Here are the Medicare excuses: Another commission to study the problem, slow the growth of Medicare, tinker with the Medicare trust fund.

Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear.

They are cutting Medicare to pay for a

tax cut for America’s wealthy, the

crown jewel of the Contract With

America.

(Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given

A HISTORIC DAY

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, today

truly is a historic day in America. For

the first time in anybody’s memory,

this Congress today will present to the

American people a plan to balance the

budget over the next 7 years, a plan

that will save Medicare, will improve

Medicare for our senior citizens.

It has taken a new Congress to have

the guts to bring this issue to the floor

of the House because the American

people want it. Eighty percent of the

American people are demanding that

we deal with the fiscal and moral crisis

that is occurring in this country and so

we have a plan.

I find it interesting that, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle,

the President of the United States has

no plan. There is no plan from you. And

so they are going to criticize. They are

going to spread fear amongst the people about what our plan is. But I would

urge the American people to ask the

other side, the liberals, where is their

plan to balance the budget? Where is

their plan to save the future for our

children and their children? Because

the Republican plan to balance the

budget is a contract with our children

and theirs.

(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given perTRADE WITH JAPAN

fmission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, at this moment the U.S. Trade Representative

Mickey Kantor is announcing the action by the United States on autos and

auto parts under section 301 of our

trade laws and the World Trade Organization.

The issue here is clear, opening up

the Japanese markets to United States

autos and auto parts. We are the free

marketeers. The Japanese are the protectionists in this area.

Yesterday the Senate passed overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis support for the administration position

and last night the gentlewoman from

Connecticut [Mrs. JOHNSON] and I introduced the same resolution in the

House.

It says,

The House strongly supports the decision

by the President to impose trade sanctions

on Japanese products in accordance with section 301, unless an acceptable accord with

Japan is reached in the interim that renders

such action unnecessary.

Let us, as the Senate did, support

this effort on a bipartisan basis. For

the first time the industry is united.

Let us be united and let us negotiate

this out with the Japanese so we open

up their markets to our goods as our

markets are open to their goods.

fb 1145

CUTTING MEDICARE IS THE

WRONG WAY TO BALANCE THE

BUDGET

(Mr. SCHUMER asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. Speaker, let me

say that this administration deserves a

heck of a lot of credit. For the first

time in two decades, we are doing

something real to open up Japanese

markets. Every time America has a

better product, whether it be in automobiles or financial services or anything else, the Japanese come up with

a million different barriers and put

them in the way. Today we are finally

saying ‘‘Enough.’’ We are not being