•HCON 178 RH
(5) The General Accounting Office has found
that ‘‘Allowing the public and private sectors to
compete for the centralized servicing (of loans) could
mean reaping the benefits of the competitive market-
place - greater efficiency, increased focus on cus-
tomer needs, increased innovation, and improved
morale.’’
(6) The House Committee on Small Business
has recommended ‘‘that 40 percent of the loan serv-
icing portfolio (for Disaster Loans) be privatized.’’
(7) The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year
1997 proposes to review options for improving the
quality of loan portfolio management including con-
tracting to the private sector.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the appropriate committees of the House and
the Senate should report legislation authorizing the sale
of such loan assets as they deem appropriate in order to
contribute to Government downsizing, administrative cost
savings, and improved services to borrowers.
SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CHANGES IN MEDICAID.
It is the sense of Congress that any legislation chang-
ing the medicaid program pursuant to this resolution
should—
•HCON 178 RH
(1) guarantee coverage for low-income children,
pregnant women, the elderly, and the disabled as de-
scribed in the National Governors’ Association Feb-
ruary 6, 1996, policy on reforming medicaid, which
was 
endorsed 
unanimously 
by 
our 
Nation’s
governors;
(2) maintain the medicaid program as a match-
ing program while providing a fairer and more equi-
table formula for calculating the matching rate;
(3) reject any illusory financing schemes;
(4) continue Federal minimum standards for
nursing homes;
(5) continue Federal rules that prevent wives or
husbands from being required to impoverish them-
selves in order to obtain and keep medicaid benefits
for their spouse requiring nursing home care; and
(6) provide coverage of medicare premiums and
cost-sharing payments for low-income seniors con-
sistent with the unanimous National Governors’
Association medicaid policy.
SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AND FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) domestic violence is the leading cause of
physical injury to women; the Department of Justice
•HCON 178 RH
estimates that over one million violent crimes
against women are committed by intimate partners
annually;
(2) domestic violence dramatically affects the
victim’s ability to participate in the workforce; a
University of Minnesota survey reported that one-
quarter of battered women surveyed had lost a job
partly because of being abused and that over half of
these women had been harassed by their abuser at
work;
(3) domestic violence is often intensified as
women seek to gain economic independence through
attending school or training programs; batterers
have been reported to prevent women from attending
these programs or sabotage their efforts at self-im-
provement;
(4) nationwide surveys of service providers pre-
pared by the Taylor Institute of Chicago, document,
for the first time, the interrelationship between do-
mestic violence and welfare by showing that between
50 percent and 80 percent of AFDC recipients are
current or past victims of domestic violence;
(5) over half of the women surveyed stayed with
their batterers because they lacked the resources to
support themselves and their children; the surveys
•HCON 178 RH
also found that the availability of economic support
is a critical factor in poor women’s ability to leave
abusive situations that threaten them and their chil-
dren; and
(6) proposals to restructure the welfare pro-
grams may impact the availability of the economic
support and the safety net necessary to enable poor
women to flee abuse without risking homelessness
and starvation for their families.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that—
(1) no welfare reform provision shall be enacted
by Congress unless and until Congress considers
whether such welfare reform provisions will exacer-
bate violence against women and their children, fur-
ther endanger women’s lives, make it more difficult
for women to escape domestic violence, or further
punish women victimized by violence; and
(2) any welfare reform measure enacted by
Congress shall require that any welfare-to-work,
education, or job placement programs implemented
by the States will address the impact of domestic vi-
olence on welfare recipients.
•HCON 178 RH
SEC. 12. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPACT OF LEGISLATION
ON CHILDREN.
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that Congress should not adopt or enact any legisla-
tion that will increase the number of children who are
hungry, homeless, poor, or medically uninsured.
(b) LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPACT ON
CHILDREN.—In the event legislation enacted to comply
with this resolution results in an increase in the number
of hungry, homeless, poor, or medically uninsured by the
end of fiscal year 1997, Congress shall revisit the provi-
sions of such legislation which caused such increase and
shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, adopt legislation
which would halt any continuation of such increase.
SEC. 13. SENSE OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ON DEBT
REPAYMENT.
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that—
(1) Congress has a basic moral and ethical re-
sponsibility to future generations to repay the Fed-
eral debt;
(2) Congress should enact a plan that balances
the budget, and then also develops a regimen for
paying off the Federal debt;
(3) after the budget is balanced, a surplus
should be created which can be used to begin paying
off the debt; and
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(4) such a plan should be formulated and im-
plemented so that this generation can save future
generations from the crushing burdens of the Fed-
eral debt.
SEC. 14. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON COMMITMENT TO A BAL-
ANCED BUDGET BY FISCAL YEAR 2002.
It is the sense of Congress that the President and
Congress should continue to adhere to the statutory com-
mitment made by both parties on November 20, 1995, to
enact legislation to achieve a balanced budget not later
than fiscal year 2002 as estimated by the Congressional
Budget Office.