Date: 2012-12-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Lets talk a little bit about what this Republican package will and will not do with respect to health issues. First of all. while their bill would replace much of the sequester. they leave in place the 2 percent acrosstheboard Medicare cut. Let me say that again. Despite all the talk were hearing today on the floor about their efforts to replace these acrosstheboard cuts. they leave them in place for Medicare. which will hit providers and have an impact on the Medicare system. Second. with respect to childrens health. they cut about $20 billion from Medicaid and the Childrens Health program over the next 10 years. even though those programs are protected from the sequester. So if we were to go over the fiscal cliffwhich apparently is the way our Republican colleagues want to take us right now because were not down talking with the President but were here on the floor. If we go over the fiscal cliff. those childrens health care is protected. But if we adopt the Republican proposal. those children will actually see less health security. In fact. according to the Congressional Budget Office. in 2015. there will be 300.000 children who no longer have coverage under the Childrens Health Insurance Program. Thats what theyre proposing here. even as their tax Plan B provides millionaires with an average tax break of $50.000 compared to the Senate plan. and even though their tax plan. while providing millionaires that average rate compared to the Senate plan. is going to increase the tax burden on 25 million families. So an average tax cut for millionaires of $50.000 compared to the Senate plan. and at the same time a sequester proposal that would result in 300.000 kids in the year 2015 losing their Childrens Health Insurance coverage. according to the Congressional Budget Office. There you have. Mr. Speaker. the priorities in the Republican plan. Thats not balance. Look. the reason were here is because our Republican colleagues refuse to compromise. They bring this bill to the floor in the name of a productive contribution to compromise when this virtually identical bill did not get a single Democratic vote last springnot one. And thats compromise? The Senate has already said its not going to take up this bill. That old bill has been sitting over there. and the President has said he would veto it. We are wasting the peoples time. Mr. Speaker. Its time for the Speaker of this House to negotiate with the President. Now. we know what the problem is. Theres this book. Mr. Speaker. which is very aptly titled. "Its Even Worse Than It Looks." This book was written by two scholars of the Congress. one person in a Democraticleaning think tank and the other in a Republicanleaning think tank. Heres what they say. and they say it with great regret. They say: The problem is that in the House today. we have a Republican Party thats become an insurgent outlier. ideologically extreme. contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime. and scornful of compromise. Thats from two independent. nonpartisan scholars. And. Mr. Speaker. thats exactly the problem weve got here today. Its time for the Speaker to actually follow the good counsel of many members of his caucus. Either take up the Senate bill and pass it. or lets get serious and negotiate with the President. whos put forward a balanced plan. a plan. as many of my colleagues have said. that a lot of Democrats dont like. In fact. there are going to be Democrats who dont vote for even the proposals the Presidents put forward already. Many are still reserving judgment. Thats the test of compromise. not a bill that comes to the floor thats never had a single Democratic vote. Thats not compromise. The American people want us to work together. Lets stop playing these political games. Mr. Speaker. Lets not bring to the floor of the House bills that have never gotten a Democratic vote before. and which the President has already indicated he will veto because they fail the important test of balance. I reserve the balance of my time.