Date: 2015-04-14
Speaker: TOM PRICE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Our friends on the other side of the aisle seem to be so stuck in their Washington ways that they cant. they just cant see or recognize a positive solution when one is presented. I remind my colleague on the other side of the aisle that we are mired in the worst recovery. economic recovery in the modern erathe worst economic recovery in the modern eraslowest. In fact. there are fewer people working right now. Mr. Speaker. than there were when the recession began. That is what the other side has brought us. They want to double down on these policies. The American people clearly understand that there is a better way. There are positive solutions that we ought to be putting in place. I want to talk specifically about the Medicare proposal because the distortion and mischaracterization of the positive patientcentered solution that we have put forward in the area of Medicare continues over and over and over from our friends on the other side. and it really doesnt contribute to the important work. the important conversation that we must have as a nation. The fact of the matter. Mr. Speaker. is that. as you know and the American people know. the Medicare program is going broke. That is not Representative PRICE saying that. That is not me saying that. That is the Medicare actuaries. the folks who are charged with letting us know. as a nation. how the program is doing from a financial standpoint. What they say is that it is not doing very well. and it is getting worse and worse and worse. In fact. in 2030. the fact of the matter is that the program will not be able to provide the services that have been promised to seniors. So the solution for our friends on the other side is what? Do nothing. Stick your head in the sand. Dont worry about that. Dont pay any attention to that man behind the curtain. Nothing. Under their plan. seniors in this country are destined to inherit. in a very short period of time. a Medicare program that doesnt provide the services promised. I can tell you. Mr. Speaker. that as a formerly practicing physician. folks are concerned. I hear from my medical colleagues dailyliterally. dailythe concerns that they have about our healthcare system. and especially about the Medicare program and about the challenges that exist because of governmental intervention and because of the rules and the regulations that are heaped upon more rules and more regulations to make it more difficult for them to even care for patients. So what do we believe is the appropriate thing to do? We think we ought to save and strengthen and secure Medicare. That is the right solution. So in spite of the mischaracterization of our friends on the other side about the proposal that we put forward. it is. indeed. to save and strengthen and secure Medicare. The fact of the matter is seniors understand and appreciate that. and they desire us. as a body. to come together and solve that challenge. solve that challenge together. So I invite my friends to join us in working together for a positive solution. Further. I do want to thank my colleague for bringing this motion to the floor today because this is an important debate that we are having. The debate is very fundamental. It is about how we are to build a stronger nation. how we are to provide greater opportunity for all Americans. What we believe is that we recognize that the economy is not moving as it should. that wages are stagnant. that the economy is underperforming. At the very least. our friends on the other side ought to admit that we can do better. So it is a bit troubling to see that the policies that they continue to champion look remarkably similar to the sorts of policies that have been tried and. frankly. failed over the past 6 years. While our Nation has piled up trillions of dollars of more debt. our economy hasnt grown as it should. In fact. this has been. as I mentioned. the worst recovery in the modern era. leaving millions of Americans still struggling simply to make ends meet. Our budget is a balanced budget. Mr. Speaker. We adopted a plan that would grow our economy. that would empower individuals. that would empower families and job creators in our local communities. all the while holding Washington accountable and protecting our Nation. Our budget. as you will recall. Mr. Speaker. balances in less than 10 years. and it does so without raising taxes. in contrast to the budget of our friends on the other side of the aisle and the Presidents budget. I might add. that never. ever. ever gets to balance. We reduce spending at the governmental level by $5.5 trillion over a 10year period of time. higher than any previous budget proposal. We call for a fairer and simpler Tax Code to promote job creation and a healthy economy. We repeal ObamaCare in its entirety. all of its taxes and regulations and its mandates so that we can put in place patient -centered health care. putting patients and families and doctors in charge of health care. not Washington. D.C.. expanding the opportunity for access to quality. affordable health coverage. As I mentioned. we have a plan to save and strengthen and secure Medicare and Medicaid. things that are absolutely vital for the American people. and they understand that. Our budget provides for a strong national defense. through robust funding of troop training and equipment and compensation. We promote innovation and flexibility in the area of Medicaid so that we can save that program. provide flexibility in the area of nutrition assistance and education and other programs. Our budget proposes to cut waste and eliminate redundancies and end the practice of Washington picking winners and losers in our economy. all the while calling for reforms to our Nations regulatory system to improve transparency and effectiveness and efficiency and accountability. Mr. Speaker. we have endorsed an optimistic vision. a vision for Americas future by crediblycrediblyaddressing our fiscal and economic challenges so that we can deliver real results for the American people. Since both the House and the Senate have passed our respective budgets. we must now work together to iron out any differences that there may be between the two. and we need to come to an agreement for a unified fiscal year 2016 budget. This conference committee is the next vital step in the days to come. and we will sit down and discuss how to advance these positive solutions in order to secure more economic growth and opportunity. hold Washington accountable. promote patientcentered health care. and ensure a strong national defense. We look forward to working with the Senate and the House Conference Committee and follow that with passage in this Congress of a unified budget to balance the budget in this Nation in less than 10 years. I reserve the balance of my time.