Date: 2014-04-03
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. last night in the House Budget Committee. we had a big debate. and at the end of the debate. we voted on the House Republican budget. During that debate. there was a lot of talk about how we can reduce our longterm deficits. Our Republican colleagues in their budget said they didnt want to close one special interest tax break to help reduce our longterm deficit. They would rather cut the budget that helps provide for our kids education. They wanted to reopen. in their budget. the doughnut hole so seniors with high prescription drug costs will pay $1.200 more per year. So they were willing to do all that. but they wouldnt close a single tax loophole. But they said they cared about reducing the deficit. Now. lo and behold. we have a bill on the floor of the House that. in one fell swoop. if it is voted on. will increase the deficit by $74 billion. Republicans have a rule that they put into the rules of the House that says you cant do that. You shouldnt be increasing the deficit. There should be some offset. You should cut somewhere else. We think you should also be able to cut some tax expenditures for very special interests. But the idea is that we shouldnt be doing things that increase the deficit. But those rules were waived for this. a little special wand in the Rules Committee: we are not going to abide by the rules. and so $79 billion increase to the deficit. Now. here is the really interesting thing. We had a debate last night in the Budget Committee about the Affordable Care Act. We made the point that the Republican claim that their budget is balanced in year 10 is totally inconsistent with the claim that they want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. and here is why: In the Republican budgetand we all hope it will come to the floor next Thursday. In the Republican budget. they get rid of all the benefits for people in the Affordable Care Act. Right? They get rid of the tax credits that help more Americans purchase insurance. They get rid of the provision that says you can keep your child on your insurance policy until age 26. They get rid of that. But you keep very important parts of the Affordable Care Act. You keep all the revenues. $1 trillion in revenues. And you know what else you keep? You keep all the Medicare savings. In fact. you have $2 trillion embedded in the Affordable Care Act in your budget from the Affordable Care Act. Today is the smoking gun. because if you pass this bill. the budget that was claimed to be balanced yesterday in the Budget Committee is no longer in balance. You know why? You claimed that in year 10. under your budget. in year 10. that you would have a surplus of $5 billion. But thats not true. because you cant at the same time claim with a straight face that you are getting rid of the Affordable Care Act because the Affordable Care Act provides. as I said. $2 trillion in your own budget. In that year i0. when you pass this. $9 billion disappears from the Treasury in year 10. So today. by your own accounting. the budget that Republicans claimed to be balanced last night in the Budget Committee today will already be unbalanced. and that is just getting rid of a little piece of the Affordable Care Act. If you get rid of all of it. then you get rid of all the revenues that are in your budget. and you get rid of the savings in your budget. and your budget will not possibly balance. So. Madam Speaker. it is a fraud to claim that the Republican budget balances and. at the same time. for Republicans to say they are in favor of getting rid of all of the Affordable Care Act. Both things cannot be true at the same time. So either Republicans level with the American people that their budget is not in balanceand starting today. it wont be. by their own termsor they acknowledge to the American people that they have gotten rid of all the good stuff in the Affordable Care Act. the stuff that helps people afford health care. but they kept all the savings. So the moment of truth is today. The smoking gun is today. We had this big debate. I hope the Budget Committee members on the Republican side will come down here and fess up.