Date: 2015-10-28
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

What we must be careful of is that we do not increase any mandatory minimums and some of the penalties that are in place. and we must be careful that we do protect Social Security and Medicare. We will continue to monitor this for a budget that will lift the debt ceiling until 2017 and have this country stand on its feet and pay its bills. Madam Speaker. I thank the gentlelady for yielding and I rise to speak on the rule and the underlying legislation. which is the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1314. the "Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015." The bill before us is not perfectfar from itbut it is a modest and positive step toward preventing Republicans from shutting down the government again and manufacturing crises that only harm our economy. destroy jobs. and weaken our middle class. I have reviewed the agreement carefully and have concluded that on balance the good outweighs the bad for the following reasons: 1. The agreement provides $80 billion of significant sequester relief over the next two years for both defense and nondefense priorities. which is nearly 90 percent of the relief requested by the President in his 2016 budget. 2. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement prevents a roughly 50 percent increase in the Medicare Part B premium in 2016. protecting thousands of seniors in my congressional district. and millions more across the country. from cost increases. 3. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement avoids deep cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) benefits that would occur at the end of next year. 4. Hundreds of thousands of American jobs will be created over the next two years due to the avoidance of manufactured budget crises. 5. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement provides additional resources and the funding stability needed to protect our homeland. counter future threats. and take care of our troops while preventing deep cuts that would result from locking in sequestration. 6. The agreement is paid for in a balanced way that avoids harmful cuts to Medicare or Social Security beneficiaries. and 7. Prevents a catastrophic default and protects the full faith and credit of the United States and by suspending the national debt limit until March 15. 2017. But as with any compromise there are some things in the agreement that I support and some things that I do not. For example. while providing $80 billion in relief over two years. instead of abolishing sequestration. as I would prefer. the agreement retains the sequestration principle and extends its applicability for two additional years. until Of this $80 billion. $50 billion will be available in FY 2016 and $30 billion in FY 2017. to be equally divided and allocated by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees among the various federal agencies and programs. This modest increase in discretionary domestic funding holds open the promise of increased investments in critical areas such as basic research in health and science. education. veterans medical care. and job training. And these investments are desperately needed if we are to position our nation to prevail in an increasingly interconnected economy. Madam Speaker. in the absence of this agreement. we would have to rely upon a fullyear continuing resolution which would result in $1 billion less in NIH funding and nearly 1.000 fewer NSF grants than under the Presidents budget. Were we to operate under a continuing resolution through the end of FY 2016. perpupil education funding would fall to the lowest levels since 2000. and Head Start would be flatfunded. which would mean roughly 17.000 fewer children served than in 2014. Madam Speaker. a fullyear CR at sequestration levels would mean $1 billion less than the President requested for veterans medical care relative even though all of us here agree that our veterans deserve more. much more. support than they have received. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement will allow us to provide funding for job training for two million more workers than would be possible if we continued to operate through the end of FY 2016 under a continuing resolution subject to sequestration. Madam Speaker. I strongly support the provision in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement that prevents an increase of nearly 50 percent in the Medicare Part B premium for 2016 and 2017 by spreading out the cost of replenishing the Medicare Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund over a number of years. Without Congressional action. the monthly 2015 Part B premium of $104.90 would increase by $54.40 in 2016 to $159.30 for beneficiaries not held harmless (i.e.. those who did not receive an increase in their Social Security benefits). The Bipartisan Budget Agreement maintains the hold harmless provision in current law and prevents a dramatic premium increase on beneficiaries not held harmless by setting a new 2016 basic Part B premium for the beneficiaries not held harmless at $120. which is the amount the Part B premium would otherwise be for all beneficiaries in 2016 if the hold harmless provision in current law did not apply. To replenish the Medicare Trust Fund. in 2016 there would be a loan of general revenue from the Federal Treasury. which will be repaid beginning in 2016 by an additional $3 surcharge in the monthly Part B premium of beneficiaries not subject to the hold harmless. Madam Speaker. it is worth noting that a functioning. effective federal government is critical to people with disabilities who disproportionately rely on government services to live. learn and work in their communities. That is why I also strongly support the provision in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement that avoids deep cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance. Specifically. the agreement ensures that the Social Security Disability Insurance program will continue to provide the full benefits that workers have earned. preventing a 20 percent cut that would have been applied to workers and their families at the end of 2016. Madam Speaker. another reason I support the Bipartisan Budget Agreement is that it eliminates the temptation of House Republicans to once again resort to the brinksmanship politics of defaulting on the national debt. The full faith and credit of the United States is too valuable a national asset to be trifled with. as Alexander Hamilton. the nations first and greatest Treasury Secretary. understood. In 1789. in the dawn of the nations birth. Hamilton recognized and acted upon the belief that the path to American prosperity and greatness lay in its creditworthiness which provided the affordable access to capital needed to fund internal improvements and economic growth. According to Hamilton. the nations creditworthiness was one of its most important national assets and "the proper funding of the present debt. will render it a national blessing." But to maintain this blessing. or to "render public credit immortal." Hamilton warned that it was necessary that "the creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment." In other words. to retain and enjoy the prosperity that flows from good credit. it is necessary for a nation to pay its bills. Defaulting on the national debt would vitiate the full faith and credit of the United States. cost American jobs. hurt businesses of all sizes. and do irreparable damage to the economy. On the other hand. suspending the national debt until March 15. 2017. is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to create 340.000 additional American jobs in 2016 alone and more than 500.000 jobyears in Additionally. the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors forecasts that the indirect effect of increased certainty and confidence could further boost job creation and economic growth above these estimates. What is more. increased longterm growth and rising middleclass incomes can be expected to result from the greater investments in human capital and infrastructure made possible by the Bipartisan Budget Agreement. Madam Speaker. perhaps the most immediate benefit of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement is that it paves the way for the House and Senate to reach agreement on the FY2016 spending bills needed to keep the federal government open and avoid another disastrous shutdown like the one House Republicans inflicted on the nation in October That shutdown lasted 16 days. cost the economy $24 billion. and inflicted untold harm on federal employees and the people they serve. Madam Speaker. the past several years have been an extraordinary time in America. We have seen the Legislative and Executive Branches of our government and the constitutional balance that the framers of the Constitution intended regarding matters related to public purse tested. It is extraordinary when a matter that should be dealt with in the regular order of the business of the House and Senate becomes a matter so grave that a broad and diverse coalition call on Members of this body to do what we were elected to do: manage the business of the people through cooperation and compromise. That is why we have heard from a broad and diverse range of American voices. including the AARP. the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. the National Education Association. and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. calling for the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement. By supporting the Bipartisan Budget Agreement we can show the American people that we understand that we were sent here to address their problems and concerns by working together to reach agreement that responsibly makes the investments needed to keep our nation competitive in a global economy and enables all of our people to reach their potential and realize their dreams.