Date: 2012-02-02
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I think we have had a good debate. There have been a couple of themes. One is that this bill in and of itself. I think everyone acknowledges. wont save the taxpayer one penny. It doesnt do that. In order to save the taxpayer money and reduce the deficit. we have to make the tough decisions that Mr. HOYER and Mr. RYAN mentioned. There are obviously disagreements as to how we go about doing that. Weve talked about the importance of trying to make sure that as we go forward we have a budget that reflects the values and the priorities of the American people. and one where we are covering our costs. That means paying our bills. A lot of us believe that in order to do that weve got to get rid of some of the tax breaks for the folks at the very top. that we need to close a lot of the special interest loopholes. That is a very important debate. The question here is just how we put together an accurate reflection for the American people about our best guess of what I think should be a budget that shows what their taxpayer dollars will purchase in terms of goods and services. It is a question of measurement. How do you measure what youre going to be able to buy for the American people or buy for our veterans 10 years from now? When you put $61 billion in the budget today. which is what we pay for veterans health issues and for other veterans programs in the discretionary budgetand as Mr. HOYER says. lets pretend were going to put $61 billion in for that program 10 years from nowthat is a cut when you take into account inflation and what we know about the increases. In fact. Mr. CULBERSON. from the Appropriations Committee. was here on the floor. and hes absolutely right. He says you can be sure that the appropriators are going to build in inflation. Were going to make sure we take care of that. In fact. were going to do a little more than that because medical inflation runs higher. If were trying to give an accurate measure to the American people about what the budget is going to look like every 10 years. why would we put a number a member of the Appropriations Committee said is not going to be realistic and that we know. as we gather here. is not realistic? If we are going to be serious about budgeting. we need to have the best and most accurate sense of what taxpayer dollars are going to buy in terms of goods and services. What this does. as Mr. HOYER says. is to play lets pretend. Lets pretend that. for the same nominal amount. youre going to be able to get as much in terms of veterans health care 10 years from now as you are today. If we do that. the real question to ask up front is: What veterans services and benefits are we going to cut? Now. the Appropriations Committee decides each year exactly how much to cut and how much to add. Thats why. at the end of the day. this is all a question of the will of this body to make tough decisions. but lets make tough decisions off an accurate measure of what things will cost both now and in the future. In order to do that. we should maintain the existing practice. which shows us exactly what that is. and not create what I think will be a misleading sense that we can get more for our buck than we really can. With that. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.