[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  2000
 
  CRITICS WERE WRONG ABOUT THE BUDGET, AND THEY'RE WRONG ABOUT HEALTH 
                                  CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, we are hearing a lot of doom and gloom 
predictions from Republicans these days about the President's health 
care plan.
  But if you think their words sound familiar, if you feel like you 
have heard them all before, well, you are right, we have heard them all 
before.
  In fact, we heard many of the same doom and gloom predictions from 
Republicans last year during the debate over the President's budget 
plan.
  Then, like now, they are saying that the President's ideas will make 
the sky fall, will bring swarms of locusts, and will make the seas 
boil.
  In the words of that great statesman Yogi Berra: ``it's like deja vu 
all over again.''
  Before we take their criticism to heart, I think we should check the 
record, and see how accurate their predictions turned out to be last 
year.
  Let us recall some of the words we heard from Republicans during last 
year's budget debate.
  One Republican told us that the President's budget would lead to, and 
I quote, ``a job-killing recession.''
  Another told us that the budget was, ``Clearly * * * a job-killer in 
the short run * * * and that the impact on job creation would be 
devastating.''
  Another said that the budget would mean, and I quote again, ``a 
higher national debt, deficits running $350 billion a year, more 
unemployment, higher interest rates, and higher inflation.''
  Speaker after Republican speaker repeated the same exact line.
  And one gentleman even said to those of us who voted for the plan, 
``This is now your package. We will come back here next year and try to 
help you when this puts the economy in the gutter.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, guess what: Next year is here.
  The budget has had time to take effect.
  And each and every one of their predictions has fallen flat on its 
face.
  The truth is that today, interest rates are down and homes sales are 
up.
  Inflation is down and auto sales are up.
  Unemployment is down and incomes are up.
  And all told, our economy has created more jobs in the past year 
alone than in the 4 years of President Bush combined.
  Last summer, the so-called experts were predicting that if we passed 
the President's budget, this year's deficit would be $300 billion.
  Well, the experts were wrong.
  Because we passed the plan, this year's deficit is projected to be 
under $180 billion--a 40-percent drop.
  And if we stick with this plan, we will post 3 consecutive years of 
declining deficits for the first time since Harry Truman lived in the 
White House.
  That's a good start, Mr. Speaker, and more needs to be done. Much 
more needs to be done.
  But it just goes to show that when you make tough choices, you get 
results.
  So when you check the record--it shows that our friends on the other 
side of the aisle were 100 percent wrong about the President's budget 
last year.
  But now that they lost that battle, they're up to their old tricks 
again * * * and they are bringing the same old scare tactics to the 
health care debate.
  Now, they are telling us that guaranteed health insurance is quote, 
``socialism, now or later'' and a ``dictatorship in health care.''
  They are telling us, and I quote, ``President Clinton wants to 
deliver a monstrous, government-run, bureaucratic nightmare that is not 
reform.''
  And in response to the President's State of the Union message last 
month, the Republicans said that the President's health plan would 
``put a mountain of bureaucrats between you and your doctor.''
  Once again, the President is trying to bring positive change to 
America. And once again, our friends on the other side of the aisle are 
using the same old cliches, scare tactics, and tired rhetoric.
  Well, we have a saying for this kind of thing in America: Fool me 
once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
  The American people are not going to be fooled again.
  The Republicans were wrong about the budget then, and they are wrong 
about the health care plan now.
  They did not get it then, and they don't get it now.
  Well, the American people get it.
  They want a health system that covers everyone, and provides all 
Americans with health insurance that can never be taken away.
  They want a health care system controlled by people who care about 
our health, not just our wallets.
  They want a system that protects and expands Medicare, and lets 
people choose their own doctors and health plan.
  And want a health care system that everyone can depend on. Every day. 
Always.
  After 50 years of starts and stops, that's the plan President Clinton 
has proposed for America.
  And I think it is high time that Republicans stop trying to scare the 
American people, and start working with the President to fix our health 
care system, and provide health security for all Americans.

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