[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          AN EMPLOYER MANDATE IS NOT ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. HOBSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, if an employer mandate were enacted, my 
State would lose 45,000 jobs.
  The debate earlier this year over whether or not an employer mandate 
to pay 80 percent of premiums was a tax, clearly highlights the fact 
that an employer mandate has little to do with health care policy. In 
reality, the employer mandate is a product of the difficult economic 
times in which this Congress is operating. What is particularly 
troublesome about this debate is the precedent we may set if an 
employer mandate is enacted.
  As this Congress has finally recognized the implications of huge 
annual budget deficits and the escalating debt, we are forced through 
statutory requirements to pay for any new spending. Of course it is our 
prerogative whether we find new revenue or spending cuts to finance new 
spending. The debate over employer mandates set the stage for a new 
disturbing government burden which should be recognized for what it is. 
The fact is an employer mandate is nothing short of an attempt by some 
in this Congress to finance new entitlements through the pocketbooks of 
America's employers.
  This leads to several disturbing possibilities. First, as is always 
the case with laws enacted by Congress, this will surely be only the 
first of several new employer-financed entitlement programs. Second, by 
financing programs on the backs of America's employers, we will lose 
the limited budget discipline we have developed over the last few 
years. Third, and perhaps most importantly, we should not delude 
ourselves into believing that America's employers are the pot of money 
under the rainbow. The fact is, our employers, unlike this Congress, 
are forced to live and die by the bottom line, and are painfully aware 
of the consequences of spending more than they collect.
  The ironic part of this whole debate is that we can achieve 
successful health care reform without an employer mandate. We should 
focus on those issues where there is broad bipartisan support and enact 
real bipartisan health care reform of which we all can be proud.

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