[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 103 (Thursday, June 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8846-S8847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I wish to continue the discussion begun 
this morning by my fellow freshman Senators on the President's budget 
proposal introduced last week.
  Mr. President, I am pleased to see that President Clinton has joined 
Republicans in at last recognizing the need--the critical need--to 
balance the Federal budget.
  But while the President's new position is a dramatic policy reversal 
from his previously stated view, and his new budget proposal is an 
improvement over his last one which did nothing to reign in the growth 
of government, the President's budget does not go nearly far enough.
  Mr. President, the President's logic that slowing the path of deficit 
reduction would ease the pain on the elderly, on students, on the 
disabled, and the economy just does not hold up. In fact, the reverse 
is true. Delaying balancing the budget is more costly in the long run, 
as we run up more and more debt and higher and higher interest 
payments. And according to CBO, expected reductions in interest rates 
that would result under the Republican balanced budget plan are not 
certain to materialize under the President's plan. This means that 
under the President's plan, home mortgages, business loans, credit card 
interest, and virtually everything that is affected by interest rates 
in this country would be more expensive. And finally, delaying balance 
for 10 years runs the risk that we may never get there if we do not put 
our country on a strict diet of spending discipline beginning now.
  President Clinton has recognized that there must be spending 
restraint on entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, if we 
are to achieve balance, and I commend him for at least talking the talk 
of entitlement reform. But the President's specific proposals are 
troublesome. The Clinton June budget actually spends $1 billion more in 
nondefense discretionary spending than did his February budget. And it 
relies on overly optimistic estimates relating to economic growth and 
the cost of increases in Medicare and Medicaid. These rosy estimates, 
while appearing to be only slightly different from congressional 
estimates in the early years, are greatly magnified over a 10-year 
period. As a result, deficits will be much higher if analyzed using 
Congressional Budget Office figures.
  According to the Congressional Budget Office--who Mr. Clinton once 
exalted and now deplores--Mr. Clinton's latest budget will fall far 
short of its goals, and like the last budget Mr. Clinton sent to 
Capitol Hill, will still leave the Nation in
 debt by as much as $234 billion by the year 2002.

  It is clear to me what the President wants to do. He very much wants 
to balance the budget. He knows that balancing the budget is the right 
thing to do. But he really does not want to make the hard choices that 
must be made if we are going to truly put America back on the road to 
fiscal health.
  The President's budget proposals relating to health care are 
indicative of the President's split-personality budget. He first takes 
a lower baseline for Medicare and Medicaid, which in plain terms means 
how much these programs are projected to cost over the next 10 years. 
This averts some pain by saying, ``It's really not as bad as we 
thought.'' Then the President's budget proposal reduces spending for 
Medicare--only by cutting payments to providers. In effect, the 
President is saying, ``Let's reduce spending for Medicare, but only if 
it doesn't hurt anyone.'' There are no proposed changes for payments to 
beneficiaries or real reform of the system.
  Mr. President, this approach does not make any sense in 1995. We must 
reform Medicare to save Medicare, to improve it, to preserve it. We 
have to change the program so that it is preserved for generations to 
come. We will never ensure long-term solvency of the Medicare program 
by just continuing [[Page S 8847]] to cut payments to health care 
providers. Republicans have instead proposed restructuring the Medicare 
program to save it and improve it. The Republican plan would expand 
choice, for our seniors and our disabled, and would increase market 
efficiencies and reduce waste. The President's plan, on the other hand, 
would only postpone bankruptcy of the Medicare program until 2005.
  Mr. President, while I admire the President's goals, I believe that 
the President's latest budget submission is yet one more case of 
failing to adequately address the crisis at hand and choosing instead 
to respond to critics by producing a budget designed for domestic 
political consumption rather than the welfare of the American people.
  I hope the President will work with the Republicans. We, on our side 
of the aisle, have made some tough choices, and there are more to come. 
But I know the American people are with us, and they will put the 
interests of the country ahead of special interests. They voted for the 
fundamental change that Republicans have proposed and we must honor our 
commitment to the Americans who sent us to Washington last November.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  Mr. WARNER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I wish to commend our distinguished 
colleague. We are indeed fortunate, not only here in the Senate but the 
United States, to have one who made this important career change having 
dedicated his life to saving lives in his career. Now, he brings to the 
institution of the Senate enormous knowledge, not only personal but 
that gained from working with his colleagues in the medical profession 
for these many years, such that we can have the benefit of his wisdom 
and experience as we address the critical issues relating to health 
care. I express my appreciation to the Senator for these remarks this 
morning. They are very timely.


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