[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 121 (Tuesday, July 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7553-H7554]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               PROTECT, PRESERVE, AND STRENGTHEN MEDICARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Knollenberg] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, July 30 marks the 30-year anniversary 
of Medicare, and while this vital program is only 30 years old, it is 
facing a financial crisis that threatens its longevity and the health 
security of 37 million seniors.
  Just a few months ago, Medicare's Board of Trustees, four of whom are 
members of the Clinton administration, reported that Medicare part A, 
the hospital insurance trust fund, will be bankrupt in 7 years and 
unable to pay the hospital bills of our Nation's seniors.
  The Republican majority in Congress obviously will not allow this to 
happen. We understand the importance of Medicare to retirees and stand 
ready to save this important program from going broke. We have been 
working very diligently to develop a proposal to preserve, protect, and 
strengthen Medicare for current and future retirees, and have already 
laid out six principles that will guide our efforts to reform Medicare.
  Instead of acknowledging the spending crisis in Medicare as indicated 
in the trustees' report, and joining our efforts to save this important 
program, the President and his political allies have attempted to 
distort our principles to reform Medicare by scaring seniors with 
imaginary Medicare cuts. Why? Because they have no plan of their own to 
solve the Medicare crisis.
  House Republicans are not proposing to cut Medicare. Under our plan, 
Medicare spending will increase each year. 

[[Page H 7554]]
In fact, Medicare will still be one of the fastest-growing programs in 
the entire Federal Government, and spending per Medicare beneficiary 
will grow from $4,800 per beneficiary to $6,700 in the year 2002.
  While the lack of leadership and partisan sniping on this crucial 
issue by the President and his allies is bad enough, House Republicans 
have recently discovered a stealth attack by the Clinton administration 
on private pensions. This is another matter.
  Last year, the Department of Labor issued an interpretive bulletin 
that places the $3.5 trillion in private pension assets at risk of 
being channeled into low-return, economically targeted investments, or 
ETI's. ETI's are investments which are chosen for their social 
benefits, rather than the return they generate for pension plan 
participants and beneficiaries.
  These politically targeted investments channel pension funds into 
public housing construction, community development projects, and other 
pork barrel programs that are more risky than traditional pension 
investments. Even the Clinton administration has acknowledged that 
ETI's are, and I quote, ``less liquid, require more expertise to 
evaluate, and require a longer time to generate significant investment 
returns.''
  Nevertheless, the President's Labor Department is actively promoting 
these high-risk investments through a national clearinghouse at a cost 
of $1 million a year to American taxpayers. I guess finding the revenue 
for the President's social agenda is more important to the Department 
of Labor than protecting retirement income for millions of Americans.
  Prior to the issuance of the Department of Labor's interpretive 
bulletin, private pension managers were required to abide by the 
Employment Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, fiduciary 
standards which forced them to focus entirely on the interest of their 
pension beneficiaries when investing pension assets.
  Because of the Labor Department's interpretation of ERISA, pension 
managers can now take into consideration the benefits of an investment 
to third parties.
  The Department of Labor's promotion of ETI's flies in the face of its 
responsibility as the Nation's watchdog and chief enforcer of ERISA.
  Last week, the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities 
approved legislation introduced by Congressman Saxton to stop the 
Clinton pension grab. The Pension Protection Act of 1995 reinforces 
ERISA's fiduciary standards, abolishes the ETI clearinghouse, and 
prohibits the Department of Labor from abdicating its responsibility to 
pensioners by promoting ETI's.
  While the President and our opponents in Congress continue to play 
politics with retirement issues, an interesting question has arisen: 
Who really is on the side of seniors? As House Republicans continue to 
move forward with our proposals to protect, to preserve, and strengthen 
Medicare and stop the attack on private pensions, and also roll back 
the President's tax increases on Social Security, it is becoming clear 
that our opponents' attacks are hollow and nothing more than political 
rhetoric.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe at the end of the day, the American people 
will reward us for our leadership on senior issues and hold our 
opponents accountable for engaging in partisan politics.


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