[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 166 (Wednesday, October 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S15612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICARE

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I have a motion here in my hand. It 
is a motion to recommit with instructions. And I would like to say to 
every one of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that the first 
amendment that we deal with today in the U.S. Senate--that we are 
dealing with today, the day that we meant for dealing with amendments 
of absolutely enormous importance to the future of our country--is 
going to be the Medicare amendment.
  I do not care how many meetings are held in the majority leader's 
office, I do not care how many long speeches are given, I do not care 
how many morning businesses are taken, and I do not care even to the 
fact that no Democrat, other than the chairmen of the Budget Committee 
and the Finance Committee, has been able to say a word on this day, the 
day we meant to be devoting an hour to a series of extraordinarily 
important amendments on Medicare, EITC, Medicaid, and other matters, 
this amendment is going to be the first amendment laid down. It will 
recommit the Republican $270 billion cut in Medicare to the Finance 
Committee for further work.
  I just want my colleagues to be fully aware of that fact. That will 
be the first amendment, the Medicare amendment. And it will come 
regardless of what tactics are used or whatever dilatory procedures are 
adopted.

  I will say that the reason we on the Democratic side are laying this 
motion down is that the Republicans are cutting three times as much out 
of Medicare as they need to do in order to make the hospital insurance 
trust fund solvent to the year 2006. There is no need to do $270 
billion of cuts.
  So between the $89 billion that the trustees of the trust fund say is 
needed to make the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund solvent, 
which is what all the rhetoric is around here, to make the thing 
solvent--they all say, the trustees, that is, $89 billion--and the 
majority party taking $270 billion out of Medicare to do the work for 
which only $89 billion is required, therefore, there is a gap of $181 
billion, to which I would think an ordinary inquiring citizen would 
say: What is this $181 billion for if all we need is $89 billion to 
make the Medicare trust fund solvent? And the answer, of course, is oft 
proclaimed, oft denied on the other side but a matter of irrefutable 
fact, and that is that it is going to be used to give in part an 
enormous tax break to families and institutions of wealth, and that 
emanates from the fact that this was part of the contract. It had its 
genesis when Newt Gingrich on a sunny day went with a band of very 
committed, newly elected House Members and in front of all kinds of 
American flags pronounced the 10 commandments, of which the greatest 
was a tax cut, the crown jewel was a tax cut.
  That having been done, obviously no less could be done in this body 
and so the $245 billion, or $225 billion tax cut became the mantra. So 
that tax cut has to be achieved. We do not have that kind of money 
laying around, nor does the average American family, and therefore 
where do we get it? We go to Medicare and to Medicaid, and we cut them 
egregiously in order to do that.
  I have no idea of how I am going to explain the damage done to the 
people of West Virginia, to the seniors of West Virginia, to the health 
institutions of West Virginia, to the veterans of West Virginia by this 
Medicare cut. And I will be talking at length about that at the time we 
actually do lay the amendment down. But the amendment is simply to say 
on our side we will not accept a $270 billion cut when $89 billion will 
do the job, stamped and approved by those whose responsibility it is to 
do the job, the trustees of the hospital insurance trust fund, in order 
to not have to do the $270 billion cut which the majority party is 
doing for the purpose of raising enough money to give a tax cut to 
those who do not need it.
  I find this extraordinary. I find it certainly worth the meager 1 
hour that we are going to be able to have on each side to discuss the 
Medicare amendment. But the Medicare amendment there will be, and it 
will be the first one and it will happen.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  Mr. KENNEDY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, how much time do we have? I see my 
friends from Minnesota and North Dakota. How much time do we have on 
this side under the consent agreement?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There are 9 minutes and 20 seconds.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I will yield myself 3 minutes. I think Senator Mikulski 
wanted time.
  I yield myself 3 minutes, Mr. President.

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