[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 172 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16570-S16571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE 1994 ELECTION MANDATE

  Mr. INHOFE. I thank the Senator. I was listening, and I think I can 
pretty well summarize why my colleagues are distressed about the 
demagoging going on in the reconciliation legislation.
  We have to remind the American people that there was a mandate that 
went with the 1994 elections: Less Government involvement in our lives, 
balanced budgets, and to do something about the tax increase of 1993. 
In other words, let us offer tax relief and welfare reform and Medicare 
reform. That is exactly what we have in our reconciliation effort.
  I really think that those who are trying to stop these major changes 
and the revolution from taking place are underestimating the 
intelligence of the American people. I would like to read a couple 
paragraphs of something that appeared just the other day. This was the 
day of the vote in the U.S. Senate of this reconciliation bill. This is 
a quote: ``I have been in this field all my adult life, almost 60 years 
now, and I have never seen a change of this magnitude.'' This is 
Richard Nathan, provost of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs. 
He said: ``This is bigger than Lyndon Johnson's Great Society because 
it is going to profoundly affect the American federalism and social 
policy.'' And then Jim Richley, a political scientist from Georgetown 
University, said, ``Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted 
before.''
  I think that it is necessary to talk about the magnitude of what we 
are doing here. This is something we have 

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been talking about all these years. This is something that we talked 
about during the campaign of 1994. And this is something that the 
President is trying to reject. He has come out and said he is going to 
veto this. It is very difficult for us to understand how he can talk 
about vetoing it when these are things he has talked about, when he ran 
for President of the United States on this very platform--welfare 
reform, reducing taxes, Medicare reform, balancing the budget. That is 
exactly what we are trying to do. I want to stick with this and not 
give in.
  There is an interesting statement that was made just the other day by 
the President. I will quote that statement. I think this gets to the 
crux of where we are in this debate. He said: ``Probably, there are 
people in this room still mad at me for the budget because you think I 
raised your taxes too much. It might surprise you to know that I think 
we raised them too much, too.''
  This is exactly what we have been saying. If you were not for the 
largest single tax increase in the world--and that is not conservative 
Republican Jim Inhofe talking, that is the chairman of the Senate 
Finance Committee when this was passed--if you were not for that 
largest tax increase that now even Bill Clinton says he was not for, 
and that was his tax increase, then you ought to support repealing part 
of that tax increase. That is exactly what we are doing with some of 
the tax cuts that we are suggesting, Mr. President.
  I think that when you talk about the cuts, it is interesting that we 
have a President now who is saying over and over again that the 
Republicans are trying to cut Medicare and Medicaid.
  I will read you another quote, and this came from the President in a 
speech to the AARP on the October 5, 1993, just 2 years ago: ``Today, 
Medicaid and Medicare are going up three times the rate of inflation. 
We propose to let it go up two times the rate of inflation. That is not 
a Medicare or Medicaid cut. So when you hear all this business about 
`cuts,' let me caution you that that is not what is going on.''
  So there is the President saying--very accurately, I might add--back 
in 1993, that we are talking about slowing down the growth in the areas 
of Medicare and Medicaid because if we do not do it, the system is 
going to go into bankruptcy. He is turning around now and saying that 
which we want to do on the Republican side is cutting Medicare and 
Medicaid when, in fact, it is not.
  So it is a very difficult thing when you are dealing with these 
moving targets, and you have a President that says one thing one day, 
has his polls around the White House, and he says something different 
the next day. That is very discouraging.

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