[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PRINCIPLES FOR BUDGET BALANCING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized 
during morning business for 2 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I must say that I am very pleased today so 
to see that we have worked out the continuing resolution between the 
President and the Republican leadership in Congress, and that Federal 
employees are back to work. I cannot emphasize enough how pleased the 
Federal employees in my district are. Some of them have been calling 
the district office to say that.
  Even more or just as important, though, is the fact that the language 
of this agreement essentially says not only that will we have a 
balanced budget, but that the priorities which I have been talking 
about, which President Clinton, the Democratic leadership have been 
talking about, which are to preserve Medicare, to make sure that 
Medicaid is adequately funded, to make sure that this budget provides 
ample funding for education and also for the environment, that those 
are included in the language of the continuing resolution.
  So I hope that with these principles that are so important to 
President Clinton, so important to Democrats and important, I believe, 
to the American people, that those principles will guide the 
negotiations over the larger budget agreement that must be reached over 
the next few weeks.
  Let me tell you why I think that these principles are important. I 
have said it over and over again on the floor, but I am going to say it 
again today. When we talk about Medicare and Medicaid, the Republican 
budget essentially says that those programs are going to be cut by a 
significant amount of money, 270 million for Medicare, 170 million for 
Medicaid, in order to pay for a tax break, mostly for wealthy 
Americans.
  What I hope is that this budget agreement will put more money back in 
Medicare and Medicaid, retain the entitlement status particularly for 
Medicaid, so that those who have low incomes and are on Medicaid now, 
get their health insurance through the Government, will continue to be 
entitled to health insurance.
  What we can do is reduce those tax breaks or eliminate those tax 
breaks for the wealthy in order to make sure that these programs 
continue the way they have.

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