[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H15176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           STRENGTHENING, PRESERVING, AND PROTECTING MEDICARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to continue this dialog and 
discussion that we are having which the American people on Medicare, 
and I need to first begin with the 1995 April 3 trustees' report which 
said at the present financing schedule the Medicare Program is 
sufficient to insure the payment of benefits for only 7 years. It will 
be out of money in--it will be bankrupt in 7 years.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why the Republican Congress has taken the steps 
to preserve, protect, and strengthen Medicare.
  Now we are going this by ourselves. The Democrat Party, the 
President, has done absolutely nothing in this process to strengthen, 
preserve, and protect Medicare, but they are doing all kinds of things 
to scare the American people, saying, ``Cut, cut, Cut.'
  Mr. Speaker, in response to that the chairman of the Republican 
National Committee, Haley Barbour, put out this ad and challenge to the 
Democrats. It said, ``If you can prove that we are cutting Medicare, 
come get a check for $1 million.''
  Now what I would think with over 200 Democrats in the House, that 
they would have been lining up because all we have heard, Mr. Speaker, 
for 6 months is Republicans are cutting Medicare, and yet somehow, when 
there is a million dollars in it, suddenly there is silence, and I have 
never known Democrats to be overwhelmingly statesmanlike, so I assume, 
when it comes time to put money where their mouth is, that they are not 
interested in really participating because, Mr. Speaker, they know that 
the truth is that Medicare spending is going from $$,816 per person to 
$7,100, and with that kind of truth, then they do not want to come get 
their million-dollar check.
  Now the gentleman from Pennsylvania who has just helped keep these 
charts on the floor has also studied this very carefully with me. I 
know he is on top of Medicare, but also on the budget as well.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Congressman Kingston, I appreciate the 
opportunity for you to yield to me. The fact is that Medicare spending 
under the Republican proposal will go from $4,800 a year to at least 
$7,100 a year. This big increase is going to make sure that Medicare is 
going to be there for all seniors. The fact is the proposal also does 
some other important things. The American public should also know, and 
our colleagues, that we are going to reduce the cost of paperwork 
involved with Medicare from 12 percent to like 3 percent or less with 
electronic billing. We also, the medical education, the indirect and 
direct costs, instead of being part of Medicare will have its own 
separate item so that those funds will again go to seniors' health 
care. I think it is also important to note the options they have, the 
Medisave accounts and the managed care. All will make sure that 
Medicare goes up double the rate of inflation.

  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct. Medicare is 
essentially 1964 Blue Cross plan, and I would not want my mama to be 
driving around in a 1964 Ford Falcon. I want her to have all the 
technology, and those options that you are talking about, she wants 
traditional Medicare, she can have it, but if she wants all the other 
options, she can.
  Now you know what is interesting is that we had to have a trustees' 
report on Medicare to tell us it is going bankrupt. As Members of 
Congress, we should have known that already, but there is one thing 
that we do not need the trustees' report on, and that is the fact that 
the U.S. Government is going bankrupt.
  We have a debt right now of $4.9 trillion which we are passing on to 
our children today, just because the Democrats and many others in 
Washington are acting like, well, this does not affect me. In some of 
the major newspapers in the country; I think the Wall Street Journal, 
the Washington Post, Washington Times, maybe the L.A. Times; the CEO's 
of many of the Fortune 500 companies in America took out an ad urging 
Congress, urging the President, to balance the budget within 7 years.
  Now a lot of the colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been 
bad mouthing these people. Let me tell you who they are bad mouthing. I 
heard one of the speakers earlier tonight say how horrible these folks 
were. We are talking IBM, Ford Motor Co., Circuit City, Toys ``R'' Us, 
and, as I sat here and listened to what we used to call parlor pinks--
parlor pinks, as you know, were Socialists. They are not quite 
Communists, but they do not like--they are collectivists. They do not 
like people making a profit--bad mouth all these companies, and these 
are companies that have products in every one of our households around 
America, but, more importantly than that, the jobs.

  Where do these parlor pinks think jobs come from if not employers?
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. If the gentleman would yield, I appreciate, 
Congressman Kingston, your bringing this topic forward because frankly 
most Americans want to see a balanced budget, a balanced budget, and 
these companies, and their executives, and their employees all agree 
that we balance the budget, we are going to be able to reduce the costs 
of car payments, mortgage costs, college expenses, health care costs. 
We have been spending almost the same size as the Defense Department 
just on our Nation's debt, and 25 years or 26 years of overspending 
have gotten us $4.9 trillion in debt.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Well, have you ever thought about this, Mr. Fox? What 
if the children could vote? All we hear from here is oh, the children, 
the children. What if those children who are going to be paying 
$150,000 in interest on the national debt over a 75-year period of time 
on top of their Federal, on top of their State, on top of their local 
taxes, what if those 5 year olds that we are so, that they are 
allegedly so concerned now about out there on the playground, what if 
they could vote?

                              {time}  1930

  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Obviously, they would also want a balanced 
budget.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Obviously they would say, wait a minute, mom and dad. 
You mean to say all of that stuff that you are charging, I have to pay 
for? Maybe we do not need all of those Federal spending programs after 
all. Maybe all those bureaucrats in Washington should go home.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. If the gentleman will continue to yield, the 
fact is that the vote today was very historic. The Clinton budget, 
which would give us nothing but more deficit, more spending, more tax 
increases, which would create less jobs, was in fact defeated 412 to 
zero. Republicans and Democrats together said that was not the answer.

                          ____________________