[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4114-S4115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CENTRIST COALITION BUDGET PLAN

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join Senators Chafee 
and Breaux and the rest of the Centrist Coalition in announcing this 
bipartisan proposal for a balanced budget. This is a comprehensive plan 
that confronts our budget problems head on. I encourage all of my 
colleagues to take a serious look at it.
  I am particularly pleased that our plan partially corrects the 
inaccuracy of the Consumer Price Index [CPI]. What we propose is to 
reduce the CPI by one-half of a percentage point in 1997 and 1998--and 
by three-tenths of a percentage point thereafter--for purposes of 
computing cost of living adjustments [COLA's] and for indexing the Tax 
Code.
  While the AARP and other seniors groups will shriek and wail to the 
high heavens about this being some backdoor effort to cut Social 
Security benefits, that is not what is driving this issue. What we are 
striving to do is to have a more accurate CPI that reflects the true 
level of inflation.
  Last year, the Senate Finance Committee heard compelling testimony 
from Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and others 
who believe the CPI may be off the mark by as much as two percentage 
points. A commission appointed by the Finance Committee issued an 
interim report which estimates the CPI to be overstated in the range of 
0.7 to 2.0 percentage points.
  The Coalition has selected the figure of 0.5 percentage points--which 
is a conservative estimate of how much the CPI is overstated--precisely 
because we want to avoid any perception that we are being unfair or 
unduly harsh. This modest step achieves $110 billion in savings over 7 
years. This is not a popular proposal, but it is understood by us as a 
critically important component of our plan.
  Before I discuss other elements of our plan, let me join my 
colleagues in underscoring the importance of our product being received 
as a total package. Any balanced budget plan will have elements that we 
do not like. But we will all have to accept some of the undesirable in 
order not to lose all that is so necessary.
  Accordingly, this bipartisan budget plan also includes some very 
appropriate first steps toward slowing the growth of Medicare spending. 
These reforms would achieve $154 billion in savings over 7 years. From 
a long-term perspective, the most important reform is a provision that 
would conform the Medicare eligibility age with the Social Security 
retirement age. By gradually increasing the eligibility age to 67, this 
plan acknowledges that life expectancies are certainly higher now than 
when Medicare was first enacted in 1965.
  We also impose an affluence test on Medicare Part B premiums, 
beginning with individual seniors who have annual incomes exceeding 
$50,000 and couples who have incomes exceeding $75,000. I personally 
believe we should begin this affluence test at much lower 
income thresholds, but I realize that we simply do not have the votes 
to do that at this time.

  The Coalition plan also limits the future growth of Medicaid 
spending, saving $62 billion over 7 years. While our plan does not give 
the States as much flexibility as I would like to give them, I am 
willing to swallow these Medicaid reforms in the context of this 
comprehensive budget package, even though I might not be able to 
support them if they were to be considered separately in isolation from 
the broader package. I am absolutely convinced that the positive 
aspects of the total package are so critically important that they 
overwhelmingly outweigh certain concerns I have about the Medicaid 
provisions.
  On another front, our plan also calls for meaningful welfare reforms, 
including tough work requirements for welfare recipients and a 5-year 
time limit on cash assistance. At the same time, we include additional 
funds for child care assistance--thereby recognizing the importance of 
child care in helping recipients make the transition from welfare to 
self-sufficiency. Overall, these welfare reforms achieve another $45 
billion in savings.
  In the area of taxes, many of us had to bite the bullet--and hard--on 
specific issues in order to reach consensus on the broad package. What 
we have here is a tax package that provides $130 billion in tax cuts. 
On the child tax credits, I have a personal concern about just giving 
away $250 for every child under the age of 17. But in the spirit of 
cooperation and consensus, we were able to address some of my 
objections by offering a real savings incentive if parents contribute 
$500 toward an individual retirement account established in the child's 
name.
  The tax package has something for everyone to like--and to dislike. I 
urge my colleagues to look at this package in its entirety. If we start 
picking it apart, the package will fail and the Coalition that worked 
so hard to bring this all together will collapse. This plan brings us 
to the goal we have all been working so hard to achieve--a balanced 
budget and tax cut package that ends deficit spending by the year 2002.
  Again, I urge all of my colleagues to consider this plan. Those who 
automatically reject the notion of a bipartisan budget will have no 
trouble finding one or two reasons to oppose it. But I am convinced 
that anyone who approaches this plan with an open mind--and a 
recognition that bipartisanship always requires some degree of 
compromise--will conclude that this is an impressive plan. It does not 
rely on gimmickry or smoke and mirrors. Instead, it makes the tough, 
politically unpopular decisions that Republicans and Democrats alike 
have been putting off for too long. It deserves our earnest support.

[[Page S4115]]

  Several Senators addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator yield for an inquiry?
  Mr. BRYAN. I yield for an inquiry, but I do not lose the floor; is 
that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thought it was customary that we went back and forth 
in a manner that is traditional with the Senate. I have seen this occur 
from time to time. All I can ask the Chair is to recognize and view the 
entire Chamber, because the Senator from Alaska had been advised to be 
here at 9:50. The Senator from Alaska was here and was not recognized, 
even though the Senator had been standing up.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is the Chair's understanding of the rules 
of the U.S. Senate, the Chair is to recognize the Member who first 
addresses the Chair. In this case----
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. The Senator from Alaska addressed the Chair in a 
timely manner.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will suspend----
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Well, I am very disappointed. If the Chair----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will suspend, the Chair will 
finish the statement. It is the Chair's understanding of the rules of 
the U.S. Senate the Chair is to recognize the first Member who 
addresses the Chair.
  It was the Chair's opinion, and still is the Chair's opinion, that 
the first Member clearly to address the Chair was the Senator from 
Nevada. The Chair, therefore, recognized the Senator from Nevada.
  Further, it is the understanding of this Chair that there is no rule 
in the U.S. Senate that provides for alternating back and forth. That 
can be accommodated between the Members themselves, but it cannot be 
done by the Chair. The Chair has no authority to do that. The Senator 
from Nevada has the floor.
  Mr. BRYAN. I would like to accommodate----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator will yield.
  Mr. BRYAN. I would like to accommodate. I think the Senator from 
Alaska and I both have had time set aside during the morning business. 
I had time and I know he had time. It is going to require unanimous 
consent that time be extended. I will offer to extend time for him as 
well.

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