[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7738-S7739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPLANATION OF SELECTED VOTES ON SPENDING PORTION OF THE BALANCED 
                               BUDGET ACT

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, recently, the Senate considered 
historic changes to preserve Medicare for future generations. I think 
it is important to outline my views in detail on a few of the key votes 
cast regarding these issues.
  I voted to table an amendment by Senator Mikulski to reinstate the 
Boren amendment. In negotiating with the White House on this balanced 
budget agreement, we all agreed that the best way to reform Medicaid is 
to allow Governors the maximum flexibility to design programs that meet 
the unique needs of their States. The biggest barrier to this 
flexibility, according to the bipartisan National Governors 
Association, is the Boren amendment. The Boren amendment has allowed 
the court system to set reimbursement rates, and these rates have been 
inflated much higher than what the market would determine. These higher 
rates have cost the States millions of dollars a year and have 
inhibited the ability of States to implement real program reforms. For 
this reason, I supported the bipartisan budget agreement and the 
decision to revoke the Boren amendment.
  I voted to table an amendment by Senator Kennedy which would require 
specific health benefits for children with special needs. I believe 
that our package went a long way in meeting the important goal of 
providing health benefits to children in need. Mr. Kennedy's amendment, 
however, would take away the flexibility that Governors need to develop 
the best possible plan for their States. Instead, Mr. Kennedy's 
amendment would allow the Federal Government to mandate both what the 
benefits should look like and who should receive them. I believe this 
amendment represents movement in the wrong direction.
  I voted against an amendment offered by Senator Durbin and Senator 
Wellstone which would reinstate food stamp benefits to the children of 
legal immigrants. We have already negotiated certain changes in regard 
to services for legal immigrants in the bipartisan budget agreement. I 
am committed to upholding that agreement and believe that this 
amendment went outside the scope of the agreed to changes.
  Senator D'Amato offered an amendment to take the money saved by 
changing the Medicare and Medicaid Program and direct it to National 
Institutes of Health to provide medical research. While I 
wholeheartedly support increased funding for NIH, I do not believe this 
is an appropriate funding avenue and therefore opposed it. In fact, I 
believe that money saved through changes to Medicare should go toward 
maintaining the long-term solvency of the Medicare Program.
  I voted against an amendment offered by Senator Dodd which would add 
$100 million to provide health care to children who are severely 
disabled. While I believe this is an important goal, I maintain, and 
received assurances to that end, that the health needs of severely 
disabled children would be met through the additional $24 billion we 
will be spending on our children's health package already incorporated 
in this bill.

[[Page S7739]]

  I supported Senator Levin's amendment which would allow vocational 
education training to count toward meeting the work requirement under 
the welfare reform law. The current welfare law limits the amount of 
time an individual can be on vocational education to 12 months. This 
amendment will increase that limit to 24 months. I believe this change 
will allow individuals the time necessary to engage in training 
programs to provide real work opportunities once they leave the welfare 
system.
  I opposed an amendment offered by Senator Specter which would have 
provided $1.5 billion over 5 years to pay the Medicare premium for low-
income seniors. I voted against this amendment because the budget 
reconciliation package provides $1.5 billion in new funds to assist 
Medicare beneficiaries between 120 and 150 percent of the poverty line 
with their Medicare premium. I believe the legislation already 
addresses this important need.
  Finally, I voted in favor of waiving the Budget Act to include the 
Medicare Choice program as part of the budget reconciliation bill. I 
believe that this is one of the most important provisions of the 
Medicare bill. Our legislation will allow seniors a wide array of 
choices in care. Seniors will be able to choose from a variety of 
insurance plans including medical savings accounts [MSA] and private 
fee-for-service plans. It is critical to keep these provisions in the 
legislation to allow seniors a real choice in care and to protect 
seniors from rationing services in the future.

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