[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H7695-H7696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MOVING FORWARD ON A POSITIVE AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take my 5 minutes this morning 
to stress again, as I have several times on the floor over the last 
week or so since we came back from our August recess, how important it 
is for us to move forward on a positive agenda that addresses some of 
the major concerns that the American people want us to deal with before 
this Congress adjourns in approximately four weeks.
  I have to say the Democrats are united behind a strong and bold 
agenda which addresses the real challenges that face working families. 
Democrats have been working together over the last year and will be 
over the next few weeks to enact our priorities and deliver a clear 
message to the American people about what we stand for.
  There are two main areas which I think need to be prioritized. One is 
the idea of saving Social Security first, and the other is a Patients' 
Bill of Rights, or HMO reform.
  I am very concerned about what may happen this week with regard to a 
tax bill that is proposed to come out of the Committee on Ways and 
Means this Thursday and that will spend a significant portion of the 
so-called surplus that we allegedly have, but will not address the 
concerns over Social Security.
  In fact, in today's Congress Daily, some of the Republican members of 
the Committee on Ways and Means who were concerned about addressing the 
Social Security issue actually were told that they will have to wait 
until next year to deal with that; we will do the tax bill first and 
worry about Social Security later.
  Well, that is the wrong priority. We should be dedicating every 
penny, every penny of that surplus, towards shoring up the Social 
Security system, rather than providing short-term tax cuts that will 
primarily help the wealthiest Americans.
  President Clinton said at the beginning of this year, and he has 
repeatedly said over and over again, that Democrats want to make sure 
that whatever surplus there is over the next few years is used to 
basically make the Social Security system sound, because we know that 
in another 20 or 30 years there will not be enough money in Social 
Security to pay for current levels of benefits.
  What we also need to point out is that most of the Social Security 
trust that is in surplus right now has been lent, if you will, to the 
Federal Government, and has to be paid back with interest.
  Well, right now if you look at that trust money that has been lent to 
the government and essentially been used, we do not really have a 
surplus in our general revenue funds, because we have to pay back that 
Social Security money that was lent to the government. So I will 
insist, I will insist, and I think that most of my colleagues in the 
Democratic Party will insist, that before any tax cut is given back and 
any money is spent of this so-called surplus, that we make sure there 
is enough money left to pay for Social Security.
  That is not the case right now. There is not enough money in the so-
called ``surplus'' to pay back what is owed to the Social Security 
system, and we should not be passing any tax cut bill or giving out or 
even spending money on new programs or priorities until we make sure 
that that money is available for the Social Security recipients.
  The Republicans are going to try to mask that this week and pretend 
as if there is a surplus out there. There is no surplus when you think 
about the money that has to be paid back to Social Security. Let us not 
pass a tax bill unless we have a guarantee in that tax bill that the 
money will be set aside for Social Security before any more money is 
spent or paid out in tax cuts this year.
  The second issue that I would like to raise, and I think we need to 
address before Congress adjourns in the next four weeks, is HMO reform. 
The Democrats have put forth a Patients' Bill of Rights. The President, 
again, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, emphasized 
that we need to pass HMO reform during this Congress. The Democrats 
have put forth a very good bill called the Patients' Bill of Rights 
that is real HMO or managed care reform. We need to pass this 
legislation before we adjourn.
  Again, the key elements of this bill, I would just like to list some 
of the key elements of the Patients' Bill of Rights: Guaranteed access 
to needed health care specialists, access to emergency room services, 
continuity of care protections, access to timely internal and external 
appeal process, limits on financial incentives to doctors, assuring 
doctors and patients can openly discuss treatment options, and an 
enforcement mechanism that ensures recourse for patients who are maimed 
or die because of health plan actions.
  The main thing we want to do with this Patients' Bill of Rights is we 
want

[[Page H7696]]

the decision of what kind of care you will get, whether you will get an 
operation, whether you will be able to say, stay in the hospital a few 
extra days, have that decision be made by the physician and his 
patient, in consultation with the patient, and not by the insurance 
company.
  Too many people have been denied care under their HMO policies or 
their managed care policies, and that should not be the way it is in 
this country. We have quality health insurance, but people have to be 
able to assure, if they need a particular operation, if they need a 
particular procedure, that they can have it.
  That is what Democrats stand for, and that is what we will be 
fighting for over the next four weeks.

                          ____________________