[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14854-S14856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SENATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  Ms. COLLINS. For the information of all of our colleagues, I inform 
Senators that we are still working out some last-minute issues that 
will then allow the Senate to move a number of important bills that 
have been cleared on both sides. While we are waiting for these last-
minute glitches to be resolved, I want to take this opportunity to 
respond to some of the comments made by my colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle this morning.
  I am disappointed in some of the process, and I do not support all of 
the provisions of the omnibus appropriations bill which we will 
consider later this day, but I very much disagree with the assertions 
made by some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle

[[Page S14855]]

that we have not accomplished anything during this Congress. We have, 
in fact, accomplished a great deal of which we can be proud. Rather 
than engaging in harsh partisan rhetoric, we should be coming together 
in these final hours of this session to celebrate what we have done for 
the American people.
  First of all, I think we can take great pride in the accomplishment 
that we will be producing a balanced budget for the first time in 
decades, one which does not raid the Social Security trust fund. This 
is a tremendous accomplishment and it establishes a new milestone in 
fiscal responsibility. It has been the Republican caucus that has held 
firm in their determination to prevent one penny of the Social Security 
trust fund from being diverted to support expensive new unrelated 
Government programs. We have succeeded. We have kept that commitment. 
We have fulfilled our obligation to the senior citizens of this 
country. For the first time in 30 years, the Congress has produced a 
balanced budget which will result in a surplus that does not rely on 
funds from the Social Security trust fund. The raid on the Social 
Security trust fund has been stopped cold.
  I give a great deal of credit to Senator Domenici, to Senator 
Stevens, to Senator Abraham, and to all colleagues in the Republican 
caucus who have united in their determination to secure the Social 
Security trust fund for our seniors and for future generations. That is 
an accomplishment of which we can be proud.
  Second, I am delighted the omnibus appropriations bill includes what 
has been my highest priority in the last few months and that is to 
restore some of the unintended cuts made by the Balanced Budget Act of 
1997 as well as by onerous regulations imposed by the Clinton 
administration that have impaired the ability of our rural hospitals, 
our home health care agencies, and our nursing homes to provide much 
needed quality health care to our Nation's senior citizens.
  The Presiding Officer has been an early supporter of legislation that 
I have introduced to provide financial relief to our distressed home 
health care agencies. America's home health care agencies allow our 
senior citizens and our disabled citizens to receive the health care 
where they want it, in the security and the privacy of their own homes. 
Unfortunately, under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and exacerbated 
by misguided policies of the Clinton administration, America's home 
health agencies have found their ability to provide this care has been 
jeopardized. This care is so important to our Nation's senior citizens, 
particularly those who are living in rural areas of our country where 
access to home health care may spell the difference between staying in 
their own homes and having to travel many miles to receive health care.
  Unfortunately, since cutbacks in home health care have gone into 
effect, there has been a devastating impact on the senior citizens of 
our country. Let me use the example of the State of Maine. As you can 
see, in just a year's time, more than 6,000 Maine senior citizens have 
lost their access to home care. In fact, it is 6,600 Maine seniors who 
have lost their access to home health care. The number of home health 
care visits in Maine has declined by more than 420,000. Reimbursements 
to Maine's home health agencies have declined in a year's time by more 
than $20 million.
  Maine's home health agencies have had a long tradition of providing 
low-cost compassionate care. We are not talking about home health 
agencies that were in any way abusing the system, making too many 
visits, or overbilling Medicare. We are talking about home health 
agencies that were cost effective and efficient, providing quality low-
cost care throughout the State of Maine.
  I have visited with many of these seniors who have lost access to 
home health care. One was a retired priest in my hometown of Caribou, 
ME. He relied on his home health services and has now had to dig deeply 
into his savings to provide for the care out of his own pocket because 
Medicare is no longer providing the services he needs.

  In another case, I visited an elderly couple in rural Maine who were 
able to stay together in their own home rather than go into a nursing 
home because of the valuable services provided by home health care 
nurses. The woman in this case was severely diabetic. She was confined 
to a wheelchair and had a wound that was not healing. It was home 
health care nurses who came three times a week to clean the wound, to 
change the dressing, to take care of her other health care needs. Home 
health care allowed her and her elderly husband to stay together in 
their golden years.
  It is that kind of service which has made such a difference to the 
quality of life of our senior citizens, and it was that kind of service 
which has been so jeopardized by the ill-advised Clinton administration 
regulations and the unintended consequences of the Balanced Budget Act 
of 1997.
  The legislation I introduced was a bipartisan bill. It was 
cosponsored by more than 30 of my colleagues, to reverse these 
unintended consequences. The Balanced Budget Remedies Act that is 
included in the omnibus appropriations bill does not go as far as I 
would like, frankly, but it is a good and necessary first step. I 
commend the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Roth, as well as 
Senator Moynihan, for working with us to come up with legislation that 
we can enact to ensure our senior citizens do not lose access to much 
needed health care.
  That is also a very important bill to our rural hospitals. In our 
hospitals, in States such as Maine, we have been suffering from the 
cutbacks that jeopardize their ability to provide care. These 
hospitals, in most cases, are the only hospital in the community. If 
they are forced to close because of unfair and inadequate 
reimbursements from Medicare, it will devastate the communities. It 
will leave many of our senior citizens and others in the community 
without access to health care at all when they become ill and need 
hospitalization.
  One of the features of the cutbacks in home health care troubles me. 
I wonder what has become of these nearly 7,000 Maine citizens. In some 
cases they have been forced to pay for the care themselves. Many of the 
seniors in Maine simply cannot afford that kind of out-of-pocket 
expense. They are living on Social Security, on limited incomes. They 
already have a very difficult time affording their prescription drugs. 
Some of them have become sicker because they have lost their access to 
home health care and have prematurely been forced into nursing homes or 
have been subject to repeated hospitalization which would have been 
avoided had the home health care services been provided. The irony and 
the wrongheaded effect of this policy is we are probably going to end 
up paying more for the care for these senior citizens who have lost 
access to their home health care because hospitalization and nursing 
home care is so much more expensive than home health care. Surely this 
has been a shortsighted policy.
  I am pleased this legislation is going to take the first steps we 
need to provide much needed financial relief to our Nation's home 
health care agencies, our rural hospitals, and our nursing homes. It is 
going to make a real difference. There is much else that is very 
valuable in this legislation for our Nation's families. Not only our 
senior citizens but our children are going to benefit from this 
legislation.
  When you hear the rhetoric in this Chamber about education, you would 
think that somehow there has been an attempt to slash education 
funding. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the 
Republican Senate increased--increased, Mr. President--education 
spending by $500 million beyond what was requested by President Clinton 
in his budget.
  The increase also represents a substantial hike in spending for 
education programs over last year's spending levels. In fact, the 
legislation we are about to consider increases education spending by $2 
billion over the last fiscal year, and, again, the increase is $500 
million over what the President proposed.
  Clearly, there is a deep and heartfelt commitment in the Senate to 
increase education spending and to recognize its importance to the 
future of this country and to ensuring a bright future for our Nation's 
children. The issue has not been about money. The issue has been who is 
best able to make education decisions. That is the debate we will 
continue next year.

[[Page S14856]]

  To me, the answer is obvious. We do need to increase the Federal 
investment in education, but at the same time we need to empower our 
local school boards, our parents, our teachers, and our principals to 
make the decisions and set the priorities. We need to hold them 
accountable for improved education achievement, but we do not need a 
Washington-knows-best, a one-size-fits-all approach to education 
policy.
  There is other good news in the omnibus appropriations bill, and that 
is good news for students and their families who are pursuing higher 
education. Since I have come to the Senate, one of my highest 
priorities has been to increase Pell grants and student loans so that 
no qualified student faces a financial barrier that makes it impossible 
for him or her to attend college.
  Prior to coming to the Senate, I worked at a small business and 
health college in Bangor, ME, known as Husson College. It was there 
that I first became aware of how critically important Federal financial 
assistance was for students who are attending college.
  Eighty-five percent of the students at Husson College could not 
afford to attend college but for the assistance they were provided from 
student loans and from Pell grants. This assistance was absolutely 
essential in allowing them to attend college. Many of them were first-
generation college students. They were the first people in their 
families to have the opportunity to attend college. They were taking a 
big step they knew would ensure a brighter future for them and more 
opportunities.
  We know the vast majority of new jobs that are being created into the 
next century will require some kind of postsecondary education, either 
attendance at a technical college, a private college, or a university. 
We are going to need more and more skills, more and more education, if 
we are to compete for the jobs of the future. That is why I am so 
delighted the legislation provides a significant increase for Pell 
grants.
  As you can see, the maximum Pell grant will be increased in the 
appropriations bill. Currently, it is $3,125. The President proposed 
$3,250. The appropriations bill passed by the Senate proposed $3,325. 
Those are good steps. They will help make college a little bit more 
affordable for our Nation's young people; indeed, also for older adults 
who are returning to college because they realize they need additional 
skills.
  Once again, it is important we emphasize, the Senate increased 
spending for these essential Pell grants beyond what the President 
recommended. This is a budget of which we can be proud. It does not 
include every provision each of us would like. It reflects hours, 
weeks, and months of work. It reflects compromise. That is what the 
system is all about.
  Each of us would write this bill differently. Each of us wishes the 
process could be cleaner, that we could work to get our legislation 
accomplished earlier, that we had more cooperation with the White House 
in achieving this goal. But the fact is, this legislation will ensure 
brighter futures for the families of America.
  I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight on these 
important issues. The bill, which will be before us later today, is not 
perfect but it is good legislation that deserves the support of all our 
colleagues.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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