[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 88 (Thursday, June 27, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H4322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REVISIONS TO THE 302(a) ALLOCATIONS TO PERMIT THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 
   4954, THE MEDICARE MODERNIZATION AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG ACT OF 2002

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NUSSLE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 202 of H. Con. Res. 353, 
the concurrent resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2003, I am 
submitting revisions to the 302(a) allocations to permit the 
consideration of H.R. 4954, the Medicare Modernization and Prescription 
Drug Act of 2002.
  Under section 231(d) of H. Con. Res. 353 a separate 302(a) allocation 
was established for legislation providing a prescription drug benefit, 
Medicare modernization, and various adjustments for the Medicare 
program. Section 202 of that resolution permits the chairman of the 
Budget Committee to increase this allocation for both budget authority 
and outlays by an amount not to exceed $5 billion in fiscal year 2003 
and $350 billion over 10 years for such legislation.
  H.R. 4954 establishes a prescription drug benefit in Medicare, adjust 
certain payments under Medicare, and modernizes Medicare through a 
Medicare+Choice Competition Program, regulatory reform and a 
prescription drug discount card. As reported by the Committee on Ways 
and Means and modified by H. Res. 465, the bill would provide for the 
Medicare policies delineated in section 202, $4.650 billion in new 
budget authority and $4.575 billion in outlays for fiscal year 2003. 
For the 10-year period of 2003 through 2012, this bill would provide 
$347.270 billion in new budget authority and outlays for such policies.
  Accordingly, I am revising the 302(a) allocation for Medicare 
policies for fiscal year 2003 by $4.650 billion in new budget authority 
and $4.575 billion in outlays and, for the period of fiscal years 2003 
through 2012, by $347.270 billion in new budget authority and outlays.
  Pursuant to section 202 of H. Con. Res. 353, the concurrent 
resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2003, I have adjusted the 
302(a) allocation of new budget authority for Medicare (as printed in 
the Congressional Record on May 22, 2002) by $4.650 billion in 
additional budget authority for fiscal year 2003 and by $347.270 
billion in additional budget authority for the period of 2003 through 
2012.
  Under the special rule set forth in section 231(d) of H. Con. Res. 
353, the applicable allocation for H.R. 4954 is the 302(a) allocation 
for Medicare for fiscal year 2003 and for the period of fiscal years 
2003 through 2012 that was printed in the Congressional Record on May 
22, 2002.
  As reported by the Committee on Ways and Means and modified by H. 
Res. 465, the bill provides $4.650 billion in new budget authority in 
fiscal year 2003 and $347.270 billion for the period of 2003 through 
2012 for the purposes specified in section 202 of H. Con. Res. 353. 
Hence, the amount of new budget authority related to the Medicare 
policies set forth in section 202 is equal to the adjusted 302(a) 
allocation for the applicable periods.
  If no further adjustments are made to this allocation, any amendment 
that would provide any additional new budget authority for Medicare, 
relative to the bill as amended by the rule, in fiscal year 2003 or for 
the period of fiscal years 2003 through 2012 would exceed the 302(a) 
allocation in violation of section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974.
  Section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act prohibits the 
consideration of amendments that, if enacted, would exceed the 
appropriate allocation of budget authority made pursuant to section 
302(a) for the first year and the total of all fiscal years covered by 
the applicable budget resolution.
  In addition, the bill provides $0.380 billion in new budget authority 
in fiscal year 2003 and $1.380 billion over the period of fiscal years 
2003 through 2007 that is unrelated to the Medicare policies delineated 
in section 202. Such spending is therefore subject to the general 
purpose allocation of the Committee on Ways and Means. Any amendment 
making changes unrelated to the Medicare policies delineated in section 
202 that provides in excess of $1.823 billion in new budget authority 
in fiscal year 2003 or $6.475 billion for the period of fiscal years 
2003 through 2007 would also exceed the appropriate 302(a) allocation 
in violation of Section 302(f).
  This statement is issued in accordance with section 312(a) of the 
Congressional Budget Act.

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