[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H590-H591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   BUDGET PRIORITIES AND MORAL VALUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, last week President Bush delivered to 
Congress his proposed Federal budget. In the coming months, Democrats 
and Republicans in Congress will debate budget proposals largely based 
on divergent cardinal moral values.
  We will debate budget cuts that represent more than just program 
scale-backs. The President's proposed cuts to vital government programs 
are reflective of differences in core philosophies on the role of our 
government in serving our people.
  Budgets are moral documents that reveal the fundamental priorities of 
a person, of a household, of a business, of a government. The 
President's ``every man for himself budget'' disregards millions of 
Americans and undercuts our Nation's values. There is no better example 
of where Democrat and Republican values diverge than in Medicaid.
  The President claims he only wants to cut programs that are not 
getting results or that duplicate current efforts or that do not 
fulfill essential priorities.
  Democrats could not agree more on the need for efficient government. 
That is how we balanced the budget in the 1990s. So we asked then, 
which of those three, Mr. President, is Medicaid?
  There is no question it is getting results. It operates at a lower 
cost than private health insurance. The fact is, private health 
insurance has grown historically at 12.6 percent a year. Medicare has 
grown at 7.1 percent a year. Medicaid has grown at 4.5 percent a year.
  The public sector does it more efficiently and delivers to more 
people fairly than does private insurance. And there is no duplication 
here. It is the only program of its kind. It fulfills an essential 
priority. Medicaid is the sole source of nursing home care for 5 
million seniors living in poverty.
  The President knows Medicaid is already running on fumes, but he made 
a choice. He chose to give more tax cuts to the most privileged 1 
percent of people in this country instead of providing for subsistence 
care for senior citizens in need, different priorities reflecting a 
different set of moral values.
  Medicaid provides health coverage to 52 million Americans, roughly in 
my State of Ohio 1.7 million people. It is the only source of coverage 
for one out of four children in our Nation, and it provides 70 percent 
of the nursing home funding in most States.
  The Bush proposal cuts $60 billion out of the Medicaid program over 
the next 10 years, again so that the President could deliver to his 
biggest contributors the tax cut for the wealthiest 1 or 2 or 5 
percent. These cuts, in effect, will mean kicking some seniors

[[Page H591]]

out of nursing homes. The President's plan would shift tens of billions 
of costs to States like Ohio already facing severe financial 
shortfalls.
  The President cannot eliminate basic needs by ignoring them. He 
cannot eliminate the need for nursing home care by ignoring it or by 
shifting the responsibility to the States. In the short run, his budget 
cuts will create victims. In the long run, it will force the States to 
spend more. And how will the States cover these costs?
  The States will levy taxes on students through tuition, homeowners 
through higher property taxes, workers through higher income taxes, 
consumers through higher sales tax. That is what is happening in State 
after State, whether it is controlled by Republicans or Democrats, as 
we cut those programs. Nationally, the States pick them up so the 
wealthy get their tax breaks, the wealthiest 1 or 2 or 5 percent, and 
middle-income people get hit hardest by, again, students through higher 
tuition, consumers through sales tax, and property homeowners by the 
property tax, and workers through higher income taxes.
  Medicaid is a partnership between Federal and State governments. 
Cutting the Federal share hurts our families, hurts our communities, 
hurts our schools, hurts our country.
  We can give up many things in the name of shared sacrifice, but 
common sense should not be one of them.
  The President's ``every man for himself budget'' neglects our 
Nation's values, neglects our communities, and betrays our Nation's 
values.

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