[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H10114-H10115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ACCOUNTABILITY OF CONGRESS

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to go out of order 
and address the House for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania). Is there 
objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) is recognized for 5 mintes.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, indeed, tomorrow this House will hear the 
debate on the budget resolution, and I think the country needs to hear 
the debate. I think the country needs to see that all of us in 
Congress, on both sides of aisle, are accountable. They need to see 
that we are results driven. We are results oriented, and they need to 
see some success from this body.
  Now, our commitment, my commitment is to the hard-working Americans 
who pay taxes in this country. I think we have an obligation to the 
taxpayers of this country to redesign government when necessary, to 
reform programs if they are not working well, and always ensure that 
those Federal programs, those Federal agencies are working at peak 
performance.
  Mr. Speaker, it would not be saying too much to say we need to 
rebuild some confidence in America. If we can cut some red tape then I 
think we should. Where local solutions will work, we need to empower 
local authorities to envision and utilize those solutions. The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services was addressing our committee 
yesterday and talked about preparation for pandemic flu and he was 
challenged and someone said, Mr. Secretary, you need to have a plan. Do 
not let the local people have to come up with a plan. And the Secretary 
does have a plan. But he said, local activities are going to be 
important as well. You do not need the Secretary of HHS telling every 
school district across the country when they can and cannot open their 
doors.
  I could not agree with him more. Mr. Speaker, we need to modernize 
some of our Federal programs, where we are using tin-can telephones 
when the rest of the world is using satellite communications, and it is 
not right. We need to reform government. We need to set priorities. And 
sometimes that means making some tough choices. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, 
we need to learn from the past, learn from the past, whether it be the 
Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, learn from the past of previous wars this 
country has fought; but along those same lines, we need to utilize that 
information from the past to plan for our future.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, 2 weeks ago, my committee, the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, spent 3 days, 3 days on a markup to 
produce a plan, a plan that reforms government and leads to greater 
value for dollars spent, particularly in the Medicaid program. We held 
hearings through the spring and the summer leading up to this 
legislation. We heard testimony from Members; leaders of the National 
Governors Association, a body of 35 bipartisan Governors in this 
country, who came to us with a set of principles and said we had a lot 
of ideas that we put out on the table, but here are seven things that 
everyone of us, 35 out of 35 agreed upon.
  And, Mr. Speaker, we crafted legislation that incorporated at least 
six of those seven principles. We left out some judicial reforms that I 
would have liked to have seen in the bill, but maybe that is for 
another day. But those other reforms were crafted in legislation and 
then we spent 3 days, 3 days on the Committee of Energy and Commerce 
talking about that.
  Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, I think we have crafted a 
legislation that is going to save Medicaid for the poor, the truly 
infirm, the people that really need it in this country. The default 
position was to see more and more people turned off the Medicaid roles 
by the States as they could know longer afford to keep up with the 
expenditures in Medicaid. So we are

[[Page H10115]]

going to provide more services. And maybe we are going to deliver a 
little greater value. And, Mr. Speaker, if that means that a few 
dollars are saved in the process, well, I am all for that.
  But consider the numbers involved here. Medicaid, with no reform, is 
going to grow at a rate of 7.3 percent over the next 5 years. With the 
reforms we put in place, Medicaid is going to grow at a rate of 7 
percent over the next 5 years. We are talking about a miniscule amount 
of savings by adding some value to the program as it exists today. As a 
consequence, more patients will be served by this program.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I know, because I sat in that markup for 3 days, I 
know right now it is popular to vilify the productive segment of 
American society. I have heard it done from every angle. There is 
angst, genuine angst over reinvesting in the productive segment of 
American society. We hear it all the time, why $55 billion was given to 
people who really do not need it.
  But, Mr. Speaker, those are the taxpayers. Those are the people who 
create the jobs. I know, because I was one three short years ago. That 
38 percent tax rate I paid on my business allowed me to employ 50 
people in my town of Lewisville, Texas. It allowed me to purchase 
equipment for my practice. But what do we hear out of the other side? 
They want that $55 billion back, but that $55 billion that we 
reinvested produced $262 billion for the American Treasury this year in 
additional tax revenue. So they would have to double the tax and double 
it again to even approach the amount of money.
  Well, this is the default position on the other side. This fall is 
not the time for Democrats to roll out positive agenda, said a House 
Democrat aide. That is a shame. We need their ideas. We need their 
enthusiasm. We need their energy. I look forward to this debate 
tomorrow. I think at the end of the day we are going to have a good 
product for the American people.

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