[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2005

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, tonight the House leadership is making a 
second attempt at passing its 2005 budget reconciliation bill. This is 
still the wrong bill at the wrong time for America, and I will oppose 
it.
  We have heard a host of arguments from the majority in support of 
this bill, which will cut vital Federal programs by approximately $50 
billion over 5 years. Some have made the case that higher deficits hurt 
our Nation's economy. I agree, but although this bill is titled the 
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, it will do nothing to ease our deficit 
situation.
  H.R. 4241 is part of a larger strategy by the House leadership 
resolution that calls for a total of $106 billion in additional tax 
cuts. This strategy includes $70 billion in reconciled tax cuts and $36 
billion in unreconciled tax cuts. The spending cuts in this bill are 
the initial step. The majority intends to follow tonight's vote with a 
tax cut bill. After the tax cuts are passed and in place, there will no 
funds available to pay for hurricane relief. In the end, the House 
leadership's charade will not reduce the deficit; it will make the 
deficit even larger than it is today.
  In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the land and the 
lives of so many on the gulf coast, many lawmakers said they had a 
newfound understanding of the extent and depth of poverty in America. 
They also said that the photographs from New Orleans, particularly 
those taken at the Superdome and the Convention Center, had 
demonstrated that government does have an important role in lifting 
Americans out of poverty. There seemed to be bipartisan support for 
authentic, meaningful approaches to addressing the plight of poor 
Americans. I would hope that this sentiment still remains. But if it 
does, it is not evident in the majority's reconciliation bill that is 
on the House floor tonight.
  This bill reduces access to health care for the poor. It contains 
$11.9 billion in cuts to Medicaid, including cuts of $8.8 billion that 
are borne by low-income beneficiaries through higher cost-sharing and 
new premiums. It also gives the States the green light to eliminate 
periodic health care examinations and the treatment of conditions 
picked up by those examinations for many of America's neediest 
children. Maryland's Medicaid rolls cover 430,000 children and health 
services for 90,000 of them will be jeopardized by this provision. 
Approximately $2.5 billion of the Medicaid cuts will affect elderly 
Americans, who will lose access to nursing home care through tougher 
restrictions on eligibility.
  This bill reduces access to higher education. It contains $14.3 
billion in reductions to Federal student loan programs over 5 years, by 
increasing the interest rates and imposing a new 1 percent origination 
fee on all loans.
  This bill will hurt many families who rely on child support payments. 
It reduces the Federal match for child support administrative costs 
from 66 percent to 50 percent, eliminating $4.9 billion in help for the 
States to enforce child support orders. The majority, which claims to 
want to help our States, is shifting the cost of enforcement to them. 
It will not save money in the long run, and it will hurt struggling 
single parent families across America.
  As a result of this bill, fewer children in foster care will be 
eligible for payments, and $577 million will be cut from these funds. 
This bill will also limit food stamp eligibility to only those 
households who are receiving cash assistance through TANF, and requires 
that legal permanent residents live here for 7 years, rather than the 
current 5 years, before they can receive food stamps. The result will 
be $844 million less in food stamp assistance to low-income families.
  The legislation before us is also making it harder for some of the 
most disadvantaged Americans, those who receive Supplemental Security 
Income, SSI, to receive assistance. It imposes an extra level of review 
for certain disability determinations and for those who are found 
eligible after lengthy delays, this bill requires that retroactive 
payments are spread out over a longer period of time, for a total 
savings of $732 million.
  So in the name of paying for hurricane relief, we cut funding for the 
programs that would help the neediest Americans, including many of the 
gulf coast citizens who were affected by that disaster.
  At this time of economic uncertainty for our country, the so-called 
Deficit Reduction Act places the burden on the shoulders of the 
American families least able to carry it. It is clear that this 
legislation will make painful cuts, and when combined with the tax 
legislation will increase deficit problems that we face, and so I must 
vote against it.

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