[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 167 (Wednesday, December 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S14200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DEFICIT REDUCTION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, like everyone else in America, we need to 
tighten our belts and learn how to do more with less. For the first 
time in over 8 years in the Senate, we will reduce spending in an area 
of the budget known as entitlement spending--for the first time in 8 
years.
  As we all know, entitlement spending represents over 54 percent of 
total Federal spending today. It is going to continue to grow steadily 
in the years ahead.
  The infrequency with which this body addresses entitlement 
legislation underscores the importance of the bill we are about to vote 
upon.
  For the first time since 1997, this body, the Senate, is taking 
action to reduce or slow that growth in Federal entitlement spending. 
The legislation before us today will reduce spending nearly $40 billion 
over the next 5 years. If you extrapolate that out to 10 years, it is 
about $100 billion.
  For some, particularly on the other side of the aisle, this 
legislation--and I want to put that in quotation marks--``cuts too 
much.''
  Let me respond by saying entitlement spending is projected to grow 
from $1.3 trillion to over $1.7 trillion in 2010--$1.3 trillion to over 
$1.7 trillion over the next 5 years. If you add that up, over the next 
5 years, the cumulative entitlement spending will top $7.8 trillion.
  The bill we have before us reduces that figure, the $7.8 trillion, by 
a total amount of $40 billion. That is about a half of 1 percent.
  ``Cuts too much?''
  Furthermore, the bill doesn't--that is why I put it in quotation 
marks--cut entitlement spending, spending which, if we don't pass this 
bill, will grow at 5.4 percent. Once we pass this bill, it will be 
slowed to 5.4 percent. That is not a cut. The legislation, as tough as 
it has been to negotiate--and much of it has played out on the floor of 
Senate itself--reflects tremendous work over the past several months. 
It is a small downpayment against greater challenges that confront our 
country in the years ahead.
  Last week, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report entitled 
``The Long-Term Budget Outlook.'' Let me read the very first line of 
that report.

       As health care costs continue to grow faster than the 
     economy and the babyboom generation nears entitlement for 
     Social Security and Medicare, the United States faces 
     inevitable decisions about the fundamentals of its spending 
     policies and its means of financing those policies.

  What it boils down to is the entitlement spending path we are on is 
simply not sustainable. The legislation we are about to vote on is a 
good first step on putting us back on a sustainable glidepath. But it 
is only the first step.
  I am proud of the work on this bill to control Federal spending. I 
congratulate the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator 
Gregg, who worked nearly 9 months ago on passage of the budget 
resolution. The 2006 budget resolution that put in motion this process 
has brought us to this point of deficit reduction in this 
reconciliation bill today. Indeed, this final conference bill exceeds 
the goals set out last spring in that resolution by nearly $6 billion.
  I also thank the chairmen of the reconciliation committees and the 
many staff who have worked so hard in putting this bill together.
  It is time we bring this year's budget process to an end with passage 
of this legislation today. With the New Year only a couple of weeks 
away, it is time for us to prepare and actually renew our focus on the 
continued challenges that lie ahead.
  The bill shows fiscal restraint. It shows we are going to cut 
wasteful Washington spending. A ``yes'' vote demonstrates we are 
governing with meaningful solutions to ensure America's long-term 
prosperity.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic leader.

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