[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 15, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H304-H305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Marchant). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the President gave the annual 
State of the Union speech and also released his budget recently. The 
speech and the budget were short on many important issues that face our 
families and neighbors every day.
  I was glad he talked about supporting our troops; and I agree. 
However, I did not hear a call for creation of additional divisions to 
give our regular military and reserves more time at home between 
deployments. He announced no plans to stop extending the enlistments 
for the young men and women serving our country, some of whom are 
serving their third tours in the Middle East.
  We also need better equipment and training for the people who 
volunteer

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to serve our country. Instead, this budget request maintains and grows 
weapons systems that are no use to our troops on the ground, rather 
than adding the manpower we need for Iraq and Afghanistan, and reduces 
the authorized size of the National Guard by 17,000 soldiers.
  I did not hear a renewed commitment to fully fund our veterans health 
care either. When someone serves and is injured we owe them a debt to 
make sure they receive health care second to none. President Bush's VA 
budget request for 2007 does add nearly $3 billion in real 
appropriations to veterans health care compared to the 2006 budget. 
However, it does so by charging a new annual enrollment fee for VA 
care, nearly doubling drug copayments and driving 1.2 million veterans 
out of the system created specifically for them.
  A chart in the President's budget request anticipates approximately 
1.2 million fewer veterans in Priority Groups 7 and 8 in 2007. These 
groups are forced in this budget request to pay new $250 enrollment 
fees and nearly double in pharmaceutical co-payments. This is not 
looking out for those who have served our country.
  The President touched briefly on health care problems in our country. 
Health care is the number one domestic concern of the American people, 
46 million of whom lack health insurance.
  The administration's solution is expanding health savings accounts, 
HSAs, eliminating State mandates on health insurance policies, and the 
annual call to federalize medical malpractice lawsuits. HSAs have not 
been successful with consumers. An October, 2005, report determined 
that 1 percent of U.S. adults chose HSAs and only one-third of that 1 
percent recommend HSAs to someone else. Another one-third of that 
percent would like to change plans. HSAs only fit a small portion of 
our society and have not helped to ensure our 46 million uninsured 
Americans.
  Even worse, HSAs will draw healthier, higher income employees out of 
health insurance pools, leaving the sicker and lower income folks to 
share the higher risk. The unfortunate result would be increased out-
of-pocket costs for those most in need of affordable health care and a 
weakened employer-based health insurance system.
  To solve our health problems, we need bolder leadership, not plans 
that do not work. Let us expand the State Children's Health Insurance 
Program, the CHIP program, to working parents, allow early retirees 
over 55 to buy into Medicare, and help States with Medicaid costs so 
that they can expand programs for the uninsured.
  Decades ago our country made a decision to use employer-based 
insurance unlike other industrial democracies. We have tried to bridge 
the gap of what employers can provide, but we still have 46 million 
people uninsured. Congress and the administration have a duty to bridge 
that gap for Americans.
  I also did not hear anything in the State of the Union Speech about 
the administration's efforts to secure pensions. Companies are 
eliminating traditional pensions or going into bankruptcy to get out of 
commitments to their employees. At a time when the baby boomer 
generation is reaching retirement age, we cannot depend on Social 
Security, especially with an administration who wants to privatize it.
  The President also did not mention anything on the biggest issues 
facing Americans, increasing disparity in income. Since World War II, 
Americans had a history of creating a great middle income majority. We 
are losing that great middle class as we have more and more 
millionaires but more and more poor people.
  In 2001, the median income in 2004 dollars was $46,058. In January of 
2006, it was $44,389, almost $2,000 less. Median income Americans are 
losing ground while median home prices have increased from $139,700 in 
2001 to 215,900 in 2004.
  Health insurance costs have gone up from a monthly average in 2001 of 
$135 to $222. College tuition for our children has increased, while 
government assistance has remained flat. I could go on and on about 
lower income and high prices, including costs of gas for our cars and 
utilities to heat and cool our homes. We need a concerted effort by 
Congress and the administration to reverse this trend that the rich get 
richer and the poor get poorer.
  Middle income Americans are getting poorer. We have real needs in 
this country, and it is all too clear that the President's State of the 
Union speech and the administration's budget have not addressed the 
concerns of America.

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