[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1083-S1084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CONTINUING RESOLUTION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I wish to start this morning by 
acknowledging the progress that has been made this week. Senator Reid's 
prediction that the Senate will follow the House in approving a $4 
billion cut for the current fiscal year is a small step, but it is 
indeed a step in the right direction. This is a long-awaited 
acknowledgment by Democrats in Congress that we have a spending problem 
around here. It is hard to believe when we are spending $1.6 trillion 
more than we are taking in in a single year that it would take this 
long to cut a penny in spending, but it is progress nonetheless. It was 
also encouraging to hear the White House say yesterday that they would 
be supportive of a 4-week CR with $8 billion in cuts. So it is 
encouraging that the White House and congressional Democrats now agree 
that the status quo won't work and that the bills we pass must include 
spending reductions.
  Beyond that, the GAO report which Senator Coburn requested and which 
we all saw yesterday makes it pretty clear--to me, at least--that there 
are a lot of very obvious targets for additional cuts. I wish to thank 
Senator Coburn for requesting the report, first of all. I don't think 
most Americans are surprised to hear that Washington is wasting so much 
money. I do think some people might be surprised at how rampant it is 
and, frankly, the sheer idiocy--the sheer idiocy--of some of the waste 
we have been tolerating around here.
  I can't imagine anyone in the Senate voting against a bill that would 
return to taxpayers money we are wasting on the bloated and duplicative 
programs outlined in this report, programs which, as ABC put it, are 
chewing up billions of dollars in funding every year. It would be an 
embarrassment and a double indictment of Congress to not act. The 
report is damning, but it comes at a good time. Right when we are 
looking to make cuts on which both parties can agree, we learn that we 
have a roadmap showing more than 100 programs dealing with surface 
transportation issues, 82 programs monitoring teacher quality, 80 
programs for economic development, 47 programs for job training, and 17 
different programs for disaster preparedness. Here is my favorite: 56 
programs to help people understand finances.

[[Page S1084]]

How do you like that? There are 56 programs to help people understand 
finances. If that isn't an emblem of government waste, I don't know 
what is. We are going to be $1.6 trillion in the red this year alone. 
Not only do we think we are in a position to teach other people about 
financial literacy, we have 56 overlapping programs to do it. If we are 
going to create the conditions for private sector job growth in this 
country, this is a good place to start.
  We have to stop spending money we don't have on more government and 
calling that progress. Democrats have tried that. They have borrowed $3 
trillion over the past 2 years to expand the size and scope of 
government. And what has it gotten us? It has gotten us 3 million more 
lost jobs.
  We have made some progress this week--a very small step, perhaps, but 
one in the right direction. At the same time, the White House took 
another step backward this week by failing to fulfill another 
responsibility. According to the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, the 
President is required to submit a reform proposal for Medicare if more 
than 45 percent of the program's finances are being drawn from the 
government's general revenue fund instead of a fund specifically set 
aside for Medicare for 2 years in a row. As of today, that is the 
situation. As of today, that is the situation. The President is 
supposed to have taken care of this, but he hasn't. He is punting on 
this responsibility just as he punted on other reforms in the 10-year 
budget plan he released last month.
  Washington's unsustainable spending on entitlements such as Medicare 
and Medicaid and Social Security must be addressed now--now--and we 
will never be able to ensure the stability and solvency of any of them 
without Presidential leadership. In this case, that is not just my 
opinion; the law actually requires it.
  Now, just one more word on the continuing resolution. Once we pass 
this stopgap spending measure, we will be right back at it again 2 
weeks from now unless we can reach an agreement on a long-term measure 
before then.
  The House has sent us a bill that will keep the government funded 
through the end of the year. At the moment this next continuing 
resolution expires, we will be nearly halfway through the fiscal year. 
The House bill contains a much needed defense spending bill for the 
rest of the year. Many important programs have been delayed, and 
Secretary Gates has made clear that further delay will harm combat 
readiness. So there are many compelling reasons for us to reach 
agreement on a longer term bill.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.

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