[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 51 (Friday, April 8, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H2539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MASSIVE PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday on the floor of the House, 
Steny Hoyer, Minority Whip, offered the Republicans the time, by 
unanimous consent, to work out the details in terms of getting the 
numbers right because, regardless of the pontification, it's very clear 
that urgent negotiations have gone forward, and the difference between 
the two parties is very small. This could be worked out in a day or 
two.
  But this offer was rejected because our Republican friends are no 
longer interested in the money. It's about the ideological agenda, the 
riders, the change to policy for EPA, or dictating their ideology on 
the people in the District of Columbia, for instance.
  It is also about a much larger agenda going forward. I spent most of 
Wednesday listening to the Republican budget road map that is on its 
way to the floor of the House. It is so extreme that before the 
election, when my good friend, Paul Ryan, unveiled it, very few 
Republicans would sign on. They knew that in the heat of an election, 
if people knew what Republicans had in store, they wouldn't get 
elected. So they were counseled, stay away.
  Well, it's unveiled now. The election is held and this agenda is back 
with a vengeance.
  I invite any American to look at independent appraisals of what's in 
it. There is nothing new or reforming about vouchers for health 
insurance companies or block granting Medicare to the States. Under 
this proposal, total health care costs are going to go up. But the cost 
to the government of the voucher is going to go down. And 230 million 
Americans, 55 and under, are going to pick up the tab.
  Oh, and yes, they're going to keep, for 80 million Americans, 
Medicare that's going to be limping on in its current form. In 2050 
there will be 8 million people still covered.
  There are massive cuts, but not for defense. That's more or less off 
limits. There's talk of reform, but in the area of reform where I have 
worked with Paul Ryan for years, agriculture, no. We're going to leave 
that until reauthorization takes place.
  Health care for the poor is on the chopping block. They are going to 
block grant aid to the States so that it can be reduced over time. Bear 
in mind that the cost per person for Medicaid is the lowest in this 
country, at a time when private health insurance premiums have doubled 
in the last 10 years, and overall private health care spending has gone 
up faster than government health care spending.
  Now, in these troubled times, we should be looking at reform. In the 
Health Care Reform Act passed last session, we have an opportunity to 
actually change those health care cost curves. Every significant 
advance to restrain accelerated health care costs are embedded in that 
legislation. But rather than accelerating it, our friends want to delay 
it.
  I strongly urge the American public to take the time to look at 
what's in this proposal because that's what's coming down the line, and 
not be distracted by the shutdown that Republicans are insisting upon.

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