[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3801-S3802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MEDICARE
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, last month, the Medicare trustees warned
that Medicare will go bankrupt in 13 years, which is 5 years earlier
than they had previously calculated. You heard me right. One of the
most important programs that the government actually runs--the Medicare
Program--designed to provide health care to seniors, is going to run
out of money in 13 years, 5 years earlier than projected just last
year.
The Medicare trustees noted that Medicare's unfunded liabilities--
that is the number it is responsible for--are more than $24 trillion,
but that is also growing. Stated another way, this is a $24 trillion
gap between Medicare's future benefit costs and the future taxes of
premiums that are expected to be collected to pay for it.
Today, I am, along with nearly all my Republican colleagues, sending
a letter to the President of the United States, insisting he comply
with the law. What law would that be? Well, the law that was passed in
2003 that, under these circumstances, requires the President to propose
a plan to deal with this funding crisis for Medicare. President Obama
has said he is willing to make some tough decisions. Yet he refuses to
provide concrete, constructive, and meaningful proposals to deal with
this impending insolvency of one of our most important government
programs.
The Medicare trustees have issued a Medicare funding warning in their
annual report every year since 2006. They are required to do so under
the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement,
[[Page S3802]]
and Modernization Act of 2003. In response to this warning, as I said,
the President is required by Federal law to submit to Congress proposed
legislation that would address this funding crisis. President Bush, in
2008, in response to the 2007 Medicare trustees' warning, did exactly
what the law requires. He submitted legislation to address this funding
crisis. Both the House and the Senate, in compliance with the law,
introduced legislation, but, unfortunately, it never went anywhere--
kicking the can down the road once again.
The Medicare trustees have, in fact, issued a funding warning every
year since 2006, as I mentioned, including all 3 years President Obama
has been in office. However, for 3 years now, President Obama and his
administration have failed to comply with the mandatory requirement of
the law. Congress has never received a proposal from President Obama's
administration to address this funding crisis. This failure I wish I
could tell you was the result of an oversight but apparently not.
On Tuesday, in an e-mail to The Hill newspaper, on behalf of the
administration, they said they believed this law was ``advisory and not
binding.''
The law itself states--passed by both Houses of Congress, signed into
law--that the President ``shall'' submit legislation to Congress, not
that he ``might,'' or ``if it is convenient,'' or ``if he finds time,''
or ``if it advances his political posture leading up to the next
election.'' It says he ``shall'' submit legislation.
Thank goodness we live in a country where no one is above the law. We
are a nation of laws, where the law applies to the President of the
United States and it applies to the most humble members of our society.
Medicare is going bankrupt. Unfortunately, the voices of reform--
people are stepping forward to try to solve this problem and make
meaningful suggestions so we can actually do what we are supposed to do
in Congress, which is debate ideas and come up with solutions, where we
can have a vote and we can send legislation to the President and he can
sign it or not. That is the way the process is designed to work, but so
far the voices missing from the reform debate are those of our friends
on the other side of the aisle.
There is no House Democratic plan to save Medicare. There is no
Senate Democratic plan to save Medicare. There is no plan for President
Obama to save Medicare. Unfortunately, their plan appears to be not to
step up and do what the law requires, to offer a proposal to save
Medicare but, rather, to try to take a cynical political advantage
leading up to the next election by attacking the very people who are
making constructive proposals.
No one suggests that any single proposal is perfect. The Ryan plan is
not perfect. The Domenici-Rivlin plan offers a different approach. The
President's own fiscal commission's report is entitled ``Moment of
Truth.'' They reported back in December 2010. It was a bipartisan
commission appointed by the President himself. It makes constructive
suggestions on how to solve our spending crisis and to address the
unsustainability of our entitlement program. But it appears that rather
than embrace any of these constructive ideas, rather than do his duty,
as the law requires, the President seems content to scare seniors into
opposing responsible reforms, while watching the program go bankrupt
over the next few years.
By refusing to propose needed reforms to this important program,
President Obama is not only abdicating his responsibility to lead as a
President of the United States, he is violating Federal law.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the letter I
referred to earlier be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, June 15, 2011.
President Barack H. Obama,
The White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear President Obama: We write to urge you to submit a
legislative proposal to Congress in response to the Medicare
funding warning issued in the 2010 Medicare Trustees' Report.
Such a proposal would help prevent the bankruptcy of this
vital program for America's seniors and keep the federal
government from going further into debt. Furthermore, such a
proposal would put your Administration back in compliance
with federal law.
Your Administration is currently in violation of section
802 of P.L. 108-173, the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). The MMA
required the Medicare Trustees to include in their annual
report an estimate of whether general fund revenues will
finance more than 45 percent of total Medicare expenditures
in any of the following six years. If the Trustees estimate
in two consecutive years that the 45-percent limit will be
breached within a seven year timeframe, the Administration is
then required to submit a legislative proposal that would
address the funding crisis within 15 days of submitting its
annual budget proposal to Congress.
The Medicare Trustees have complied with federal law and
have issued funding warnings every year since 2007. In 2008,
the Bush Administration, in compliance with Section 802 of
the MMA, submitted a legislative proposal to Congress, which
was never acted upon. Your Administration, however, has
failed to submit such a proposal for the last three years.
This not only defies federal law but also abdicates your
Administration's responsibility to lead. As you know,
mandatory spending is currently projected to grow at an
average of 5.4 percent per year over the next 10 years,
growing from $2 trillion in 2012 to $3.3 trillion by 2021.
The largest claim on the budget over the next 75 years is
Medicare, estimated at $35 trillion.
We ask you to comply with the law and submit to Congress
the Administration's legislative proposal addressing the
Medicare funding warning included in the 2010 Annual Report
of the Boards of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance
and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds.
Sincerely,
John Cornyn; Mark Kirk; John Thune; Lindsey Graham; John
Barrasso; Roy Blunt; Lisa Murkowski; Mitch McConnell;
Daniel Coats; Lamar Alexander; Kelly Ayotte; Michael B.
Enzi; Richard Burr; James Inhofe; Pat Roberts; Jerry
Moran; Rob Portman; Marco Rubio; Ron Johnson; Rand
Paul; Saxby Chambliss.
Mike Crapo; Bob Corker; Tom Coburn; Chuck Grassley;
Johnny Isakson; John Hoeven; Jeff Sessions; Michael E.
Enzi; Patrick J. Toomey; James E. Risch; Kay Bailey
Hutchison; Mike Johanns; Jim DeMint; John McCain; Orrin
Hatch; Jon Kyl; Dean Hellers; Richard C. Shelby; Thad
Cochran; Richard G. Lugar; Roger F. Wicker.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
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