[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S932-S933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MILITARY RETIREMENT COLA
Mr. WARNER. Madam President, while I will cast my vote this afternoon
for the legislation which would replace the cost of living adjustment,
COLA, reduction for military retirees, I disagree strongly with the
provision to extend the arbitrary sequester cuts included with this
legislation.
It is frustrating to me that Congress will fix one provision which
unfairly singled out one group by singling out another.
I am pleased that we can fix the COLA adjustment that would have
affected the men and women who serve in the military prior to it taking
effect. However, I would have preferred that we find a responsible way
to offset the cost by identifying savings elsewhere.
I joined Senator Shaheen and Senator Kaine in December in introducing
legislation that identified a way to pay for this fix: our proposal
would close a loophole that some companies use to avoid paying U.S.
taxes. Our approach would generate $6.6 billion over 10 years to pay
for the cost of un-doing the proposed cut in military pensions.
The extension of the sequester on mandatory spending for another
year, which primarily hits Medicare providers such as hospitals with a
two-percent across-the-board cut in payments, is a blunt and arbitrary
way to find savings in Federal health care programs. It does not reward
health care value, or support health care quality, nor differentiate
among different geographic areas.
The across-the-board cut does nothing to reform the real long-term
fiscal challenges facing our entitlement programs. Instead, it just
compounds on the multitude of other cuts that hospitals and other
providers are facing, creating a situation where access to care
potentially will be threatened.
The vote before the Senate this afternoon shows yet again how we need
to have a broader conversation on how to get a better handle on our
long-term fiscal challenges. By ignoring that larger conversation, we
instead are reduced to playing a game of Whac-A-Mole.
The provision which singled out military servicemembers and veterans
was included in a bipartisan package which was the least we could do to
ensure that we didn't repeat the stupidity of last fall's government
shutdown. The overall package, the Bipartisan Budget Act, which I
supported, did not touch the major levers available to fix our balance
sheet. By common agreement, revenue and entitlement reforms were not
part of the discussion.
This package fixed the arbitrary sequester cuts--though only on the
discretionary side, and only for 2 years.
For the last 3 years, Congress--and both chambers, and both parties,
bear some responsibility for this--have repeatedly taken the path of
least resistance. All of us recognize that we have an enormous fiscal
challenge, but there's not the collective will to make the hard
decisions which will put us on a path of solvency.
Instead, we punt and we play on the margins. We continually make deep
cuts in the type of programs that power economic growth--programs that
train our workforce, educate our children, and support those who serve
and protect our nation. We choose to put off the broader discussion
about reforms which would be easier now--easier because they create a
glide path toward enactment--allowing individuals, families, businesses
and our state and local government partners to make responsible plans
for future changes. We have avoided a conversation about our complex,
bloated tax code, which promotes inefficiency and too often inhibits
economic growth. By putting off the hard choices, we allow these fiscal
challenges to get worse. The choices do not get any easier.
Decisions like the vote before us today are incredibly frustrating.
These decisions ask us to support the repeal of a provision, which hurt
one specific group, by replacing it with another provision which just
places the burden on a separate group. I believe that we can do better
for our military personnel, for our Medicare providers, the patients
who rely on them, and for our country overall. While I will cast my
vote for this bill, I remain committed to finding a way to reverse the
sequester cuts we have just extended through 2024.
Mr. COBURN. Madam President, regardless of which side one
falls on the Ryan-Murray budget deal reduction in the annual COLA
increase for working
[[Page S933]]
age military retirees, the sad fact is with the passage of this
legislation we are breaking our previous promise to taxpayers to reduce
the deficit. Instead of coming up with a real offset for a mere $6.2
billion in spending, the Senate has chosen to resort to budgetary
gimmicks to disguise the true cost of our politically expedient
decisions, and has yet again punted the hard decisions that must be
made to future generations.
By offsetting real and immediate spending with a promise of future
spending reductions with the extension of sequestration cuts to
Medicare through 2024, beyond the 10-year budget window, the savings
from this budget trick will not materialize and taxpayers will not be
made whole. By passing this legislation, we are sending a signal that
this body does not have the fortitude to lead as our constituents have
chosen us to do--to take on the sacred cows like military compensation
that must be part of the national conversation about our spending and
reform.
As we prepare to pass this legislation, every Member of this body
would do well to consider these words by former Joint Chiefs Chairman
Admiral Mike Mullen: ``The most significant threat to our national
security is our debt.'' We best honor the sacrifice of our military
veterans and realize a more safe and secure future by keeping our
promise to reduce the national debt. By refusing to come up with a real
offset to pay for the repeal of the COLA cut, the Senate is undermining
our veterans, our country, and our future.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
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