[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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