[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9054-9055]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. COATS. Madam President, I have been on the Senate floor several 
times now during the last few weeks to discuss our grave economic 
condition, the need to reduce Washington's out-of-control spending, 
and, most importantly, the urgent need to start taking action before 
time runs out.
  If there is any remaining doubt in anyone's mind that the U.S. 
economy is facing a historic and unprecedented fiscal crisis, consider 
a few of the recent news reports since I last spoke on the floor, which 
was not that many days ago. Reports came out saying that the national 
unemployment rate increased to 9.1 percent, with over 22 million 
Americans unemployed or underemployed. This is not how we rebound from 
a recession, historically. There is something more going on here than 
the normal downturns and upturns of the economic cycle. This is 
something of historic proportion.
  Since I last spoke on this floor, two more rating agencies--Moody's 
and Fitch--have issued serious warnings that they may downgrade 
America's AAA debt rating. This comes after S&P already lowered its 
outlook of the U.S. economy to negative.
  Just last week, on its cover, USA TODAY published the frightening 
headline ``U.S. owes $62 trillion; unfunded obligations amount to 
$534,000 per household.'' Those are unfunded obligations. We have 
funded obligations we currently owe in addition to that, and some put 
those even higher.
  There was an interview yesterday with Bill Gross, who heads up PIMCO, 
the largest bondholder in the country--in the world, actually. Bill 
Gross indicated in this interview that the money owed to cover future 
liabilities in entitlement programs in the United States is actually in 
worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European 
countries. Much of the attention, of course, is focused on our public 
debt, which is running at $14.3 trillion, but what hasn't been focused 
on as much are the unfunded liabilities that will come due, the 
obligations and promises already made that will have to be paid for, 
that will be in addition to the $14.3 trillion already on the books. 
Taken together, Gross said this is going to equal nearly $100 trillion. 
It is a number beyond anyone's comprehension, it is hard to fathom what 
$100 trillion means to the American taxpayer, to America's abilities, 
obligations and financial responsibilities. Now, maybe $100 trillion is 
a little high. It doesn't matter whether it is $80 trillion or $90 
trillion or $100 trillion; it is certainly going to put our country in 
a very, very difficult position.
  I wish to read one more piece from the CNBC interview with Bill 
Gross:

       We've always wondered who will buy Treasurys after the 
     Federal Reserve purchases the last of its $600 billion to end 
     the second leg of its quantitative easing program later this 
     month. It's certainly not Pimco and it's probably not the 
     bond funds of the world.

  I quoted Erskine Bowles, who is a Democrat, was Chief of Staff for 
President Clinton and was one of the coauthors of the fiscal commission 
report presented at the request of the President laying out the dire 
crisis we face and recommendations on how to address it. Erskine 
Bowles, co-chair of the President's fiscal reform commission, said that 
the growing national debt and Federal deficits are ``a cancer and they 
are truly going to destroy this country from within, unless we have the 
common sense to do something about it.''
  This is the challenge before us--each Member of the House of 
Representatives and each Member of the Senate and the President of the 
United States. This dwarfs all other matters before this Congress. With 
all due respect, the Senate spending several weeks on the Small 
Business Innovation Research Act, the Federal Aviation Administration's 
bill, and now the Economic Development Revitalization Act has left 
little time for the debate that ought to be undertaken on this floor in 
continuous fashion to address this fiscal situation. The crisis has 
implications for

[[Page 9055]]

the future of our country, the future of this Nation.
  The rapid escalation of the deficit and debt requires our full 
engagement--not later but now. The growing consensus among those who 
have given serious analysis to our fiscal plight calls for an all-of-
the-above approach in addressing the problem, including--dare I say 
it--entitlement spending, which essentially is Social Security, 
Medicaid, and Medicare.
  If Congress and the White House are serious about preventing the 
destruction of our economy, it is time we get serious about talking 
about entitlements, including Medicare, because the hard truth is that 
if Medicare is not included in the debate, any effort to put together 
any kind of a credible plan necessary to bring about fiscal stability 
will be defeated.
  Medicare has proven to be the greatest fiscal challenge facing this 
country. It alone last year took in $1.8 trillion of new liabilities, 
which is more than we spend on all nondefense discretionary spending. 
Nondefense discretionary spending is that spending which goes to every 
other function of the Federal Government other than interest on our 
national debt and mandatory spending.
  The Medicare trustees recently sounded alarm bells in a report 
announcing that the program's total of unfunded future obligations is a 
staggering $38.4 trillion. They cautioned that the hospital trust fund, 
known as Medicare Part A, will be exhausted by 2024. This is 5 years 
earlier than what they had predicted just a year earlier. So 1 year has 
passed, and the trustees are now so alarmed they are saying we are 
going to run out of money 5 years earlier than we thought. What are 
they going to say next year? They will probably shorten that time even 
more.
  Economists and policy experts on both sides of the aisle--Republican, 
Democratic, conservative, liberal--have been warning about the dangers 
of Medicare spending and the impact on our national debt for years. Yet 
Congress has punted its responsibilities, saying ``we will take care of 
it after the next election.''
  Back in 2006, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan warned 
lawmakers, saying that Medicare spending is unsustainable and could one 
day drive debt and government interest rates substantially higher. I 
suggest that date is here, and this crisis is knocking on our door.
  Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato 
Institute, said: Nothing presents as great a threat to the Federal 
budget--and therefore to economic growth--as the persistent and rapid 
growth of Medicare spending.
  At a White House summit last year, President Obama recognized the 
unsustainability of entitlement spending. This is a quote from our 
President:

       Almost all of the long-term deficit and debt that we face 
     relates to the exploding costs of Medicare and Medicaid. 
     Almost all of it. That is the single biggest driver of our 
     federal debt. And if we don't get control over that, we can't 
     get control over our federal budget.

  I am quoting the words of the President of the United States, who now 
has taken the position that we shouldn't address the Medicare problem. 
Yet, as President, he has said that almost all of the deficit and debt 
we face relates to the exploding costs of these two programs, Medicare 
and Medicaid. He repeats it by saying ``almost all of it'' and ``the 
single biggest driver of our Federal debt.''
  Alice Rivlin, who served as budget director under President Bill 
Clinton, said it best: ``There's no mystery about what we ought to do, 
we just need to get on with it.''
  Madam President, we just need to get on with it. But that hasn't 
happened. Despite the President's own recognition of the single biggest 
driver of our Federal debt and despite the warning sirens from 
economists and even the Medicare trustees, the President has yet to 
submit a single proposal to address this urgent problem.
  Others in positions of leadership have also decided to ignore these 
critical warnings about Medicare and its looming insolvency and threat 
to our fiscal house. They have rejected any proposals for changing 
Medicare as we know it. Well, the category for these people are the 
``do-nothings.''
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator has used 10 minutes.
  Mr. COATS. I ask unanimous consent for 2 more minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. COATS. Let me skip forward here.
  Despite the President's own recognition of this problem, we have not 
taken this plan forward. There are do-nothings who think that if we do 
not act, Medicare will be secure. Actually, the do-nothings are the 
ones who are making Medicare's future unstable. It is those who have 
taken the responsibility to stand up and recognize this problem and be 
free and open in debate and honest with the American people who are the 
ones who have had the courage to go forward. Yet they get reviled for 
``throwing grandma under the bus'' or taking Medicare away.
  I was approached by a person in a factory in Indiana who came up to 
me and said: You are taking away my 88-year-old mother's health care. 
He was upset, and rightfully so, but I told him he is upset at the 
wrong person because we are trying to save that health care. We are 
trying to save Medicare.
  We have two options: We can either continue with the status quo and 
let Medicare go bankrupt or we can step up to the plate, debate 
thoughtful proposals, and work to keep our promise to America's seniors 
by enacting meaningful reform. It is those of us who are willing to 
step up to the plate who are here to save Medicare, not destroy 
Medicare. It is those who are saying we need to do nothing or who 
refuse to do anything who are going to cause Medicare to go bankrupt 
and take benefits away from seniors.
  This is the debate we need to have. We are burdened by this. We need 
to address it. It is the challenge of the day. Let's go forward, stand 
up, and do the right thing.
  I appreciate the extension of time.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning 
business and that I be followed by Senator Coburn.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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