[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 20351-20352]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LAYING DOWN A MARKER

  (Mr. HASTINGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I witnessed, as did all of us, 
the jubilation of my friends, the Republican majority, in passing the 
tax cut measure that had been advocated as tax reform for a substantial 
period of time, but, finally, they did admit that it was a tax cut.
  I rise here today just to lay down a marker. I have said, as have 
many of my colleagues, that what we witnessed is the beginning of what 
ultimately will allow for us to address the entitlements in this 
country.
  Many of us know that the deficit that the tax cuts create are going 
to allow, some time during the course of next year or shortly after the 
election, us to begin discussing Medicare and Medicaid. I think that is 
a mistake, and I want that to be recognized.

[[Page 20352]]



                          ____________________