Preventing Paygo Sequestration
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, the legislation before us today is clearly a wiser course of action than that which my House Democrat colleagues pursued just a few weeks ago. As a reminder, despite House Republicans specifically raising the concern over the risk House Democrats were taking with the healthcare of America's seniors, our Democrat colleagues first dismissed the fact that their recently enacted $1.9 trillion bailout bill would lead to billions in cuts to Medicare. Then, after passing their bill, and after the President signed into law a plan that would lead to $36 billion in cuts to Medicare, Democrats suddenly felt compelled to acknowledge that fact.
Unfortunately, when they chose to act, Democrats chose a course of action that completely failed. I say chose that course of action because they could have protected America's seniors and offset the impact to the budget by adopting the Protect Seniors and Cut Waste Act put forward by House Republicans, which would:
Stop benefits and payments to prisoners and illegal immigrants; stop funds from the bailout bail for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities; stop special handouts for Federal employees; and rescind billions in bailouts that go to State governments.
Our Democrat colleagues were unwilling to accept such a commonsense approach. They wanted to simply pretend $1.9 trillion in spending is not happening and erase the evidence.
Thankfully, the Senate, in a bipartisan vote of 90-2, agreed to the bill that is before us today--legislation that postpones the Budget Control Act's reduction in Medicare spending that is otherwise set to begin this month. It offsets and achieves those savings by extending future funding restraints an additional year.
It avoids a cut to Medicare that is smaller than that which is set to occur because of the Biden bailout bill, but it also does not simply shove under the rug the cost of the debt-inducing actions taken by Washington Democrats thus far. They will have to deal with those actions and their spending.
In the meantime, we can and should act on the legislation before us to do what is prudent and possible to protect America's seniors.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, I will just say that Republicans don't cut Medicare. In fact, the Biden bailout bill that was passed cut $36 billion a year in Medicare. Yet, the Senate Democrats have not done anything in regard to those Medicare cuts to seniors in the Biden bailout bill.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source