Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes today if I can, and talk about our upcoming proposal on Medicare , which is a subject of great interest, and ought to be, in the country. I think it is important to place into context this debate.

Regardless of where one stands on the specifics of these issues as they come out, it is important that we all understand that we are talking about the single largest transfer of wealth in the history of our country with this proposal, some $270 billion that will have to be moved from the Medicare Program. We are talking simultaneously about a $245 billion tax cut. There is nothing quite like this in the annals of this country's history.

I say that, not to in any way suggest that in and of itself one ought to oppose this, but rather to raise what I hope will be the interests of the American public as we engage in this discussion, because they are the ones who will be affected. Not the Members of this body because, frankly, most of us have health care programs and have income levels which will basically make us immune from the kind of potential tragedies and difficulties that most Americans will face if they lose a safety net of health care.

It is in their interest, and it is certainly a program that has been tremendously successful in assisting millions of people over the last 30 years to avoid the catastrophic problems associated with the predictable health problems that people face.

What disturbs me is the fact that we are going to have almost no hearings on this at all. In fact, only 1 day of hearings have been scheduled in the entire Congress on an issue that I think is certainly as important as any that this body will debate or discuss this year, only 1 day of hearings on the single largest transfer of wealth in the history of the United States.

Mr. President, the world looks on this body, and we often refer to it ourselves, as the greatest deliberative body in the world. Yet, I say with all due respect to those in the majority that to hold only 1 day of discussions on legislation that will affect today 37 million direct beneficiaries of Medicare , not to mention the families of these Medicare recipients and, frankly, those who will move into the age categories that would allow them to receive some Medicare assistance, I find hard to justify, to put it mildly.

We are not talking about an Intelligence Committee issue here. We are not even talking about a defense issue in which the secrecy of our proceedings has legitimacy. But to come forward with an idea that only has 1 day of hearings and will affect many millions of people I find very, very disturbing.

I can only conclude, Mr. President, that some people are deeply worried that more people may find out about what we are likely to do.

And so some think, do it fast, do it quickly, get it over with. Hopefully, they will not notice, and we can achieve the kind of results that some are seeking to adopt when it comes to this program.

Mr. President, this plan, as I mentioned at the outset of these remarks, will cut Medicare by $270 billion. Let me quickly point out that that number is three times what the Health Care Finance Administration says is necessary to extend the solvency of Medicare until the year 2006--three times, Mr. President.

I am not sure that the Health Care Finance Administration is absolutely correct. They are saying about $89 billion. There are those who would tell you that you could do this with $45 billion if you can deal with some of the waste and fraud, which CBO and others will not score. A GAO study that was done said you could basically achieve the savings if we would just make this program run more efficiently. Whether you believe the $45 billion or $60 billion or $89 billion, no one will tell you--no one--that $270 billion in cuts in the Medicare Program is necessary. Yet, that is exactly the plan being put together as we sit here. It is not a plan done in the light of day, but done with one day of hearings, with a bunch of people writing this gathered in rooms where you cannot find them. They are leaking this out bit by bit with vagaries and never getting into the details.