Van Hollen Floor Statement on the Republican Budget

Washington, DC – Today, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the House Budget Committee, spoke in opposition to the House Republican budget on the House Floor. Below is a transcript of his remarks and you can watch the video here:

“Thank you Mr. Chairman.

“Let me start by thanking the Chairman of the House Budget Committee for the way he has conducted the proceedings in the Committee and look forward to a debate on the floor because as the Chairman said, we have very deep differences. We do not have a difference on the question of whether or not we should reduce the deficits and the debt, of course we do. We have a difference over how to do that.

“And in that regard, Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this Republican plan and in support of the Democratic alternative. The Republican budget on the floor of the House today is simply the sequel to last year’s plan, more of the same.

“It abandons the economic recovery and ends the Medicare guarantee to individuals whose median income is under $21,000, while providing a whopping average tax break of almost $400,000 for people making over $1 million a year. These tax breaks for the very wealthy and the tax breaks for special interests come at the expense of middle income taxpayers, at the expense of seniors, and at the expense of essential investments to keep America strong.

“This Republican plan will weaken economic growth and according to independent analysts, result in over 2 million jobs lost over the next two years. It rewards corporations that ship American jobs overseas, while slashing investments in education, in science and research, and infrastructure that help America grow our economy right here at home. In short, it is a path to greater prosperity, if you’re already wealthy, leaving seniors, working Americans, and future generations behind.

“Mr. Chairman, we gather here at a very important time for our country. As a result of the extraordinary actions taken over the last four years, and the tenacity of the American people and small businesses, America avoided a second great depression and the economy is slowly recovering. Still, millions of Americans remain out of work through no fault of their own. We must push forward with the recovery, not back.

“And we certainly should not return to the failed economic policies that got America into this economic mess to begin with. And yet, that is exactly what this Republican budget does. It is a recipe for national stagnation and decline. It retreats from our national goal of out-educating, out-building, and out-competing the rest of the world. And it will weaken the economic recovery by slashing investments to important economic growth and expanding those tax breaks that reward corporations that ship American jobs overseas.

“Even when we have 17 percent unemployment in the construction industry, it cuts critical investments in our transportation systems, including a 46 percent cut in transportation starting next year. As I mentioned earlier, non-partisan analysts looked at this and concluded it would lose 2 million jobs over two years.

“So, rather than putting the economy into reverse, we need to move forward, we need to adopt the remainder of the President’s jobs plan, a plan that has been sitting here in the House since September. It’s also clear that putting America back to work is the fastest and most effective way to reduce deficits in the short-term. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that our weak economy and underemployment is the single major contributing factor to the deficit this year, accounting for over a third of the projected 2012 deficit.

“So, we need to come up with a credible plan. And the issue, as I said, is not whether but how. And every bipartisan group, every bipartisan group that has looked at ways to reduce the deficit in a credible way, has recommended a balanced approach, meaning a combination of cuts and cuts to tax breaks for the wealthy and the elimination of special interest corporate tax loopholes. And the Democratic alternative provides that balanced approach while the Republican plan unfortunately fails that test.

“Instead, their plan would again rig the rules in favor of the very wealthy and special interests. That may not be a surprise, since virtually every House Republican has signed a pledge, a pledge to Grover Norquist, saying that they will not close a single special interest tax loophole. Not eliminate a single oil subsidy for the purpose of deficit reduction. Not one penny. I agree with the gentleman from Wisconsin that we face a real deficit and debt problem. Apparently the problem is not big enough to ask folks at the very high end of the income scale to contribute one penny toward deficit reduction.

“And in addition to locking in those parts of the Bush tax cuts that disproportionally benefit the very wealthy, they now have a new round of tax cuts that will provide, on average, a $400,000 tax cut for people making over a million dollars a year. That’s according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

“So here’s the key: because our Republican colleagues refuse to ask millionaires to contribute one cent to deficit reduction, they hit everyone and everything else. Let’s look at Medicare recipients. They immediately increase cost to seniors for Medicare preventative services and terminate the new services that were part of the Affordable Care Act. They immediately reduce support to seniors in the prescription drug plan by reopening the donut hole. That decision will cost seniors with high drug costs an average of $10,000 over the next 10 years.

“Once again, this Republican budget does not reform Medicare, it deforms. It proposes to end the Medicare guarantee, shifting rising costs onto seniors and disabled individuals. It gives you the equivalent of a voucher, but if your voucher amount is not sufficient to pay for the rising costs of healthcare, too bad. It simply rations your health care and choice of doctor by income, and leaves seniors to the whim of the insurance industry. And despite claims that market competition is going to bring down those rising costs, the plan creates that artificial cap on voucher support. Our Republican colleagues say they are using the Part D prescription drug plan as a model, but that has no artificial cap. They same it’s the same kind of plan offered to Members of Congress under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, but that has no cap and support from their plans. So unlike members of Congress, seniors in Medicare will get vouchers with declining purchasing power relative to rising health care costs.

“In fact if you look at this chart, Mr. Chairman, you will see what the current Medicare plan would provide in terms of the amount of support provided by the plan to the individual and health care, that’s the blue line. This is the green line, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, Members of Congress are on. As you can see, the amount of premium support keeps pace with rising health care costs. This red line is the Republican voucher plan that caps the amount an individual can receive and goes steadily downward giving seniors on Medicare a worse deal than members of Congress would give themselves.

“Now Mr. Chairman, this budget also rips apart the safety net for seniors in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as low income kids and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicaid. Remember, two-thirds of Medicaid funding goes to seniors in nursing homes and disabled individuals, yet that is one of the biggest areas of the republican budget cuts. It takes a hatchet to Medicaid, slashing over $800 billion dollars and cutting Medicaid by one-third by the year 2022. This is done under the Orwellian title of their plan, “Repairing the Social Safety Net.” That’s like throwing an anchor to a drowning person.

“Mr. Chairman, to govern is to choose, and that’s what this debate is all about. And the choices in this Republican budget are simply wrong for America. It is not bold to provide tax breaks to millionaires while ending the Medicare guarantee for seniors and sticking them with a bill of rising health care costs. It is not courageous to protect tax giveaways to big oil companies and other special interests while slashing investments in our kids’ education, scientific research, and critical infrastructure. And it is not visionary to reward corporations that ship American jobs overseas while terminating affordable health care for tens of millions of Americans. And it is certainly not brave to cut support for seniors in nursing homes, individuals with disabilities, and poor kids. And it is not fair to raise taxes on middle income Americans financed by another round of tax breaks for the very wealthy. Yet those are the choices made in this Republican budget.

“Where is the shared responsibility? Mr. Chairman, we can, we must do better. Let’s reject this budget and adopt the Democratic alternative, which provides a balanced approach to accomplishing the goal of reducing our deficits at the same time strengthening our economy and doing it in a way that calls for shared responsibility.”