Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement following the deeming and passing of the Republican budget as part of the Homeland Security FY 2012 Appropriations bill. 

“It wasn’t long ago that the Speaker described deem and pass as ‘scheme and plot’ when it was potentially going to be used to pass the landmark Affordable Care Act.  In fact, comments which came from the Republican leadership included calling the deem and pass ‘one of the most outrageous things seen’ and that the Republicans considered the process a ‘malfeasant manner,’ and that it ‘tramples on the traditional rules of the House and Senate.’

“And yet, today, the Republicans are using the same process, which tramples on the Constitution, to pass a budget to destroy Medicare as we know it.  Apparently, the process only tramples on the laws of our country when it doesn’t comply with the Republican agenda.  Today, House Republicans’ forced a procedural rule vote to the 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, and attached a poison pill provision which would deem the Republican Budget Proposal as passed by both the House and Senate.  This was done despite the Senate rejecting the plan last week.  

“What deem and pass does is actually provide the Republican Majority a bullet so they can shoot themselves in the other foot.  The vast majority of Americans do not favor the sweeping changes being made to Medicare and Medicaid. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a typical 65-year-old would pay $12,500 annually for their health care in 2022.  If nothing was done to Medicare, that same senior would pay $6,150. 

“The Republican budget privatizes Medicare and turns it into a voucher system, thus denying those currently in the workforce, who are paying into Medicare, the chance to actually benefit from the program. It dismantles Medicaid, turning it into a system of block grants, leading up to the point in the future where the cost of the program will dwarf the amount of grants provided to states. The goal here is to end Medicaid as we know it by setting it up to fail. The Republicans claim their budget will cut $4 trillion over the next ten years, with over a quarter coming from their repeal of the Affordable Care Act.  The non-partisan CBO reports that repeal would actually add $230 billion to the deficit.

“By repealing the Affordable Care Act, over 273,000 New York seniors would once again be impacted by the Medicare Part D prescription drug Donut Hole, costing them $153 million in 2012 alone, and over $3 billion through 2020. In addition, the Republican budget will cost New York State over 20,000 jobs and almost $600 million in highway infrastructure investment. The massive cuts being made to the Pell Grants program would affect over 20,000 students in the Bronx, Rockland and Westchester Counties alone. Meanwhile, $40 billion in Big Oil tax loopholes remain, as investments in clean energy technologies of the future vanish.

“The worst part is that this dirty trick from the Majority distracts from the other egregious topic of discussion.  The actual Homeland Security Appropriations Bill slices over $40 billion for protecting our homeland, reverting back to 2009 levels.  The deep cuts are most terrible for local and state governments which will see a 65% reduction in available grants to protect our citizens.  Urban areas, ports and transit security grants get gutted by 56%, on top of the 21% cuts in FY 2011, in a world still at risk from the threat of terrorism.  New York remains the prime target for America’s enemies, and this spending bill strips the city of the tools needed to protect itself. 

 “This rule, and this legislation, is an example of the unreasonable spending cap set by the majority, whose agenda has been laid bare – crippling the federal government ability to govern, and to protect our nation’s security and prosperity.  It is an agenda which turns a blind eye to the needs of our seniors and most vulnerable.  The Majority claims that they are doing this to save Medicare, however, destroying it in order to save it holds a chilling precedent and I am positive the American people will hold them accountable for their actions since they gained the House majority earlier this year.”

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