Jim Greenwood

Mr. GREENWOOD

Mr. GREENWOOD. I would love for you to yield because I could give you wonderful answers to your questions if you are really interested in the truth.

Mr. GREENWOOD. I will be happy, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I will pose it in the form of a question. Would the gentleman not agree that the discussion on Medicare began when the trustees report consisting of three members of President Clinton's Cabinet, the trustees issued a report, and in that report they indicated that part A of the Medicare program, the hospitalization fund, goes broke in 7 years? This year we are taking in more money than we are spending for Medicare. That is good. But next year we begin to spend more money than we take in. There is no dispute that it goes bankrupt in 7 years unless we do something.

Mr. GREENWOOD. If the gentleman will yield to me, I can.

Mr. GREENWOOD. The gentleman is misinforming the House. I would be happy to correct him.

Mr. GREENWOOD. I did not make those comments.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Number two, there will be hearings. Number three, we approach the end of the fiscal year, as my colleagues know. We are trying to deal with this issue in this fiscal year. The President of the United States has said that we need to reduce the growth in the Medicare program in the coming fiscal year by $124 billion, if we use the OMB budget line. If we use the CBO budget line, the budget line we are using and that the President encourages us to use, that is closer to $194 billion, so the gentleman said earlier that he wants to think about where we can agree. Where there is not disagreement among honest brokers in this issue is that the President of the United States and the Republican Party believes that at least $190 billion needs to be reduced from the growth of spending in this program. So if you want to start from there, we can have an honest discussion.

Mr. GREENWOOD. If the gentleman will continue to yield, as I said earlier, the committees of jurisdiction held dozens of hearings covering hundreds of hours on this issue.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me for a question. My question is this: If in fact what the gentleman would like to do this evening with his time on the floor is to inform the American people, particularly our seniors, so they can make an evaluation about how they feel about this plan, will he not engage me? There are five of you, there is one of me. I am one of the drafters of this. I am happy to stand here all evening and answer questions and debate fine points as to what we should do, but I am going to repeat myself. The American people look at you and say, ``Those five Democrats are not going to let the Republican who is one of the drafters of the bill have very much time at the microphone. I guess they do not want to hear what he has to say. I guess they do not want to know what is in this plan.''

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. GREENWOOD. I have them all. I am an open book.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Ways and Means alone held 38 hearings on Medicare reform, and the Committee on Commerce on which I serve also held a number for hearings. I cannot enumerate them for you. But if I may finish, one of the things I think the American people will be interested in, that is to what extent my two colleagues from the other side of the aisle are truly interested in an open dialog in which the truth comes out. The extent to which you are willing to engage me this evening in discussion, if you want to have, use 99 percent of the time to make unchallenged statements, then I think the American people will say: Gee, I do not think they are really interested in an open discussion in which both sides are presented. So, show the American people that you really are interested in bipartisanship and debate, and let us have a discussion.

Mr. GREENWOOD. I certainly had not intended to participate in your discussion tonight. I was at my desk in my office listening to the discussion on Medicare. It is an issue I am greatly interested in because, as you may know, I am one of eight Republican Members of the task force that has been spending the last several months writing this reform package. I came over to ask if you were interested in participating in a little bit more of a bipartisan discussion which I think might be more informative to the American people, particularly our seniors, than kind of a one-sided, partisan review of things? I offer myself here as somewhat of an expert on the package since I helped to draft it and would like nothing more than to help have a real debate and a real discussion rather than kind of a one-sided affair.

Mr. GREENWOOD. That is very kind of the gentleman, and I appreciate it. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect the amount of disinformation that has been brought forth this evening by my colleagues on the other side is breathtaking. Let me just correct a series of them very quickly. There will be no increase in deductibles. There will be zero increase in deductibles. There will be zero increase in copays. The part B premium, which is at 31.5 percent for senior citizens today, will remain at 31.5 percent for senior citizens into the foreseeable future. That slight increase which seniors have received each year will be more than overcome by the COLA in their Social Security. They will be paying what they are paying today. Second, with regard to the part of your poster there that says get less under our plan, every single senior citizen in America will be able to, next year and the year after that and for the next 7 years, be able to retain precisely the fee-for-service Medicare plan that they have today with every single benefit that they have today. There will be no change whatsoever. They will continue to pay 31.5 percent of the part B premium, and their friends and neighbors and children will pay the balance for them. In addition to that, they will have more choices.

Mr. GREENWOOD

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and I will not take much of the time that she has reserved. The gentlewoman may know, I was back in my office and some of my colleagues from the Democratic Party took to the floor and began to give such a tirade of incredibly breathtaking misinformation about Medicare reform, that since I am one of the 8 members of the Republican task force drafting the new plan, I felt compelled to come over here and set things straight. My friends would not yield me much time, and so I appreciate the gentlewoman doing so. Number 1 thing that our colleagues from the other side of the aisle did not want to go into very much is the fact that the trustees of the Medicare program, part A, and those trustees include three Members of President Clinton's cabinet, issued a report back in the early part of this year. That report indicated that Medicare, part A, is in trouble. The program is paid for by payroll taxes and this year, fortunately, we have more than enough funds to pay for that program. But next year we start to spend more than we take in, and in 7 years there is no money to pay senior citizen health care costs at all. The program goes broke. We cannot let that happen. The President of the United States has agreed with that and, of course, what the other side did not mention at all is that President Clinton has suggested, has recommended in his budget document that in fact we need to do something about the outrageous, unsustainable inflationary rates in our Medicare program. Medicare costs are going up by 10 and 11 and 12 percent a year, and there is no need for that. In the private sector, health care costs have all but leveled off. And if we continue to waste money in Medicare by continuing to have those 10 and 11 and 12 percent increases, we are foolish and we are wasting the taxpayers' money and we are doing nothing that values our senior citizens. So what are we going to do? We are going to try to work together in a bipartisan fashion and here is what we are going to try to do. It is really quite simple. Our plan will ensure that every single senior citizen in America on Medicare, as well as those who are disabled, will have the option to stay exactly where they are. They will continue to receive what is called fee-for-service health care. Mr. Speaker, that means they can go to the doctor of their choice when they choose and Medicare will pay all their bills. If they go to the hospital, Medicare will pay all of their bills just as it does now. Their cost for part B premium will stay just as it is now at 31.5 percent of the cost. And, as seniors know who have been on Medicare for some time, as the program inflates a little bit, that 31.5 percent costs a little bit more each year, but their COLA, the social security cost of living increase, more than compensates for that. Their Social Security check will be bigger next year than it is this year. We are going to increase the amount of dollars that we spend on average for a Medicare beneficiary in this country from $4,800 a year this year to $6,700 a year in 7 years. And I need to repeat that, because all of this talk about cutting Medicare is outrageous. Listen again. We are going to increase, the Republican plan increases what we spend on average for each and every Medicare beneficiary, our moms and dads and our grandparents, from $4,800 per year per beneficiary this year, increase it 5 percent each year for the next 7 years for a total increase of 40 percent, up to $6,700 per year. Then we are going to create some exciting new options for our seniors. We are going to make it more attractive for insurance companies to offer managed care. Managed care programs are programs where the managed care company tells you what your network of doctors will be, and if you want to get into that network, you can benefit from some of the additional benefits that they can offer you. My mom and dad are in their middle-70s, on the low side of mid-70s, Mom, but they have chosen on their own to go into a managed care program and they love it. They no longer have to pay Medigap costs. They have a new prescription drug program. Their doctors are in their network and they get all of the referrals they need and they are very happy. In the Republican plan, those seniors who want to gain those benefits and achieve those savings will be able to go into managed care and if for any reason their circumstances change or they are not happy with the plan, they simply opt out and go back into the fee-for-service program. Mr. Speaker, I am very, very confident of the fact that later on this week when we unveil the Republican Medicare improvement plan, that the senior citizens of this country will like it and like it very much. They will understand that what we have done is not raised their deductibles, not raised their co-pays or limited their options, but in fact continued to give them the same first class health care program that they enjoy now with many more options. What this is all about is a decision as a Nation as we look at the Medicare program going broke, as we look at the Nation as a whole going broke, $5 trillion in debt, are we going to be grown-up about it? Are we going to be adult about it? Or are we going to continue to act like adolescents, spending today without regard to tomorrow? I think most Americans demonstrated in the last election that the policy of enjoying the benefits of programs today and expecting our children and our grandchildren to pay for them with ballooning debts and deficits are unconscionable. The senior citizens of this country know what it is to be grown-up and to act responsibly, and I believe that once they see how responsibly we Republicans have behaved in fashioning this program to meet their needs, they will then do the responsible thing and support it. Mr. Speaker, I think the country will be better for it. Medicare will be better for it, and all of this political posturing will soon be behind us. And with that, I would yield back the balance of my time and thank the gentlewoman from Washington [Mrs. Smith] for yielding. eliminating PACs and Other Congressional Reforms

Mr. GREENWOOD

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote No. 570, it was my intention to vote ``aye''. When I reviewed the Record, I noticed I was recorded as not voting. I would like the Record to reflect that I was on the floor, and it appears as though my vote was not recorded by the electronic device.

Mr. GREENWOOD

Mr. GREENWOOD. I do, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the House, those who agree with me, those who oppose us, for what I think has been a high-toned, important debate for this country. Let me close with this, Mr. Chairman. This is not now, never has been, never will be, a debate about abortion. It is a debate about family planning. It is a debate about public health. It is a debate about the right of women in this country, poor women, to plan their families, and we should all stand up for that. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Mrs. Johnson]. (Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Molinari].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Doggett].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Slaughter].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, woefully, only $34 million of the $116 million will ever find its way to family planning. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, this proud father of two fine young men and two beautiful little girls yields 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Waters].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr. Bilbray].

Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee]. (Ms. JACKSON-LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)