Martin Sabo

Mr. SABO

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Ward]. (Mr. WARD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Illinois [Mrs. Collins]. (Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California [Mr. Waxman]. (Mr. WAXMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) [[Page H 6585]]

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar]. (Mr. OBERSTAR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida [Ms. Brown]. (Ms. BROWN of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Hoyer]. (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Moran]. (Mr. MORAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.) [[Page H 6584]]

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. SABO

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens], a Member who is very concerned about education. (Mr. OWENS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro], a very hard-working, enthusiastic Member.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my friend, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel], the distinguished senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Visclosky]. (Mr. VISCLOSKY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Doggett], an enthusiastic, hard-working new member of our committee.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Roybal-Allard], a very thoughtful, hard-working new member of our committee.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Bentsen]. (Mr. BENTSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Woolsey], one of the very able new Members of our committee who represents her state of California in distinguished fashion. (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from my native State of North Dakota [Mr. Pomeroy].

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York [Ms. Slaughter], one of the senior members of our committee, an outstanding member of the Committee on the Budget and a good friend.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Sawyer]. (Mr. SAWYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, over half the cuts in the Republican tax bill go to people with incomes over $100,000. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my distinguished friend, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Stenholm], who has done more in support of the balanced budget than any other Member of the House. (Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first let me congratulate my friend, the chairman of the Budget Committee, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Kasich] for what in his point of view has to be an outstanding job of negotiation. The gentleman has worked very hard, and I have fundamental problems with this budget resolution, as I will explain, but the gentleman did an exceptional job in representing the position of the majority in the House and negotiations with the Senate. I say to the gentleman, ``You took them to the cleaners, my friend, and as an observer of the process, I admire the skill with which you represented your point of view and the point of view of the majority in the House. You were exceptionally skillful.'' Mr. Speaker, a budget represents much more than simply numbers on paper. It is a statement about what we stand for as a government and what we value as Americans. it is real things to real people. At its best, it sets out our priorities, addresses our problems and helps create opportunity where none existed before. Today, as we consider the conference agreement fashioned by our Republican colleagues, we have to look at what it stands for: Its values, its priorities, and what it means for the future of our country. When I do that, I see a budget that fails the test of fairness, and I see a document that slams the door of opportunity in the face of millions of working Americans. Mr. Speaker and Members, when I look at this budget, the rich get richer. Millions of struggling working Americans and poor folks will simply find that the struggle gets more difficult. It also affects communities. Those communities in our country that are in declining urban areas or in poorer rural areas with declining population and economic base will find it much more difficult to reverse that decline. This budget will escalate what has become a central problem in our economy and our society: the expanding income gap between the richest and poorest Americans. In the last 20 years, the rich have gotten richer, while most working families have seen their incomes stagnate or decline. This budget will intensify that trend and all the problems it brings to our society. This conference agreement expresses the wrong priorities for our country. When it cuts health care by $450 billion and Medicare and Medicaid for the poorest, most vulnerable in our society to pay for billions in new tax breaks for the most affluent, the massive tax breaks for the affluent will also force draconian cuts in needed Federal spending. The $189 billion in cuts from nondefense discretionary programs, will seriously erode national support for transportation, housing, communication, education and training, basic science, community development, energy, and the environment. At a time when the world economy is becoming more competitive, this budget abandons the traditional Federal commitment to help American businesses, farmers, and citizens to compete around the globe. Mr. Speaker, the last time we tried to balance the budget by starting with a big tax cut was in 1981, and we are still suffering from the disastrous deficits that package cost. This budget risks repeating that history all over again. It is not only unfair, it is fiscally imprudent. I urge my colleagues to oppose the misplaced priorities and the fundamental unfairness in the Republican budget. Vote ``no,'' my friends.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Dingell]. (Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas [Mr. Stenholm]. (Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.

Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes. Mr. Speaker and Members, the motion to instruct is relatively simple. To my colleagues on the Republican side, one segment of it simply endorses something you did and the Republicans in the Senate did not do, and that is not make cuts in the earned income tax credit. We commend you for it and urge you to retain that decision in conference. Mr. Speaker and Members, it is rather difficult to find a motion to instruct when you have two very bad resolutions before us. But, Mr. Speaker and Members, as we begin this process of evolving a budget for 1995 and the next 7 years, we should not start that process of trying to achieve a balanced budget by simply digging the hole deeper with a tax cut aimed primarily at the most affluent in this country. Over 50 percent of the benefits of this tax cut flow to people with incomes over $100,000 a year. What is the impact of that decision? I might add that while the Senate does not do that, they do the opposite. They increase taxes for millions of hard-working Americans with the lowest incomes in our country. Mr. Speaker, the impact of what the House has done and what the Senate is doing is to force deep cuts in a whole host of programs that substantially impact the American public. Where are the biggest impacts felt? Clearly, in the health area. What we have in the House is a budget resolution that, by the year 2002, would cut Medicare by $86 billion a year, while at the same time the tax cut is costing $90 billion a year, deep and significant cuts in Medicaid, a program that provides health care for the most vulnerable in our society, the poor, elderly, and disabled. By 2002, the Republican House proposal would have growth in that program at less than 2 percent, when projected caseload is 3 to 4 percent. Clearly, it either means significant numbers of American people would not have health care or else we are transferring significant costs to State and local governments. Mr. Speaker and Members, what we have before us in the House and Senate budget resolutions are attempts to reward the most affluent in our society, those people who have benefited the most by growth and income over the last 15-20 years. We have had a revolution where income flows to the most affluent in our country. The proposed bill that comes from the House would reward those folks with a significant tax cut while we substantially cut the funding for a variety of health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, substantially cut back on veterans' health care, scale back training for education, whether it be loan programs for college students, whether it be basic education and training to make sure that our workforce is equipped for the 21st century. So, Mr. Speaker and Members, as we go to conference, let us not begin by digging a hole deeper that forces unconscionable cuts in health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, makes our education and training programs such that there would be thousands of students who could not afford to go on to college and to cut programs that train our workforce so they are equipped for the 21st century.