John Spratt

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. I yield to Mr. Israel of New York to make a unanimous consent statement. (Mr. ISRAEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio for a unanimous consent request. (Ms. SUTTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Congress cleared the way for health care reform in the budget resolution. And when we did, we stipulated that reform had to be deficit-neutral. We can now say that the House, Senate and President have all abided by this principle. The bill put before us has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. In this case, CBO found that the 10-year cost of all the covered changes in the bill put before us amount to $788 billion. But the bill before us also includes reductions, savings, and new revenues which total $931 billion. When the $931 billion is netted against the $788 billion, the result is a net savings, which reduced on-budget deficits over the next 10 years by $143 billion. That's CBO's estimate of the first 10 years under these reforms, a reduction in the deficit of $143 billion. What about the next 10 years? CBO estimates that these two bills together will save around .5 percent of GDP over the second 10 years. Now that may sound minimal, but during that period of time, GDP cumulatively is $272 trillion, so .5 percent of that easily equals more than $1.2 trillion. You will hear numbers of all sorts in this debate, but remember these because they come from a disinterested source with a well-proven record. This is what CBO estimates as the effects of these bills on the deficit: a reduction of $143 billion over the next 10 years and a reduction of $1.2 trillion over the following years. We have kept the promise we made at the outset by keeping health care reform deficit- neutral, and that's one more reason to vote for this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield for a unanimous consent request to Ms. Fudge of Ohio. (Ms. FUDGE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, could I inquire as to the remaining time?

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) for a unanimous consent request. (Mr. WATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. I now take pleasure in yielding 3 minutes to my colleague from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the majority whip.

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Boyd). (Mr. BOYD asked and was given permission to revise and extend remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks). (Mr. MEEKS of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal- Allard). (Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott).

Mr. SPRATT

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to Mr. Ackerman of New York. (Mr. ACKERMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. For purposes of another unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentlelady from California (Ms. Waters). (Ms. WATERS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. For purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to Mr. Driehaus from Ohio. (Mr. DRIEHAUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Also for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to Mrs. Dahlkemper from Pennsylvania. (Mrs. DAHLKEMPER asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. I now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentlelady from New York (Mrs. Lowey). (Mrs. LOWEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne). (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson). (Mr. GRAYSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop). (Mr. BISHOP of Georgia asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time is remaining on my side?

Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)