Andy Harris: “Graduate medical education is absolutely a problem; there is no question about it. The demographics are clear in the…”

“Graduate medical education is absolutely a problem; there is no question about it. The demographics are clear in the United States. We have an aging population that requires more services, and yet we don't have enough graduate medical education to train all the physicians and providers that we need to train. Here is the problem with the amendment: It goes to one of those bottomless wells, I guess. And not only does it go to a bottomless well in the department that the money is spent in, it goes to a bottomless well in another department. Again, there is $10 billion in CHIP's funds unspent, could have come from, but, no, the money is taken from the Secretary of Education's departmental management fund. Now, let's review the budget of the Department of Education, because the budget is increased by 5 percent under the bill passed out by the majority from the House, from the committee. So get it. The Department of Education increased in size by 5 percent, and the bill itself level-funds the Department--management, not Department, but the management. So we are already asking the management to basically do 5 percent more work for the same amount of money, and here comes along this amendment, again, no question we need more graduate medical education. Again, it is a question of priorities. If we need graduate medical education, let's find something in HHS that we don't need much of, and let's transfer that money. But, no, that is not the approach taken here.…”