Chris Van Hollen

There is no doubt that we have to reduce the deficit and debt for the good of all of our children and grandchildren. The debate today is about how we do it and whether we do it in a balanced way. I would point out the Congressional Budget…

I think we should engage in tax reform, but I don't think we need to wait for tax reform to get rid of some of the subsidies to the Big Oil companies or to get rid of the subsidies for corporate jets. We can do that now as part of a…

The gentlelady who just spoke is correct that under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan that Members of Congress are on that there is a 72 percent for the premium. That's exactly what that steady green line is. And as health care…

If the gentleman will yield, let the record show that in a moment of genuine bipartisanship, I gave the chairman's chart back to him for his own use.

The gentleman is absolutely right about the need to look out for future generations and the issue of the deficit. What I always find staggering is the refusal to close one single loophole-- just one penny--for the purposes of reducing the…

That was an interesting colloquy, especially given the fact that the Senate has passed a bipartisan transportation bill; again, a bill that has very broad support that, if we took it up today in the House, we could get it passed right now…

If you could just talk about the importance of having a balanced approach so that we can actually accomplish some deficit reduction in the country.

So anybody who thinks that just cutting federal civilian employees and contracting out that work saves tax payer money is just plain wrong.

That is just a matter of historical record.

We took very deep cuts over the next 10 years in non-defense discretionary spending.

You just cannot have it both ways.

It hasn't forced us to make the hard trades. It hasn't forced us to prioritize.

Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.

The size and the structure of our military and defense budgets have to be driven by a strategy, not the other way around.

And in fact, just to close out, Mr. Chairman, in your testimony you point out that in those cases where your support, the amount of your voucher does not keep pace with the market costs of health care, you may have to choose to either pay…

The impact of that is that, not only tax payers, but other Medicare beneficiaries who are paying premiums in the fee-for-service program are actually cross-subsidizing the seniors on Medicare in the Medicare Advantage plans.

So once it is fully phased in, and the chairman mentioned reductions in the Medicare. So some of the savings we achieved, a significant amount of savings we achieved, were in reducing these overpayments, these huge subsidies, to the…

Surveys from individuals who are in the private health care system compared to surveys who are on the Medicare system, with regard to their current access to doctors and providers, and across the board, my colleagues may remember the…

If you are simply transferring a Medicare beneficiary from the Medicare system into the private health market, and the growth in costs in the private health market is the same or higher than Medicare, they are not going to be paying any…

I take it you stand by your letter, and if you could just elaborate for a moment on that issue, just to put that issue to rest once and for all.

I think we should tackle this issue sooner rather than later. In fact, I think we should get to it right away.

We need reforms, and we need changes for Social Security.

I hope, as we move forward, we will focus on that approach to modernizing Medicare and Medicaid...

I believe that is the wrong direction; I believe that instead we should focus on some of the steps we began to take under the Affordable Care Act...

The Republican approach would end the Medicare guarantee of a package of benefits specified in law...