Martin Sabo: “Mr. Chairman, here we are again, a repeat of 1995. I represent a party that in 1993 produced real deficit reduction. We…”

“Mr. Chairman, here we are again, a repeat of 1995. I represent a party that in 1993 produced real deficit reduction. We did not simply talk about it. We produced it, and the deficit has fallen in half. We come today to face the question of how we continue to put our Federal fiscal house in order, but how to do it in a fashion that is fair and workable. One of the most important programs that America passed some 30 years ago was Medicare, to assure that elderly Americans had adequate health care. I congratulate my Republican friends on finally making one change in your proposal. You have accepted the President's position that the base premium for part B Medicare should not exceed 25 percent of total cost, and I congratulate you on that change. Unfortunately, as I look at the details of your program, however, I discover that while you appear to have been easing your Medicare cuts over the 6-year period before 2002, that in reality, at the end of that time, the provider cuts in the final year, 2002, will actually have to be deeper and make Medicare more vulnerable than was your program as it passed the Congress and was vetoed by the President. That is hardly progress, my friends. We find throughout this budget a variety of sugar coating to make it look a little bit better than the radical agenda of 1995.”