Kent Conrad: “let me respond briefly and then we will have a chance to hear from the chairman of the Finance Committee. Senator…”

“let me respond briefly and then we will have a chance to hear from the chairman of the Finance Committee. Senator Domenici said Democrats voted against a lockbox last year. That is only part of the story. Democrats voted for the lockbox that passed on a bipartisan basis. We voted against one version of the lockbox that threatened, according to the Secretary of the Treasury, the ability of Congress to pay the national debt. Yes, we voted against the lockbox provision that threatened the good credit of the United States, but we supported the lockbox that protected Social Security and Medicare that passed on a bipartisan basis. Second, the Senator says the House passed, by a huge margin, the lockbox he is offering. The House was not permitted to consider an alternative. This alternative, the one I am offering that passed the Senate last year, is far stronger. Third, the Senator says we would take the Medicare Part A trust fund off budget. That is exactly right. We would treat it the same way we treat the Social Security trust fund to give it the full protection it deserves. Finally, the Senator says we threaten Medicare reform and the ability to write a prescription drug benefit. That is not the case. My amendment creates a point of order against legislation that makes the trust fund less solvent, not more solvent. Medicare reform is intended to make Medicare more solvent, not less solvent.…”