Frank Pallone: “I am pleased that the rule allows for the President's budget to be considered along with some of the other options, and…”

“I am pleased that the rule allows for the President's budget to be considered along with some of the other options, and I think the contrast is clear between the President's budget and that of the Republican leadership. Again, the President's budget does achieve a balanced budget; it reaches a balance in 2002 that is certified by the Congressional Budget Office in the right way. The President's budget also provides a moderate tax cut targeted to the middle class. The difference between the President's budget and the Republican leadership budget is that the President's budget preserves priorities that are important to the American people, priorities like Medicare and Medicaid, like education, particularly higher education, and also protecting the environment. The Republican budget is the same thing that we had last year. It hurts the average American because it goes against these areas that the average American is so concerned about. When we talk about Medicare, we are talking about a $167 billion cut in Medicare in the Republican leadership budget that will force hospitals to close, that would make seniors have to pay more money out of pocket and will also move them into HMO's, into managed care systems. On the other hand, the President's budget achieves the requirement of keeping Medicare solvent in the same way as the Republican budget, but it does not make these radical changes to Medicare that will hurt the average senior citizen.”