Chuck Schumer: “I want to address further this proposal before us. I was glad my colleague from New Mexico finally mentioned that it…”

“I want to address further this proposal before us. I was glad my colleague from New Mexico finally mentioned that it would take 60 votes. So we are dealing with 60 votes, and 60 votes, and 60 votes, because of the variety of the very technical, detailed, and sometimes tortuous reasons for the Senate rules, which have a wisdom to them way beyond my ken. But I would like to make a couple points. First, I would add to the Record, if it has not been added already, the CBO estimate of the Hagel-Ensign amendment. I think last night we were talking about $160 billion. Now CBO--and the Senator from New Mexico has stated it correctly--estimates this bill costs $294.7 billion. However, if the Schumer-McCain bill were added to it, it would reduce the cost by $13 billion to $284 billion. That is within the budget resolution. My friend from New Mexico is exactly correct. It is also $130 billion more than we were talking about last night. With that money, the close to $300 billion, I just want to remind my colleagues of who it covers and who it does not cover. Again, a senior citizen, poor, with an income of $9,000, would have to first pay $1,500 before they would get a nickel from this bill. I will tell you, $9,000 does not buy much. It buys even less in New York than it would buy in Nebraska or in Nevada, but it does not buy much anywhere--and to ask that person to have to pay $1,500 first?...”