Don Nickles: “I think Senator Grassley said it very well. He is chairman of the committee. He said the committee can find $3.4 billion…”

“I think Senator Grassley said it very well. He is chairman of the committee. He said the committee can find $3.4 billion out of $4.6 trillion. I think it could be in Medicaid or in the earned-income tax credit. I think it could be in almost any program, such as the welfare program. I have no doubt whatsoever there is plenty of abuse. The administration talked about the intergovernmental transfers. There is lots of abuse. I am going to embarrass our colleagues by getting into this in detail. I will show people how some States have been ripping off this system--probably to a much greater extent than even what has been bantered about. It is happening today. Many States are doing it. I will tell my colleagues that we found we had payment abuse in Medicaid in years past. You might remember the program. We had to tighten it up. There has been some tightening of the intergovernmental transfer but not very much. A lot more could be done. The Federal Government should not be taking Medicaid dollars and giving it to States to pave roads. In some cases, Medicaid money is being used by States for a lot of things other than Medicaid. I am telling you, I come to this Senate with, I hope, a little bit of credibility. I am not making this up. Maybe a more thorough evaluation in the committees would expose some of this.”