Conference Report On S. Con. Res. 13, Concurrent Resolution On The Budget For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

Conference Report On S. Con. Res. 13, Concurrent Resolution On The Budget For Fiscal Year 2010

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Ms. SCHWARTZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your great work on this budget.

The budget is more than numbers on a page. It is a statement of priorities and values and goals of our President, the Congress, and our Nation. The budget embraces the President's goals of rebuilding the economy and creating new jobs, restoring fiscal integrity and making investments for our future prosperity and security.

Simply put, we will not be economically competitive unless we meet these economic and fiscal challenges and make these essential investments. This budget meets these goals. It sets us on a path towards health care reform with a goal of containing costs, improving quality, and expanding access to coverage.

We hear about the 47 million Americans without insurance. But they are also more than numbers. When I was back in the district a couple weeks ago, I was visiting a local college, Penn State Abington. It's a commuter campus of Penn State in my district. I met with a panel of young people, all articulate, all bright, all working hard at school.

One young woman, 21 years old, said she was a daughter of a single mother who makes about $20,000 a year. She's not an only child. She had been covered by CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, until she was too old. She is now a full-time student. She works almost full time to make ends meet. She tried to get health insurance, and she simply couldn't afford it. She recently got sick and went to the hospital and now has a bill for $7,000, a bill she worries about every day, a debt she doesn't know how she will ever repay, and, of course, she worries about getting sick again in the future.

This budget enables Congress to develop a uniquely American solution to both coverage and costs so that that young woman and the millions like her without health coverage will be able to get it, a plan that will include and be built on innovation, technology, incentives for an effective delivery system, renewed commitment to prevention and consumer protections in a private and public marketplace.

We cannot sustain the status quo, nor should we. It's about time for us to pass this budget resolution and get to the task ahead.

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Ms. SCHWARTZ. I just want to make it very clear--not only on behalf of myself, but all of my colleagues. We have spoken quite a bit about, yes, the values and the investments we are making in this budget, but we have also spoken about our deep concern and our responsibility going forward on the debt.

Let's be clear; this administration and this Congress inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit for this year. And yes, there were some additions made because of the terrible economy we are in, the need to respond to this economic situation and to create those new jobs. And this budget makes a commitment to reduce the annual deficit by two-thirds in 5 years, an ambitious goal, and one we are determined to meet.

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