Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHWARTZ. I thank the ranking member.

The Federal budget is a statement of our priorities and our values as a Nation. The budget needs to be fiscally responsible and reduce the deficit, meet our obligations to our seniors and our families and our future, and make targeted investments to grow our economy.

The Republican budget fails to meet all three challenges. It fails our Nation's seniors and our middle class. It fails to ensure that we can compete from a position of strength in a global economy, and it fails to offer a balanced approach to deficit reduction. The Republican budget relies solely on spending cuts. It chooses tax reductions for millionaires at the expense of the middle class, and it chooses tax breaks for the biggest corporations over small business and new jobs.

The most direct assault on our values as Americans is the Republicans' plan to dismantle Medicare as we know it. Rather than protecting the promise of Medicare for seniors now and into the future, the Republicans break that promise. Rather than reducing costs through payment and delivery system reforms, the Republicans do nothing to contain costs, and they simply shift the cost burden onto our seniors. Rather than guaranteed benefits, the Republicans leave seniors on their own to buy what benefits they can afford with a voucher of limited value. This means seniors are subjected to the uncertainty of the insurance industry, meaning possible discrimination based on age, illness, and income. Their budget even cuts health coverage for our sickest and frailest seniors, threatening their access to vital nursing home care.

For decades, Medicare has provided both financial and health security for America's seniors, with access to quality, affordable, guaranteed health benefits. Medicare is a promise to our seniors, and it is a promise that this Republican budget breaks. America's seniors deserve better. Instead, we need a balanced approach to reduce the deficit, to meet our commitments in our Nation, particularly to our seniors, and to create an environment that grows our economy now and into the future.

Reject this Republican budget and choose the Democratic budget alternative, which meets our Nation's challenges in a way that is balanced, fair, and responsible.

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