Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BLACK. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my colleague from Louisiana's legislation repealing this unsustainable budget gimmick created to make the health care law look less expensive.

The CLASS Act was a long-term entitlement that was plagued with problems from the very beginning. From day one, concerns were raised about the CLASS program's unsustainable cost structure, and the administration ignored it.

I have a chart that was presented to us in our Ways and Means Committee in the markup of this bill, and from the very beginning there were six different occasions, and up until March 20 when it was passed, of experts who said this was unsustainable, and they've already been referenced by prior speakers.

Since that time of passage there were four others, including Secretary Sebelius in October of 2011, who also said: ``I do not see a viable path forward for the CLASS implementation.''

This program, again, has been unsustainable from the very beginning. I think what is so sad is we continue to put our head in the sand and make the American people believe that this program is somehow workable. This needs to be removed from our law so we can start again. This is a nonpartisan issue, and we all need to work together in a bipartisan way. As a nurse for over 40 years working with the elderly, I recognize the need for long-term care.

The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Louisiana has 1 minute remaining and the right to close. The gentleman from California has 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

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