Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the House of Representatives has passed S. 1932, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, DRA. This is a relatively modest deficit-reduction bill that represents just one-fourth of 1 percent of what Congress would otherwise spend during the next 5 years.

It has been 8 years since Congress last passed legislation to reduce mandatory spending. The kinds of Medicaid changes made in the conference report are a fraction of what Governors across the country--Republican and Democrat--asked Congress for to help State governments keep their Medicaid programs afloat for the millions of people who rely on Medicaid. Beneficiaries and taxpayers both deserve to get the highest value for every dollar that is spent on Medicaid, Medicare, and other safety-net programs.

It is especially rewarding to have included in this overall package a bill I first authored in 1999. The Family Opportunity Act, which I have pushed for year after year with Senator Kennedy, was inspired by an Iowa family struggling to access health care services for a disabled child. Melissa Arnold, the mother, didn't give up, and today's legislative victory is a tribute to her kind of determination. The measure will let States create options for families that have children with multiple medical needs to buy into Medicaid while continuing to work. It is a pro-work initiative because it lets parents work without losing their children's health coverage. It is pro-family because it encourages parents to work and build a better life for their children, rather than being forced to impoverish themselves to access health care. And it is pro-taxpayer because it means more parents continue to earn money, pay taxes and pay their own way for Medicaid coverage for their children.

In addition to this expansion of the Medicaid program, the comprehensive legislation includes $400 million in child-support payments that will go directly to welfare families, along with grants to promote healthy marriages and responsible fatherhood, $100 million to improve the handling of court cases involving foster care, a $200 million increase for a Safe and Stable Families program to help keep troubled families together and support adoption, and $1 billion to help parents pay for child care when they leave welfare and join the workforce.

On Medicaid, some partisan critics and their allies will probably continue to distort the bill's intent and effect. I am repeating this--the provisions on benefit flexibility and cost sharing are clear and unambiguous. The Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agree. The conferees agreed to language that clearly provides early periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment as a guaranteed benefit to all children on Medicaid. The conferees also agreed to language that clearly exempts individuals with incomes of less than 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Limit from any increased cost-sharing. I fought hard for these provisions and I will take appropriate actions to prevent any misreading of them to occur down the road.

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