Congressional Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2007--Continued

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007--Continued

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AMENDMENT NO. 3100

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 3100 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that Senator Graham of South Carolina be added as a cosponsor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, last year, Congress made some real progress in getting a handle on mandatory spending by passing the Deficit Reduction Act. The Deficit Reduction Act will reduce mandatory spending by nearly $100 billion over the next decade, and it is the first time Congress has taken a hard look at how to find savings and reduce the budget deficit on the mandatory spending side since 1997.

The Deficit Reduction Act is a good first step. My amendment builds on the savings of the Deficit Reduction Act. My amendment lowers the Federal budget deficit, lowers the Federal debt, and does not increase taxes on the American people.

Today, the Federal budget, as we all know, is heavily weighted in favor of mandatory spending--entitlement spending, so to speak. As people live longer and the baby boom generation retires, that spending will increase and eat up a larger and larger share of our budget.

Just in Medicare and Medicaid alone, in the last 5 years, we have seen a 22-percent increase in entitlement spending for those two programs. And if we don't do something in the next 30 years about entitlement spending, we won't have a dime of revenue to pay for other items that are important, such as defense, education, NIH research, and payments to health care providers to reimbursement under Medicare and Medicaid.

My amendment directs the Senate Finance Committee to find $10 billion in additional savings over the next 5 years. One proposal for the Finance Committee to consider under this amendment would be to repeal the stabilization fund included in the Medicare Modernization Act. Let me explain what that is.

This is essentially a bonus provision to preferred provider organizations--insurance companies, in other words--over and above the regular Medicare share to encourage them to participate in the Medicare Program. There simply is no reason to increase the Federal subsidy for these insurance companies over and above regular Medicare payments. We should eliminate that bonus and use that money, which is not necessary, to pay down the debt by $7 billion.

There are other good areas I believe for the Finance Committee to find the $10 billion this amendment would require. The problem is this: If we don't do something about the autopilot our budget is on when it comes to the mandatory side of spending, we have only ourselves to blame because no one is at the wheel, and I am afraid the plane will crash all too soon.

We are feeling the squeeze already. The appropriators, I know, are trying to squeeze more and more out of the discretionary spending portion of the budget because as the mandatory and entitlement side rose, there was less and less flexibility for spending on important programs that represent America's priorities under the discretionary portion of the budget.

So I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. It is one that can be done without detracting from current Medicare spending, but eliminates this bonus provision, this additional cash or Federal subsidy that is provided for under the law that could be saved and be put to more constructive use, showing that we are serious about fiscal responsibility and paying down the debt.

I yield back the remaining time.

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, my amendment directs the Senate Committee on Finance to find $10 billion in additional savings out of the Medicare Program and builds on the work done in the Deficit Reduction Act where we reduced the rate of growth for mandatory spending by nearly $100 billion over the next decade.

As all Members know, there is increasing pressure on discretionary spending on important priorities because of the growth of Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid alone grew by 22 percent over the last 5 years. This will allow the Committee on Finance to take the stabilization fund, for example, that is used to supplement payments to preferred provider organizations which participate in the Medicare Program, which is available to be recouped to help pay down some of the debt in the amount of $10 billion, as well as other sources of revenue that they can gain out of the Medicare Program.

I ask my colleagues to vote ``aye.''

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