Cornyn Bill Would Rein in Mandatory Spending of Social Security, Medicare, Save Taxpayer Dollars
Cornyn Bill Would Rein In Mandatory Spending Of Social Security, Medicare, Save Taxpayer Dollars
Legislation creates bipartisan commission to help end waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Social Security
'If we do nothing, in 30 years we won't have a dime of revenue to pay for anything except four programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the debt'
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, introduced legislation Wednesday mandating a review of the 75-year solvency of the Social Security and Medicare programs. The Cornyn bill would create a bipartisan commission which would provide specific legislative recommendations to the President and to Congress on ways to improve and strengthen the nation's largest entitlement programs.
"This bill creates a bipartisan commission to examine and provide real solutions to the growing entitlement crisis," Cornyn said. "The goal of the commission will be to review and analyze both the current and long-term conditions of Social Security and Medicare, and the bill provides expedited Congressional review on the commission's final reportfollowed by a vote on their recommendations."
The National Commission on Entitlement Solvency Act of 2006 will also be included as part of a comprehensive budget reform package, Stop Over-Spending (SOS) Act, that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) will introduce on Thursday.
"The federal budget today is already heavily weighted toward entitlement spending. And as people live longer and the baby boom generation retires, that spending will continue to eat up a larger and larger share of our budget," Cornyn said. "If we do nothing, if we let entitlement programs run on autopilot, in 30 years we won't have a dime of revenue to pay for anything else except four programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the debt. Unfortunately, the budget process today does not give Congress the appropriate foundation to tackle both today's deficit and tomorrow's unfunded obligations."
The 15-member commission would include three members appointed by the President, three by the Senate Majority Leader, three by the Senate Minority Leader three by the House Speaker and three by the House Minority Leader.
"While the idea of an entitlement commission is not a new idea in Washington, this bill also provides an expedited process that mandates Congress consider and vote on the Commission's recommendations. Once the commission completes its work, the Finance committee will have 30 days to produce a bill, which will be protected from any attempt to block a final vote, such as filibusters. Unlike previous commissions, these reforms will have to be acted on by Congressnot placed on a shelf."
http://cornyn.senate.gov/index.asp?f=record&lid=1&yid=1&rid=237206&pg=1