Pelosi: Budget Vote Shows Strong Majority in the House Opposes Cutting Medicaid
Pelosi: Budget Vote Shows Strong Majority in the House Opposes Cutting Medicaid
Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the floor of the House this evening in favor of a Democratic motion to instruct House-Senate budget conferees that would prevent the Republican budget from cutting billions in Medicaid funding. The motion passed by a vote of 348 to 72, demonstrating that a majority in the House and the Senate opposes the cuts. Pelosi said she is concerned the Republican Leadership will once again ignore the will of the majority and impose deep cuts in Medicaid in the final budget conference report. Below are Pelosi's remarks:
"It is crystal clear, Madam Speaker, that a majority of Members in both bodies oppose cuts to Medicaid. The other body voted to remove such cuts on the floor. With 44 House Republicans signing a letter calling for no Medicaid cuts, and solid Democratic opposition, a majority of this body also prefers a resolution with no Medicaid cuts.
"I usually don't like to talk about process in the House, but this is a time when process has a direct impact on policy, and policy has a direct impact on the health of the American people. Theregular order is to appoint conferees, instruct those conferees, resolve differences with the other body, and report back a conference agreement.
"But the Republican leadership knew they could not defeat a motion to protect Medicaid. So rather than follow regular order, they negotiated behind closed doors to include Medicaid cuts in the final budget report, regardless of how the majority of both houses vote on this motion to instruct.
"Press reports indicate that the final agreement will contain between $8 and $10 billion in Medicaid cuts. This conference report would not only ignore the will of the majority in both Houses, but, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, it would include deeper cuts than originally proposed by the President.
"Madam Speaker, states have undergone a wrenching budget process. When the President first proposed Medicaid cuts in early February, many Republican governors spoke out against them. One of them, Republican Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, said: People need to remember that to balance the federal budget off the backs of the poorest people in the country is simply unacceptable.'
"It is unacceptable, but unfortunately, it is standard operating procedure for the Republicans Leadership in Congress. I am hopeful that a significant number of Republicans will join our motion to instruct, being true to letter they sent opposing cuts, and protect Medicaid.
"If Congress cuts Medicaid funding, states will be forced to reduce Medicaid coverage or benefits, jeopardizing needed services for low-income Americans. Over the last four years, more than 5 million people have joined the ranks of the uninsured. That number would more than double if it were not for the Medicaid program.
"Make no mistake: cutting Medicaid funds will increase the number of low-income Americans who are uninsured to partially pay for $70 billion in tax cuts for the extremely wealthy. Many of these uninsured, poor Americans are children. I don't think it really is a statement of our values in our budget to cut health care for the poorest children in America to give tax cuts to the wealthiest people in America. And yet at the end of the day, this budget will do all of that and increase our deficits.
"This is wrong. This is unjust. I urge my colleagues to vote for this very important motion to instruct to return a conference report to this body with zero Medicaid cuts."
http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/releases.cfm?pressReleaseID=948