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Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce

 

CONFERENCE REPORT ON RECONCILIATION
BUDGET CUTS

December 19, 2005

Last week my Republican colleagues voted to cut taxes for those like Ebenezer Scrooge by $100 billion. Now we are voting on ways to raise costs for the Cratchit family to get medical care for Tiny Tim.

There is no way to hide the fact that these cuts hurt beneficiaries.

  • Most of the cuts in the Medicaid program come directly from the families who depend on it – either by raising their payments, making health care unaffordable, or not paying for needed treatments when they do seek care.
  • Millions of children will lose medically necessary benefits and face increases in the amount their parents have to pay for them to go to the doctor because this Conference Report allows states to charge families four times more than today for them to see their doctor. We know this size of increase will force people to forgo needed care.
  • Millions of families will see cuts in important services such as mental health, physical and rehabilitation therapies, dental and vision benefits. What good can come of allowing States to deny eyeglasses to children who cannot see in school? And one in nine children with special healthcare needs who reside in military families relies on Medicaid for supplemental health care jeopardized by this bill.
  • The Conference Report seeks to raise healthcare premiums on individuals who depend on Medicaid. A major portion of the savings from this provision come from families, including children, losing their health insurance coverage. There are more than 45 million uninsured in this Nation, and this bill would add more to that number.
  • But don’t take my word about the harm these kinds of cuts will cause. Nearly 40 children’s groups, including the March of Dimes and Family Voices, wrote to oppose the benefit cuts and new cost-sharing requirements in the House bill that are largely carried forward in the conference report. And AARP has written to urge that Congress not harm those who rely on the program for long-term care. More than 140 national groups – including the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics – wrote in opposition to benefit cuts and increases in cost-sharing.

We cannot hide the fact, no matter how late in the night we vote, that we are hurting a lot of people tonight.

Let me briefly mention another issue that has received relatively little attention in this bill – the transition to digital television transmissions by a date certain and the sale of the returned analog spectrum. Democrats all support a transition by a date certain in order to help consumers and to return spectrum to first responders. Auctioning the reclaimed spectrum could generate at least $10 billion in government revenue. This raises two questions. First, will this bill tax unsuspecting consumers to pay for the transition? Second, how will the government choose to spend the auction revenues?

Americans must not be taxed to pay for the digital television transition. Nearly 21 million households, many low-income or minority, rely exclusively on over-the-air TV reception. Countless others have cable or satellite service on some but not all of their TVs. So millions of American families will need a converter box priced at least $60 just to keep watching television. House and Senate Republicans, to protect their tax cuts, would force many Americans to reach into their wallets and pay a television tax of at least $60 per TV set. Why should ordinary people pay for a government decision that makes their television sets obsolete?

Also, the Conference Report shortchanges first responders by allocating a small portion of the $10 billion in auction revenues to public safety communications. The bulk of the spectrum auction proceeds should be devoted to public safety communications, not tax cuts. Our first responders risk their lives to leave no one behind. We cannot let the Republicans leave first responders behind.

So this is what is at stake: Tax cuts for the rich, reducing services for the poor, a television tax for average Americans, and a shortchanging of our first responders.

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(Contact: Jodi Seth, 202-225-3641)