House of january 6, 2015, the chair will now recognize members fromis smiedy the morityndinity leaders for morning hour debate. The chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than theajitanmiri leaderand the minoty whip limited to five minutes, but in no event shall debate continue beyond 1 50 p. M. The chair recognizes the gentleman from washington, mr. Heck, for five minutes. Mr. Heck thank you, madam speaker. Tick to be ticktock, ticktock, tomorrow, count them there are 30 legislative days left before the Export Import Bank is gone vanished, disappears and each day that we fail to address this Vital Institution for american jobs we let the extruxists win. We let this obstructionists win. We let this impaway. And the irony of it all, as my dear friend from texas, congressman green said if we dont have the Exportimport Bank we would be scurrying around to try to develop to compete with every country in the world who has an export authority. Ticktock. American companies are unfortunately already hurting. Its happening now. We dont have to wait for may or june or july 1 the day the bank will disappear, if we do not reauthorize it. Im speaking in the present tense. Export jobs are delining. Labor needs need to be reevaluated. Let me be clear, american corporations and companies are already losing deals to our global competitors because of this pointless fight. Its hurting companies now. American companies are being penalized because of yet again unfortunately congress procrastinates and yet we have a bill to reauthorize the Exportimport Bank. We have two bills with substantial broad, deep, substantial support, 250 members out of 435, to put a fine point on it. 60 for congressman fincher of tennessees bill and 190 for congresswoman waters, moore and my bill. Again, every other developed nation on the face of the planet has an export credit authority. And most of them are larger as a percent of their Gross Domestic Product than ours is. To allow it to expire is to engage in nothing short. This is not hyperbole. Unilateral economic disarmament. Ticktock ticktock. Small businesses are the ones who will be hurt first. Now, i know a lot of the focus of debate about the Exportimport Bank is boeing. Yeah. Boeing will be hurt. Thats for sure. Although i enjoy reminding people that the boeing company assembles airplanes and what they depend upon is a supply chain of 12,000 businesses and vendors, thousands of whom are in fact Small Businesses. 90 nearly of all Exportimport Banks transactions, provide loans or loan guarantees to Small Businesses. Theyre the backbone of our economy. Everybody knows it. Nearly one in three jobs created in the last decade were created by Small Businesses, and they will be hurt first. Small businesses like stack inc. , in sumner, washington, a veteranowned business that provides industrial tapes and adhesive and a host of other fasteners. They predict their owner personally told me they could hire 40 more staff as a consequence of their exports. The truth of the matter is theres a stack in every Congressional District in america and every town, every city, every community, every neighborhood and they need and use the export Credit Agency of this nation, the Exportimport Bank. Just like the businesses of every other developed nation in the world. The rest of the world is growing a middle class, we all know it. And if we want to keep and expand ours, then were going to have to engage in global trade with one of the tools known as the Exportimport Bank. We have to sell in to their growing middle class. Counting tomorrow, 30 legislative days to go. Ticktock ticktock. Thank you, madam speaker. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina, mr. Jones, for five minutes. Mr. Jones mr. Speaker, last week mailman david hughes flew a cop ter onto the capitol lawn to make a point about the influence of money and politics. While i dont condone violating restricted airspace by flying a gyrocopter on the lawn, ive seen it guess worse and worse in my 20 years in congress. The Citizens United decision by the United States Supreme Court in 2010 created superpacs and multimillionaires that buy candidates. As of april 8 2015, there were 1,360 superpacs in existence that control nearly 700 million in the 2014 election cycle according to opensecrets. Org. The American People have lost confidence in the house and the senate partially because superpacs influence candidates and politicses. Too many times ive seen bills come to the floor of the house that seem influence by money. Just last week the house voted on h. R. 650, the preservation of manufactured housing act of 2015 which does nothing but line the pockets of Warren Buffett by enabling his near monopoly of the mobile home people to strap poor people with higher Interest Rates while his companies are being protected from government regulations against predatory lending. It is my disgust at this influence of money in politics that has led me to be a cosponsor of h. R. 20, the government of the people act introduced by my colleagues congressman John Sarbanes, h. R. 20 would curb the influence of superpacs so that small donors can have a voice again. Which in congress owe the American People a vote on this bill so we can inspire confidence in our democratic process. House leadership should bring this bill to the floor, but i know it wont happen. There isnt the stomach for reform bills in this congress. Even bipartisan bills reform bills but it makes it it does take a Statement Like mr. Hughes to bring this issue into the National Debate and to make congress address our outofcontrol fundraising. I ask the house of representatives to look seriously, my colleagues in both parties to look seriously at the John Sarbanes bill because government by the people act will help to restore the confidence of the American People and we cannot stop whats already the public law. And we cannot change Citizens United unless we go back through the legal process, but we can have an alternative and thats what John Sarbanes bill does, so i hope republicans and democrats will look seriously at becoming cosponsors, and with that mr. Speaker, i will ask god to please bless america and yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. Davis, for five minutes. Mr. Davis thank you mr. Speaker. You know mr. Speaker, i was just thinking of one of the reasons that i like spring so much and so well is that we get an opportunity to interact a bit more with young people with our children. And ive seen many around here this morning all over the place and i simply want to welcome them but also yesterday i got an opportunity to visit two schools. School for Exceptional Children in maywood, illinois, where we just had a wonderful team. Then in the afternoon i did a book fair at the lovely Elementary School with this principal, dr. Haney, and the young people were saying they just love being at lovett and so it was a refreshing day. Like many of my colleagues, i also use a lot of interns and fellows who come and learn and work and be engaged, involved and the statement im going to read today was developed by one of my interns, Jackie Martinez. Jackie has been working on health issues, and she came up with this statement and so i come here today to speak of a Health Concern that many women are likely to develop in their lifetime. Known as one of the most common gynecological disorders uterine fibroids affect nearly 70 of caucasian women and more than 80 of africanamerican women by the age of 50. For many of these women, the associated symptoms of this diagnosis will significantly impact their quality of life, work, personal relationships and daily activities. The prevalence of uterine fibroids is one that increases with age. And although we see a commonality of the disorder and its symptoms, the Greater Public has not yet received proper continued education into the causes and Treatment Options available for women who suffer from these fibroids. In response we see that hysterectomies are the most commonly performed major gynecologic surgery in the United States. With over 400,000 hysterectomies performed annually. Yet, there are also several minimally invasive surgical options for the treatment of uterine fibroids that features less blood loss, shorter hospital stays, smaller incisions for minimal scarring and let need for pain medication than traditional open surgery. Yet, it is important to remember that the best surgical option for each woman, whether open or minimally invasive, is reserved for casebycase evaluation. Recognizing the health and Educational Needs of women in the United States it is important that the Greater Public be educated on the alternatives to more or less invasive surgical treatments in greater detail so that women can have full access to a full spectrum of Treatment Options. After all it is my hope that women will become more educated and empowered in regards to their Reproductive Health and understanding safe options available for the Free Trade Agreement of symptom attic fibroids symptomatic fibroids. I thank Jackie Martinez for writing this statement. Its very important and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield its back yields back. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from tennessee, mrs. Black, for five minutes. Mrs. Black thank you mr. Speaker. It isnt often that members can take the house floor to share good news, but this morning i have an opportunity to do just that. Today i rise to honor the 150th anniversary of First Baptist church on east winchester street in my hometown. Founded in 1865 by a former slave named robert, First Baptist church is a congregation steeped in history and poised to continue changing hearts and changing lives for many years to come. This mission is to be a church of welcome and over the years they have certainly lived up to that goal. In the beginning, their congregation was known as union church because they welcomed exslaves from all denominations, catholic, baptist, presbyterian, no matter your background or your upbringing, there was a place for all gods children within their pews. The church has been destroyed multiple times over the years. First by heavy winds and then by fire, but they always rebuilt and reemerged stronger than before. They weathered the reconstruction era following the civil war, the Economic Uncertainty of the Great Depression and the rise and the fall of the jim crow south. They are truly a statement to christ promise in the gospel of matthew when he proclaimed, upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Today the churchs attendance climbed to approximately 1,000 people. I had the opportunity to join my friends and neighbors at First Baptist church for the worship on many occasions. I have sat under the powerful teaching of their pastor and my dear friend, reverend derrick jackson. I can tell you that 150 years later god is still doing mighty work in the life of special community of believers. Im thankful for how the church has ministered to me and so many others in our community and i wish them many years of continued growth and prosperity. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. The chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon, mr. Blumenauer, for five minutes. Mr. Blumenauer thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. President , please help us stop this madness. The same way president reagan demanded gorbachev, tear down the berlin wall you have an opportunity to stop serial malpractice on the part of congress refusing to meet its obligation to fully fund our transportation responsibility. 23 shortterm extensions of the Transportation Program in recent years is as embarrassing as it is destructive. No country became great building its infrastructure nine months at a time. You can bring this charade to a halt. With all the major agenda items on the table this spring for congress, theres no way that we are going to be able to do anything but expend extend the may 31 transportation deadline. Where the funding authorization expires. Thats when the most recent time that congress kicked the can down the road, approved last fall all the way to the spring. I said at the time when spring comes well be right back in the same situation. And we are. But this does not mean that we need to write off the entire year and beyond. It certainly does not mean that we need to throw this issue into the middle of the next president ial campaign which unfortunately, has already started. You should give us a reasonable deadline july 1, august 1, or even september 1. But under no circumstances should you let this bleed into the next federal fiscal year starting october 1. We lost an opportunity at the end of the last congress to force responsible action in the lame duck session after the 2014 election. We were close, but it eluded us. Please dont let that happen again. Make clear you will not sign any transportation extension beyond the end of the fiscal year federal fiscal year. Mr. President , you dont have to dictate a solution. You have already indicated what you want in a robust sixyear bill. You have given an outline of how you would have Congress Fund this significant reauthorization. Your secretary of transportation anthony fox has been traveling the country advancing a vision for transportation for decades to come. And he is clear about the need for bold action to properly fund it. But you and your administration have also made it clear that youre willing to sign any reasonable Bipartisan Legislation that meets the standards that we need. It needs to be sustainable. It needs to be dedicated. It needs to be big enough to get the job done. Let congress put up or shut up. Force it to act by not extending the deadline past october 1. Recently the historic solution driven by Speaker Boehner and leader pelosi took a problem that long seemed intractable here on capitol hill since 1998 on medicare payments and the funding under the socalled doc fix. But you enacted a permanent solution on a bipartisan basis overwhelmingly approved in this house and in the senate. It required leadership and for some people to relax somewhat their partisan talking points if not their Core Principles but we all got the job done under your leadership. Lets do the same on transportation funding. Lets lay down an absolute deadline. Lets refuse to let it slide past october 1 2015. Lets all Work Together demanding congress do its job. Several hundred members of congress signed a letter recently circulated by congressman ribble and congressman lipinski, my colleague from illinois, saying that thats what should happen. Well, lets actually do it. Together congress can be forced to act. We can rebuild and renew america, putting hundreds of thousands of people to work at familywage jobs, making our communities more livable, our families safer, healthier and more economically secure. Its not going to get easier if we stall. Its not going to be a smaller problem if it is going to be done next year or the year beyond. Lets decide this summer we are going to get the job done. Mr. President , you can help us by demanding that it be done according to a strict timeline no later than october 1. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. The chair recognizes the the gentlewoman from North Carolina ms. Foxx, for five minutes. Ms. Foxx thank you, mr. Speaker. Over the last four years, House Republicans have worked hard to put this nation on a better path forward. We have passed numerous pieces of legislation to encourage job growth and strengthen americas standing in the global economy. We have also passed bills that would decrease energy costs and increase transparency in how tax dollars are spent. Despite the short time we have had, the obstacles we faced and the enormity of our task, House Republicans have managed a number of conservative victories. For example legislation i authored was signed into law last summer to streamline the federal Work Force Development system including the elimination of 15 duplicative programs. We worked tirelessly to minimize the damage caused by obamacare. The first pieces of legislation to pass in the 114th congress included the hire more heroes act, which would make it easier to hire veterans by exempting those who already have health insurance, from being subject to the employer mandate in the president S Health Care law. And the save america workers act to change obamacares 30hour definition of fulltime employment and restore the traditional 40hour workweek, which has long been the standard for fulltime work. Additionally, the House Republican working group has played out an alternative vision to obamacare. It includes allowing affected states to opt out of overwhelm bia cares costly rules and regulations and opt into a patientcentered system focused on choice and lower cost. House republicans have been vigilant against any attempt that would impugn the Second Amendment rights of all americans to own and bear firearms. Our Republican Committee chairmen are using their gavels to exercise the actually prescribed system of checks and balances to hold oversight hearings exposing the Obama Administration for its unconstitutional overreach. Much of the economic turmoil that has gripped this nation is the result of the federal Government Spending beyond its means. In North Carolina often hear from constituents who are worried that our Ballooning National Debt threatens economic stability and jeopardizes the American Dream for their families. House republicans have responded to those concerns by passing laws, cutting federal spending two years in a row for the First Time Since the korean war. We banned ear marms and achieved the most significant spending reductions in modern histry. We have protected tax cuts for individuals history. We have protected tax cuts for individuals and families. Unfortunately president obamas budget ignores our crushing dead burden. Despite promising 2. 1 trillion in new tax increases, the president s budget never balances because it spends too much. In contrast to the president s Budget Proposal that ignores our crushing debt burden, House Republicans recently approved a budget that balances in less than 10 years without raising taxes while cutting 5. 5 trillion in unnecessary spending. This budget not only places our country on a path to pay off the overwhelming mound of debt we face but will also spur Economic Growth and increase opportunity. The balanced budget for a stronger america also provides a framework for completely repealing obamacare and calls on congress to pass comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates for individuals, families, and employers. Following approval of the budget, the house continued its record of tackling tough issues by passing Bipartisan Legislation to help stabilize medicare and secure seniors access to their doctors. By transitioning to a new provider Payment System focused on quality, value, and accountability, we have laid the groundwork for future medicare reforms. Its been said that no one heres the plane that landed safely. With that very apt adage suggests is that we are often unaware of the good work being done every day and it isnt unless something goes wrong that people take notice. House republicans are working hard to continue our good work and advance solutions that will build a healthy economy, empowering all americans to seek new opportunities and achieve a better life. I yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields back. Pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, charity declares over abortion language in that Human Trafficking bill. Her confirmation could take place at the end of this week. See live coverage of the senate on our companion network cspan2. During this month cspan is pleased to present the winning entries in this years student cam video documentary competition. Student cam is cspans annual competition that encourages middle and High School Students to think critically about issues that affect the nation. Students were asked to create their documentary based on the theme the three branches and you to demonstrate how a policy law or action by one of the three branches of government has affected them or their community. Kristen miller lex neely and emmy walker by milan focused on Midwest Farms and ethanol production. In 2007, Congress Passed the Energy Independence and security act, the act initiated an increasing mandate or ethanol use in transportation. But each year the e. P. A. Has to set the exact annual standard. The e. P. A. Is now coming under increasing pressure to lower the ethanol mandate. This begs the question how has the act affected u. S. And especially midwest communities . Come to ours and well show you. Welcome to milan, a town of 5,092 people in southeast michigan. Like many small midwest towns, the local economy has traditionally reinvolved around agriculture. Reinvolved around agriculture. Corn is the main crop in the milan area. For decades this corn was used only as food or animal feed but recently another option has arisen turning the corn into ethanol fuel. What is ethanol . Reunusual Energy Renewable Energy Sources are the ones that are inexhaustible. Thats wind currents. Thats solar energy and biomass as well on different types of plant material we can use for creating electric power or if we use into ethanol we use in automobile engines. So how is ethanol produced . We have the technology that is derived from the ancient technology of making booze. And thats right, ethanol is a highly refined alcohol and the production is similar to that of making moonshine. When the corn is delivered to the plant, it is first ground. The ground corn is then cooked with various enzymes that break down the starch and create a liquid corn mash. This mash is then fermented and repeatedly destilled until only the ethel alcohol is left and now its ready for our cars. Ethanol production has skyrocketed within the past 15 years. But what is responsible for this at the number that . Was it marketbased or was there some other driving force . Corn ethanol will be supported in two different ways. One is by subsidies. What we all think of a subsidy is tax credits, money. But the more important support is a mandate that a certain amount of ethanol has got to be blended into the nations gasoline supply. And its that mandate that are driving the growth in the industry. And what a growth it has been. Both farmers and the midwest have benefited immensely from the mandate. The ethanol impacts specifically ron corn has helped elevate our prices by about a quarter. Especially right now, if we didnt have ethanol right now, corn would probably be 2 a bushel. We are below production cost at average yield. But more than helping farmers, ethanol has brought hundreds of thousands of jobs to a downtroddened american community. Ethanol has replaced harmful mtbes. When the compound gets in the groundwater its a polluter. Ethanol is much cleaner, it burns cleaner. Mtbe thats in gasoline, a tablespoon can contaminate enough water the size of an olympic Swimming Pool forever. Is ethanol as a green fuel adequate . Its pulling co2 out of the air whether or not you use that crop for fuel. When you burn any liquid fuel, the amount of co2 that comes out the tailpipe is about the same. You look at the cornfield, since the corn from ethanol is coming from cornfields that were already planted, that cornfield isnt removing any more co2 from the air. This year, when it was being used as ethanol. We didnt reduce the amount of co2 coming out 69 tailpipe. We didnt take more co2 out of the atmosphere on the cropland, so where is the benefit . In fact, there is none. Additionally, when corn is compared to other sources of renewable fuel, corn is shown to have higher water, fertilizer, pet sides and more need all which has an impact on the planet. And corn ethanol production expansion has slowed. Thats because they reached the mandate cap. Leaving facilities like this one in the background desloate and half built. Up until now we focused on the corn ethanol portion of the 2007 mandate. What what about the sell lossic ethanol mandate . We spoke to one from the environmental working grufmente using plant red due such as corn sulfa or dedicated energy crops, as they call them, such as switch grass, you know, show promises of being greener although their the amounts theyve been ramped up has been less than expected. How much less . In 2013 the e. P. A. Mandate was for six million gallons when in ack all the only 200,000 gallons were produced. It is supposed to reduce by 200 . Research has been a factor in Cellulosic Ethanol expansion. It has raised corn prices and is not a green gasoline. However ethanol is replaced, harmful mtbes as an oxyginate, it has strengthened the regional economy. With this in mind, we recommend that congress start to shift away deprorn ethanol and devote more resources towards research, development and implementation of advanced Cellulosic Ethanol. Such as corn stover or switch grass are not currently as viable as corn ethanol. But with research and time they will become better green alternatives. Ethanol is not the fuel of the future but its a step in the right direction and the Biofuel Research its enabled will help answer the environmental problems of the 21st century. To watch all of the winning videos and to learn more about our competition, go to cspan. Org and slick on student cam. Also tell us what you think about the issue these students addressed in their documentary on facebook and twitter. Yesterday, house and Senate Negotiators came together to craft a compromise of the republicans 2016 federal budget plan. Both the house and Senate Approved separate budgets last month. Well show you as much as we can until the house gavels back in at 2 00 p. M. Eastern for legislative work. Mr. Price im pleased to call the Conference Committee on the fiscal year 2016 concurrent resolution on the budget to order. Since the house hosted the last conference on the budget resolution, it is my privilege to recognize the chair of this years conference, the distinguished chairman of the Senate Committee on the budget, senator enzi. Senator enzi thank you. Thank you. Today were going to consider the concurrent resolution on the budget, h. Con. Res, and the house amendments. Well begin with Opening Statements. Ill recognize myself first and then dr. Price and then senator sanders and then mr. Van hollen and then we have a list of the others in order. So glad were at this point. Appreciate all who have shown up so far. Although those who dont show up will help reduce the length of the meeting of course. [laughter] senator enzi so we meet today on moving forward with the joint housesenate budget conference with the goal of producing a balanced budget, a balanced budget that does not rely on new taxes and instead strengthens our nations defense, protects our most vulnerable citizens, improves Economic Growth and opportunity for hardworking families and slows the rate of the federal governments outofcontrol spending growth. Was no small task. In fact, the last time both houses of Congress Passed a balanced joint budget resolution was in f. Y. 2002. That means we havent had a balanced budget for almost 15 years. When it comes to the federal budget, americans know that weve lived for too many years with too many blown deadlines and too many lastsecond deals. Both ends of pennsylvania avenue have allowed this to become the new normal on how we operate. This is why passing a budget is so important for our nation. It lets the congressional policymakers who actually allocate the dollars get to work and observe the spending limits in order to achieve goals for the nation. But passing budgets has not always been a priority. Especially in the senate. In fact, over the past five years, Senate Democrats have only been able to pass one budget, but now that congress is under new management, Senate Republicans put together a balanced budget in our first 100 days. Last month the house and senate took an important first step in helping to change the way we do business in washington by each passing a balanced budget which will help make the government live within its means. Today we take the next step and start to work on a joint budget resolution to expand americas economy and increase opportunities for hardworking families. Restoring the trust of the American People can be done by passing a balanced budget and its about restoring that trust of the American People because the federal governments chronic overspending and exploding debt threatens each and every american. The biggest reason for this broken trust is because of our failure to do what voters have long demanded to eliminate wasteful washington overspending, to make government truly more effective and more accountable, to improve the programs that protect our most vulnerable citizens and strengthen the health and Retirement Security of our seniors. Americans see trillions in waste, fraud and abuse and ask why we dont do what obviously must be done. At a time when americas facing difficult challenges both here and abroad, the American People expect us to put our priorities ahead of politics and gridlock. Today, thats exactly what were doing. A balanced budget promises a government that will actually spend tax dollars wisely and gives hardworking americans the freedom to pursue their future. Hard work today and the coming weeks will show Hardworking Taxpayers that congress is committed to a government thats more effective and more accountable. Our fiscal outlook is grim and has been ignored for far too long. Runaway spending over the past six years has created a dangerously growing debt because washington spends now and pays later. Hardworking taxpayers across the country are feeling anxious. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the federal government will collect a record 3. 32 trillion. So even as they hit record highs were on track to overspend by nearly 1,000,000,000,000. American taxpayers understand that the more we overspend the more debt we will have and the more debt our children and grandchildren will carey. We reverse that. Every man, woman and child ose 56,000 on that debt and its expected to grow to more than 75,000 per person in the next decade. Federal overspending means higher Interest Rates for consumers because the governments borrowing more in competition and it means higher taxes for every american. It also means more waste and unaccountable spending that puts an anchor on our economy costing us stable, goodpaying jobs. Republicans are focused on passing a balanced budget that will ensure washington will once again live within its means. Just like hardworking families have to do every day. Just imagine if a typical family spent and borrowed like the federal government. This would mean a family with a Median Income of 52,000 would spend 61,000 a year. The family would add an additional 9,000 to its credit cards despite owing a whooping 331 311,000 in debt. Theyre wanting us to stick to our priorities because it would help restore the promise of a government thats more effective. A balanced budget would allow americans to spend more time working hard to grow their businesses or to advance in their jobs instead of worrying about taxes and inefficient and ineffective regulations. Its time to stop talking and to start acting. We know it wont be easy but by working together we can deliver Real Solutions and Real Progress that the American People want and deserve. I look forward to working with each and every one of you on this crucial task in the days and weeks ahead. Chairman price. Mr. Price i want to thank the chairman and appreciate everybodys participation. I would note that the number of senators significantly outnumbers the number of house members but were fine with that. We think we have equal firepower so were rearing to go with the Conference Committee. After weeks of hard work the house and Senate Approved our respective budgets last month, both of which were balanced Budget Proposals. And now were here to continue that work and find an agreement on a unified budget resolution. I want to thank our colleagues in the house and senate for their important work and their dedication to this effort. Completing a budget is one of our core legislative responsibilities. Yet, congress has gone without one for several years now. So i look forward to this opportunity to restore adherence to a process that will ensure congress is fully embracing its power of the purse and legislating in an orderly manner that provides for the most transparency and accountability. That being said, we all know that a budget is more than just a set of numbers. Its a reflection of our priorities, of our vision for the future. When done in a responsible way, it can provide a foundation for moving our country in the direction of more opportunity, Economic Growth and a safer and more secure nation. So were not here today to just make the numbers add up. Were here to make the federal government more accountable to taxpayers and to achieve real results so that American Families have the best chance of achieving their dreams for the future. For years failed policies coming out of washington, d. C. Have been Holding America back. Deficits remain in the hundreds of billions of dollars and are said to be going higher in the years to come. For millions of americans wages are stagnant and opportunity is scarce. In short this has been the worst economic recovery in the modern era and if we remain on our current course the future does not look brighter. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has regularly revised down its 10year average of Economic Growth projections from 3 annually analyzed in its 2012 outlook to just 2. 3 in its most recent outlook. We need to turn the page on this new normal of anemic growth and embrace policies that will foster the growth of a healthier economy. To start, that means a credible budget that balances, that reforms key programs and eliminates waste and inefficiencies throughout the federal bureaucracy so that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely. We need tone sure that medicare and medicaid and nutrition assistance and other similar programs are able to deliver on the promises that have been made to the American People. They have to be solvent. They have to be targeted to those who truly need assistance and where appropriate, the states and localities need to be free to administrator these programs. A balanced budget can be and ought to be achieved without raising taxes. Washington does not need to take more from hardworking americans. It needs to start living within its means. Id remind my colleagues that every dollar thats taken for taxes and every dollar that washington borrows is a dollar that cant be used to pay the rent or to buy a car or to buy a home or to send a kid to college or to open a business or expand a business and create jobs. Instead of taking more to spend more in washington we should reform the tax code so its simpler and fairer and so american job creators are not disadvantaged in the global marketplace. Fundamental tax reform would contribute to a healthier economy with more opportunity. At the same time we need to rid ourselves of washington policies that are harming individuals, families and businesses. Policies like obamacare. Repealing the president S Health Care law would pave the way to starting over on patientcentered health care reform, where patients and families and doctors are making medical decisions, not washington, d. C. And while were getting rid of what doesnt work, we have to be adequately supporting that which is vital to the success and security of our nation. And thats why we must ensure that our military men and women have the resources they need to carry out their mission and protect our country. Make no mistake, we must and we can provide robust funding for our troops and do so in a way that is both fiscally responsible and reflective of the tremendous threats facing america, our allies and our interests around the world. Because a budget is more than just a set of numbers, because its a vision on how we achieve a stronger nation with more opportunity, were obligated to take a hard look at the status quo and ask ourselves some very serious questions. Do we want a nation do we want to have a nation where our fellow citizens can be trapped in a web of welfare programs that discourage selfsufficiency and instead shackle them to governmental dependency . Do we want our nations retirees to have a Health Care Program thats going bankrupt, going insolvent and that without reforms will not keep its promises . Do we want to continue to force lowincome individuals and families into a Medicaid Program in which access to actual care is limited, where doctors are grossly underreimbursed and therefore unable to see and treat patients . Should our College Students face years of crippling debt because of a governmentrun student loan programs that drives up tuitions . We have to ask these questions and others and at the end of the day because the answer to all of them ought to be of course not, we have to figure out the right policies so that we leave our kids and our grandkids a stronger nation. One that provides the greatest amount of opportunity and the greatest amount of success, for the greatest number of people so that the greatest number of American Dreams may be realized and doing so in a way thats fair and compassionate to all. The current policies in washington are clearly not working. Theyve shown they cannot break the pattern of a growing debt and underperforming economy and too many folks just struggling to get by. The budget we will produce from these negotiations must represent and respect the American People and respect the seriousness of the challenges that we face so we can provide positive alternatives and Real Solutions to achieve real results. I want to thank chairman enzi and everyone working on this committee and for their hard work. I look forward to the hearing today and hear the thoughts of our colleagues in the days to come. Working together we will be able to produce bauget and pursue policies that will build a stronger, more prosperous and more secure america. Thank you and i yield back. Senator enzi thank you, chairman price. Senator sanders. Senator sanders thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me thank you and chairman price for holding this very, very important meeting. On a personal note, let me thank my friend, chairman enzi. While he and i have huge philosophical differences, he has run this committee in a very civil way and a cordial way and i appreciate that very, very much and i think i speak for all our members on our side in saying that. Mr. Chairman, the budget resolutions that we are debating today are nothing less than a disaster for the working families of this country. On every important issue that we face both of the republican budgets, the house budget and the senate budget, do exactly the opposite of what needs to be done and in fact what the American People want us to do. Let me just give you a few examples. America is the only major country on earth that doesnt guarantee health care to all of its people. Despite the modest gains of the Affordable Care act, 35 million americans continue to have no health insurance, and we spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country. Thats the problem. A sensible approach says, ok, how do we provide health care to all of our people and do it in a costeffective way . What is the republican approach . The republican approach is to end, terminate the Affordable Care act and cut in the senate some 400 billion from medicaid in the house a lot more. What is the result . You throw 27 Million People off health insurance. Theyre gone. On top of the 35 million today who have no health insurance. I heard some of my colleagues say not to worry. Were going to come up with a better system. Really . How many years . When is the system coming . You had eight years under bush. Nobody in america has seen that system. But to simply throw 27 Million People off of health insurance, please do a study. How many of those people will die . Thousands. How many will suffer . Tens of thousands. You have thrown people off of health insurance. When you end the Affordable Care act it means the 2. 3 million young adults who now have insurance with their parents, theyre gone. It means were going back to the days where if you had cancer or diabetes and you walked into an Insurance Office you couldnt get insurance for those conditions because we had the obscenity of denying people care with preexisting conditions. Were going back to those days. ThatS Health Care. When i go back to vermont and i expect that every member here when they go back to their districts or their state and you talk to young people what they will tell you is it is harder and harder to afford to go to college. And if theyre lucky enough to graduate college theyre deeply in debt. We all have staff, i have several members of my staff, im sure you do as well who at least go over 100,000 in debt. Talk to a young doctor, shes 300,000 in debt. What we should be doing is figuring out how a, how do we make college more affordable for working families and, b, how do we reduce student debt, what they have to pay. What the republicans budget does is exactly the opposite. They cut 90 billion of mandatory funding from the pell grant program, the major source for low and moderate income young people who want to attend college. This would increase the cost of a College Education for more than eight million americans, moving exactly in the wrong direction. In vermont and i expect in every state represented here, we have a childcare crisis. Working families cannot afford to send their kids to childcare. The republican budget would cut head start very significantly meaning that at least 110,000 fewer Young Children would be able to enroll in that important project. Under the republican budget, more than 1. 9 million fewer students will receive the academic help they need under the title 1 program. When you get down to basics and you talk about morality, it seems to me that the least we can do as a nation a nation that has more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth, a nation in which the wealthiest people are becoming phenomenally richer while we have over 40 Million People living in poverty, the very least we can say is that nobody in america goes hungry. That i would hope would be the least that we could say in a civilized democratic society. What the republican budget does is throw over 1. 2 million women, infants and Young Children would be denied the nutrition they need through the w. I. C. Program, an incredibly innovative and Successful Program which helps pregnant women and little babies. Were really going to cut that program. The republican budget would cut food stamps by more than 125 billion. Mr. Chairman, let me just conclude by saying what the republican budget also does which is, again, literally one of the problems, i got to be honest with you that i have when i explain the republican budget people say youre being partisan, youre lying. You cant really be. When you tell them these things. We talk about taxes. Lets talk about taxes. What the republican budget does is abolish the estate tax. Who benefits from the estate tax . The top. 2 of the wealthiest people in this country. Fewer than 6,000 families will get a tax break of over 269 billion. Has any constituent, working class person gone to any member of this committee and said, you know what i think you got to do, you ought to lower the taxes of families of billionaires . Ive not heard anyone say that at all. Meanwhile, by preventing the extension of the benefits we put into the earned income tax credit and the childrens tax credit taxes will go up for working families. Lower taxes for billionaires. Raise taxes for working families. This budget is a budget which is so out of tune with what the American People need or want. Poll after poll will tell you virtually every idea brought into this budget is not what the American People want. So i would hope that in the remaining days and weeks that we have we can in fact significantly revise this budget and start doing what the American People want and not just with the billionaires of this country want what the billionaires of this country want. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator enzi congressman van hollen. Mr. Van hollen thank you, chairman enzi. I want to start where the senator began, thank you for bringing us together. I want to thank chairman price with the way the we have very sharp differences when it comes to the budgets and we now have a House Republican budget and a Senate Republican budget and neither budget reflects the priorities and values of this country. Both budgets i believe are fundamentally wrong for our country and both budgets send a big message to the American People, youre going to be working even harder but youre going to be getting even less. And so any point between two budgets both of which are wrong for america are going to be wrong for america. And i dont know how we can salvage this but heres what i would say. Why do i say both budgets say work hard, get less . The good news in the country is weve seen more and more people getting back to work. Weve seen months and months of sustained job growth. We know were not where we want to be, but were heading in the right direction. The biggest challenge we face right now is the fact that americans are working harder than ever, but their pay is flat, their benefits are flat. Compensations frozen. So you have a situation where worker productivity has been rising rapidly for a very long period of time but that increased productivity is not translated into higher wages and benefits for most working people. The benefits of that increased productivity have gone hugely disproportionately to folks at the very high end of the income scale. And yet this republican budget actually increases the tax burden on working families. It gets rid of the increase in the child tax credit. It gets rid of the bump up in the earned income tax credit. It eliminates the Affordable Care act tax credits which as senator sanders said, it means millions of people who now have Affordable Care act will be thrown off of Affordable Health care. It will Affordable Health care will be thrown off Affordable Health camplete it eliminates the child tax credit. Gone. They will face a higher tax burden under this republican budget. Ill tell you whose taxes do not go up, the folks who are already at the very top. In fact, these budgets green light, they pave the way for what is known as the romneyryan tax plan. Whats that tax plan . Cut the top tax rate for millionaires by 1 3. We tried that. It was called trickled down economics. Its a great theory but failed in the real world. What happened was the incomes of folks at the top went up further, everybody else was running in place or falling behind and the deficit went up. We tried that in the early 2000s. This is a replay of a failed ideology. So while it green lights those tax cuts for folks at the top, its also cutting deeply into investments that have helped power our economy in the past. It cuts deeply into our investment in education beginning with Early Education and going through k12. Including special education. Its going to cut deeply into our investment in science and research and innovation that have also helped power our economy. Why do i say that . Because it cuts the part of the budget we use to fund those investments by 40 below the amount we have spend spent as a chair of the economy, the lowest point. Revenue from the Affordable Care act to claim balance in 10 years, when at the same time it claims to be repealing the entire Affordable Care act. Republican senators on this panel have made that criticism themselves in the past. I will tell you what else it doesnt do. It doesnt account for all the tax cut bills, business tax cut bills that are coming to the floor of the house right now. Including this past week when we actually provided a tax cut for estates over 10 million. The estate tax doesnt kick in for estates of couples until you get to 10 million. Just last week on the floor of the house, we said we are going to provide a tax cut for those 5500 families. Fewer people than you can put on a big cruise ship in the United States. That was the priority on the house for. Its bad enough that that was the priority, but guess what . That 267 billion increase in the deficit is not accounted for in either budget. In addition to the Affordable Care act that you need to balance and say youre getting rid of, in the house were passing tax cut bills which add to the deficit, which is not factored in here. You add to that the games that are being played in the overseas contingency account, and youve got a whole bunch of financial shenanigans going on here to claim balance and to say im just going to close by reading from last years Republican House budget report. This is not van hollen writing this, this is from the senate House Republicans. In the report, abuse of the oco cap adjustment is a backdoor loophole that undermines the integ forfeit of the budget process. The Budget Committee will use oversight in the fiscal year 2015 budget process and it will oppose increases above the levels the administration, our military commanders say are needed to carry out operations. Unless it can be clearly demonstrated that such amounts are war related. That was the year ago. Now, the same Budget Committee is doing the same end run they complained could happen if we follow that path. So mr. Chairman, with all respect, despite the fact that this budget cuts deeply into our investments in education while providing tax cuts for folks at the very top, cuts in tax rates, it also doesnt balance. We put forth in the house and the House Democrats and alternative which would actually provide some tax relief for working people and would make the investments that we need to keep the country growing. And by the way, yes, it close a lot of tax breaks that are unproductive and unnecessary for Economic Growth in order to achieve the goals we set forward. So i thank you, mr. Chairman and look forward to any discussion we may have. We will now turn to Opening Statements from the budget conferees. Everyone will be recognized for up to five minutes. I would mention that senator murray was kind enough to submit hers in writing, and i expect several others to be willing to do that, too. That will save us considerable time. The reason we havent at five minutes is that 5 30 the senate is having a vote so we need to pack it in within that time. So i will alternate following the speaking order that was shared around last week. As a reminder, we are not following the early bird rule. If someone is missing when it is their turn, i will keep track. Once everyone has finished speaking, i will recognize everyone who wasnt here in order they would have been previously recognized. Sen. Grassley you both succeeded in drafting responsible resolutions that garnered significant majorities of support in the respective chambers. Of course that is no small feat. There have been many times during the past six years that congress completely failed in our obligation to produce a budget. For many years in the senate there was no effort to produce a budget at all. Even with our country on a fiscally unsustainable course, the senate repeatedly shirked its responsibilities to producing a budget. The American People expect the government to behave responsibly, live within our means, and at the very least, produce a budget. They want us to demonstrate prudence and responsibility by getting our budget to balance within 10 years, if not sooner. Both budgets before us achieve that goal. Im glad to be here to get to work with our house colleagues in reconciling differences. This is regular order and how the process is intended to work. There is an enormous amount of cynicism about the dysfunction of washington, particularly congress. To regain the trust of the American People, we can demonstrate that we can Work Together and confront our fiscal challenges. Rather than provide a responsible budget framework the president s Budget Proposal ignored our fiscal challenges, and instead, it was a political messaging document. President obamas Budget Proposal was so bad that only one democrat voted for it when it was put up in the senate. President obamas budget would have increased taxes by nearly 2 trillion, increased spending dramatically, and as more than 7 trillion to the National Debt. His budget was criticized for ignoring the drivers of our longterm debt. It was criticized for claiming our debt problems have been solved. One expert stated, the focus on promoting investment today will do little good if our massive debt is choking investments of tomorrow. Overspending will harm Economic Growth, prosperity, and opportunity for future generations. Increasing spending today, paid for by increasing the debt burden on our children and grandchildren, is the moral equivalent of selling a pig in a poke. The promise of Economic Growth unending deficit spending defies logic and common sense. Balancing the budget will increase private investment and grow the economy. Stronger Economic Growth leads to higher incomes and wages for american workers. A balanced budget will help keep Interest Rates low, keeping more money in the pockets of hardworking americans, and then help reduce the borrowing costs of College Students. A balanced budget will lead to reduced Interest Payments on her National Debt, which means Resources Available for important priorities, rather than wasting them on Interest Payments. We all want to help hardworking American Families and taxpayers. We should help them by providing an efficient, effective, and accountable federal government. We should help them by growing the economy. We should help them by demonstrating that congress has the ability to put the federal government on a path to live within our means. Deficits and debt do matter. They matter to our economy. They matter to hardworking americans. They matter to job creators, and they matter to future generations of americans that will suffer from overspending and physical carelessness. And fiscal carelessness. Its time to save guard the American Dream of future generations. Its not just a fiscal issue, its a moral issue. I hope i colleagues will recognize the responsibility we have to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to achieve even greater prosperity. Again, im glad that we finally engaged in this very important process. A process of discipline on all the committees of congress to make sure we dont go over this budget. Its time to get to work to find sound, Fiscal Solutions for our nations challenges. I yield. I thank the senator. Congressman rokita. Let me thank both chairman of our committees for their leadership today. As a person who is relatively new to congress, it is refreshing to see us working together. While it is tempting also to address all the contrarian issues that have been brought up before i was recognized, im going to limit my comments to the need to reduce our debt and balance our budget in 10 years. As we begin working as a group here to forge a budget agreement, i believe the house comes to the table with a strong, responsible, and realistic vision for addressing our nations economic challenges it a balanced budget for a stronger america provides a blueprint for tapping the real drivers of our debt, and therefore it directly is in line with the priorities of real americans. It puts us on a responsible, progrowth path that balances the budget in less than 10 years and empowers all americans to build better lives for themselves and their families. We are here today at a very much historic but rare moment when both chambers come together to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time. Thats our debt. I simply refuse to accept burdening future generations with tens of thousands of dollars of debt each, as chairman enzi mentioned. 56,000 each to continue paying for the moral excesses of those living in the here and now. Americas fiscal position is unsustainable. Our total debt exceeds 100 of what our economy produces every year. Interest payments on the debt alone will be 5. 6 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, exceeding spending on National Defense and the Medicaid Program by 2025. Some people in the city dont find the statistics concerning and apparently we just heard from some. In fact they think the status quo is just fine, spending money we dont have without any consequences and demagoguing those who are trying to solve the problem. The average hoosier in my district understands they cant spend more money than the have, at least not for long. This is the first step in paying down the debt. That is to balance our budget. The house budget does that. A balanced budget must be a top priority, because without it our economy will remain stagnant and well continue racking up the debt for the children of tomorrow. It means avoiding outofcontrol growth and Interest Payments preventing future tax increases or true austerity measures, and preventing a loss of confidence in americas credit worthiness balancing our budget means also making the difficult choices, and thats escaped many of us for too long. It takes leadership, instead of continuing to spend money we dont have, we must tactile our runaway entitlement spending that consumes your two thirds of our federal budget as we sit here today. We need to strength yen and protect medicare by reforming it before the trust fund reaches insolvency by 2030. We need to make Social Security reform happen. It will soon pay out more than it is taking in. We need to repeal obamacare and replace it with patient centered Health Reform that actually works. We need to provide states with flexibility in the Medicaid Program so they can best meet the needs of their unique populations. The House Republican budget does this. The efforts of this committee will help that trillion dollars in federal spending. We are on a path to spend more than 43 trillion in the next 10 years. Thats a lot of money. Americans deserve to know that their hardearned property is being spent wisely. As we begin the reconciliation process today, i am confident we can produce an accountable, pros prosive, and progrowth unified budget that will put us on a path to balance. We do this in the House Republican budget. If there are better, workable ideas that actually solve the problem and not demagogy issues, im sure we will all be happy to hear them. I look forward to working with my colleagues around the table to iron out the differences between our budgets. The American People are looking for leadership, and now is our chance to do it. Lets tackle this challenge and pass a unified and balanced budget for a stronger country. With that, i yield back to the chairman. Sen. Enzi thank you congressman. I thank senator murray for submitting her comments in writing. I call on congressman yarmuth. Congressman yarmuth thank you chairman enzi and price for the opportunity to be a part of this budget conference. As mr. Sanders and mr. Van hollen have artie made clear, my democratic colleagues and i will speak today about the many ways these budgets fall short in addressing the true needs of our nation and the American People. I also want to talk about the questionable ways in which these budgets purport to balance our nations finances. We see washington a lot of tv these days, but honestly, with the fantasies evident in this pages, its more like games game of thrones than house of cards. The house and senate had to use some remarkably acrobatic arithmetic to get the appearance of a balanced budget year. And the disapproval of the gimmicks and creative math in these budgets is far from partisan. These arent democrats concerns, this is math that just doesnt add up. Im far from the only one who sees it. The committee for responsible federal budget noted that the Health Budget uses several budget gimmicks that circumvent budget discipline, and the details are in some ways unrealistic and unsessfide. On the senate budget, they also observed that disappointingly, many of the savings are unrealistic or lacks specificity. The fiscal times noted that there is a widely held belief among many federal budget watchers that republican had to resort to budgetary smoke to and mirrors to create a pathway to a balanced budget. Even the conservative taxpayers for common sense says this isnt budgeting, its gimmickry. Chief among the gimmickry is the assertion theres anything responsible about stripping health care from tens of millions of americans. Ranking member van hollen talked about how the gimmick of assuming all the revenue that is mandated by the aca, while your repealing it, in totality beat aca, just doesnt add up. If republicans were to succeed in fulfilling the first half of their Campaign Pledge to repeal and replace obamacare, cbo estimates it would increase our federal budget deficit by 109 billion in the first decade and cost taxpayers more than 1 trillion in lost revenue. Let me talk about the cost outside of the federal budget. I know thats what we are primarily here for. In my state of kentucky, as most people know, weve had a remarkably successful couple of years in implementing that program. 520,000 kentuckians now have Insurance Coverage who did not have it before the aca. In my district of louisville, we reduce the uninsured rate by 81 . More importantly, is the other Economic Activity that the acas responsible for. According to a deloitte analysis, over the next six years, the aca in kentucky will mean 30 billion in added Economic Activity, 40,000 new jobs, and 800 million positive impact on the kentucky state budget. Just imagine what would happen in states like california and new york and others who are much larger than kentucky. The negative impact, not just at the federal level, but throughout many of the states, would be absolutely disastrous. Mr. Van hollen also talked about the growth projections based on tax cuts for the welloff and wellconnected. We are now 12 and 14 years removed from the bush tax cuts and we have seen what happened with those. We know trickle down economics doesnt work. And yet we are doubling down on it in a way where we are just rebranding it. Now we are calling it dynamic scoring, which basically assumes that if you cut taxes, that revenues will automatically increase. Even though again, we have a history that contradicts. Dynamic scoring would be fine if we applied it to investments we would make, like investments in infrastructure, research, education. Those kind of investments which we know absolutely pay all in spades for the american taxpayer. But we dont use dynamic scoring for that. We just use it to justify tax cuts for the people who are already wealthy. As my colleagues have mentioned, and i know they will continue to mention, we have a very different set of priorities. We have the priorities that i believe the American People are soundly behind, and we need to develop a budget and a priority list for the American People that makes it possible for everyone to get ahead, and not just the people who are already miles ahead. With that, i yield back. Senator sessions thank you for your fine leadership on the committee and ability to bring people together in a positive way and i believe we produced a budget that can help put us on a sound path. Congressman price, thank you for your leadership. I have admired your work for years and look forward to continuing in that direction. We have not done a good job in the senate on passing a budget. We passed one budget in the last 2183 days that was actually conference. We had we had one budget since 2009 that actually passed the senate, only one. So this is a step in the right direction. I believe it is a positive there for america, and we need to continue to work at it. Julie andrew saying in the sound of music a great economic truth, nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. You cant borrow your way to prosperity, as one person told me in a town hall. The money that is spent today is burdening our children in the future. It is irresponsible and cannot continue on this path. Weve got to do better, and we can. This borrowing and spending has failed to produce the promised Economic Growth over the past four years. It has averaged only 2. 2 . That was about half of what the white house projected it would be when they told us we could spend, tax, and borrow more and create asperity. Create prosperity. Cbo, omb, and the Federal Reserve have also overestimated the Economic Growth we can expect. So borrow, tax, spend, over regulate, those things are not going to create growth and wont create revenue for the United States government. Barron this week had an interesting article that said even the low Interest Rates the fed has been using is detrimental to growth rather than positive. According to the New York Times, we agree there is a problem out there this is what the New York Times recently wrote. Working in america is in decline. The share of prime age men those 2554, who are not working, has more than tripled since the 1960s to 16 . More recently, since the turn of the century, the share of women without paying jobs has been rising, too. The United States with one of the highest Unemployment Rate since 2000 has fallen for the bottom of the list. There are now 65 million working age americans currently not working, including nearly one in four in their prime working years, for four straight years more than 40 million americans have been on food stamps. One in three americans receives some sort of means tested support. On the federal side were spending about 750 billion a year on means tested programs. That includes medicare, but these are programs designed for lower income people that we believe need additional help. I would just say the approach that we have to take is, what will help create jobs, higher wages, not lower wages, that we have been seeing, create prosperity, and more revenue for the government, but most importantly, more money for americans, for themselves and their families. I dont believe the policies we have been seeing for the last six years will get us there. Thats why we have a budget that doesnt agree. We have a different philosophy about how to approach it. Our colleagues seem to think the way to deal with the wealth gap, which is real, is to take more money from people whove had it and give it to people who dont. That is a fools chase. That will never work in creating the kind of healthy economy we believe in. I just would say, i respect my colleagues, but i dont agree with the solution that they might have for this problem that we face. We need to be sure to remember that we cant measure success by how much we spend on poverty. Its time to measure success by how many people we lift out of poverty. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your work. I look forward to working with you. I will express right here, right now, to be problems. I did not approve and i opposed the doc fix that was unpaid for. That was wrong, especially at the time were doing a balanced budget. Im worried about the size and the way defense moneys have been dealt with. We have got to think our way through in some way to do a better job with helping with the defense crisis that we face. The world is just more dangerous today than it was in 2011 when we passed the budget control act. Mr. Chairman, thank you. My time is up. Senator enzi next congressman diazbalart, followed by senator wyden, followed by congressman moore. Thank you much, mr. Chairman. Im going to followup with what senator sessions was just mentioning. He is absolutely right. The world is a much more dangerous place. I dont think its been this dangerous since potentially the late 1970s. You mentioned how this is a rare occasion. Matter of fact, the fact that we have a Conference Committee, the house passes a budget, the Senate Passes a budget thats how we are supposed to do a business, i was tempted to take a selfie at the beginning. Its a rare thing. Its a really rare occasion so i want to congratulate chairman enzi and senator price for doing the job the American People sent us to do. Just a reminder to all of us that as senator sessions mentioned, look, our safety, the security and safety of the American People, is frankly our biggest responsibility as the federal government. Today our nation and our allies and interest around the world frankly are being threatened whether to radical islamic terrorist in certain parts of the world, whether its an emboldened russia, and emboldened castro, you name it. Our enemies around the world seemed to be emboldened, so we must provide for a strong National Defense. And it requires funding of our troops, training for readiness for our intelligence capabilities, etc. I know that all of us understand that and all of us understand that it is potentially our greatest responsibility. The world is not as we would like it to be. The world is as it is. With that, mr. Chairman, i thank you both gentlemen, for your leadership. I look forward to continuing to discuss and work through some of the differences, but as senator sessions said before, this is a huge step in the right direction. This has not happened in a long time. I look forward to passing a joint budget and i hope it will not be the last. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Senator enzi senator wyden. I want to thank you and chairman price, both of whom i have enjoyed working with on a bipartisan basis in the past. I think we still have that opportunity. One of the reasons i feel so strongly about that is that in the senate as part of the budget debate, i was able to win 73 votes for tax reform being built around tax relief for middleclass americans. They have basically seem stagnant wages for years and years. 73 of our colleagues voted for making bipartisan tax reform the centerpiece of our tax efforts in years ahead. So i know we can do it, and i look forward to working with my colleagues with that active. Colleague with that objective. When i do look at the budget before the committee today, the overall budget, my sense is they just dont pass overall, notwithstanding the provision on middleclass tax relief in the senate. They dont pass the test of fairness for americas middle class. They wont do enough to help oregonians or people across this country, people who work hard and play by the rules. It wont do enough to help them climb the ladder of economic opportunity. I hope that we will do more on a bipartisan basis. The measure that congress uses for every policy it debates. Having said that, there are some important elements in the Senate Passed budget that im going to push very hard to preserve in the congress. They may be matters that arent the most important here in the nations capital, but they sure are a big deal at home, and especially in the west. I see my partner in particular senator crapo, who has been a terrific leader on these issues. One of the things were facing in the west, that is a premier concern of our people, especially this summer, is the fact that the fires are getting bigger and hotter and more damaging. We need to change our priorities here in washington to do more to prevent them from breaking out in the first place. I also believe that we have come to look at service in rural areas in a fresh way in the senate budget, linking for example the secure Rural Schools Program with the payment in lieu of taxes program in the land and Water Conservation fund. When you get out and about in the Rural Communities in my state and all across the west, leaders will tell you that the funding for these programs is lifesaving. The fire truck the ambulance the question of renovating a school, kick starting a development program, these are vital to the maintenance and creation of healthy Rural Communities and rural economies. In the senate, the amendment i offered to link these programs together, for the first time land and Water Conservation fund, payment in lieu of taxes had a vote of 184. It got a significantly more bipartisan vote than saying maybe we can come up with something called active force management. Theres a better alternative and it is bipartisan. Finally, i want to mention several other concerns i have with respect to the budget. I dont think the budget is doing enough in the area of infrastructure. Again, this is an opportunity to be bipartisan. We did that with programs like build america bonds. It doesnt do enough to make College Education more affordable. In fact, on the health care front, im especially troubled about the pain it will cause for those on medicare and the reductions in medicaid. These are programs that serve people who are already walking on an economic tight rope and i consider that a mistake. Ill close on an upbeat note going into a little bit more about the question of how tax reform should be built around the middle class. The amendment i offered got 75 votes makes kohl reg more acceptable and makes things a little easier. If youre a parent with several children, maybe even more, and youre struggling to get by. Im very hopeful, i say this in wrapping up to our chair, that im looking forward to working with both of you. Not just on this budget but in the days ahead on a host of these issues. Lets build on some bipartisanship in the senate. We were able to do that with an amendment that said the tax reform we know is going to be a challenging debate in the years ahead, what shouldnt be in dispute is we are going to build it around tax relief for middle class families. I thank both of our chairs and look forward to working with them. Senator enzi thank you. Congressman moore. Congresswoman moore thank you for calling this conference together and acknowledging all of the distinguished members of this Conference Committee. I have been on the house Budget Committee for four years, for over four years, and i just am not accustomed, i have not in all this time become accustomed to how we in this democracy can continue to attempt to balance the budget by doubling down on a failed economic theory of just providing more and more and more tax benefits to the wealthiest 1 of americans. While literally throwing not only the poor under the bus, as i know on a bipartisan basis people dont have that much regard for the poor, but we are doing it to displaced workers to working moms at the expense of our infrastructure. The disabled, infants and children who cant work, veterans transitioning back into our community, our debt ridden students who are trying to take care of us in our elder years, our elderly, our infirmed. It is just amazing to me. That 59 of the majoritys budgets come from moderate income people both in the house and senate. Road construction and taking care of our roads and bridges used to be bipartisan. So i just think what we are doing is dangerous. It will eviscerate our safety net and drive millions more into poverty. As an example i am aggrieved by the snap cuts proposed in this budget. This socalled cut to prosperity without asking the wealthiest to provide one single dime is just outrageous. As janet yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve recently said, and i quote, the extent of and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concerns me. It is no secret that the past few decades of widening the inequality can be summed up as a significant income and gains for those at the very top and stagnant Living Standards for the majority. I think its appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with the values rooted in our nations history, among them the high value americans have traditionally placed on equality of opportunity. I oppose these draconian budget cuts. Theres one thing i want to commend the senate on, senators on a bipartisan basis including both my senators from wisconsin established a Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund to allow workers to earn paid sick leave. I think thats a real good starting point for helping our economy and for helping working americans. Families without paid sick leave suffer tremendously and average 3. 5 days of pay loss is equivalent to about a months worth of groceries. Paid sick leave is good for the economy and its good for our society. Families have to make agonizing choices, particularly women when they dont have sick time. They are more likely to use emergency room care and given the stand still we are having over health care, i think we could ill afford more uncompensated care. Adding to the 1. 3 million emergency room visits that we have. I dont think we can afford an extra 1. 1 billion. Let me end by saying i think its admirable to try to deal with our deficit. And to have a balanced budget. But i am so sorry to see that we are willing to do this at the expense of our democracy. In 1928, when we when our nation went into the first depression, we had inequality greater than it had ever been. 2008 when we saw the greatest Great Recession here in our country, again, inequality was greater than it had ever been. Caution, my colleagues. I yield back. It senator enzi thank you. Next would be senator crapo followed by congressman black followed by senator satbenow. Senator crapo. Senator crapo i also want to join those who commended you and representative price for coming together and frankly getting us to the point where we are going to, for the first time in years have a budget in this congress. Those in the senate on the senate Budget Committee have heard me in the past express my disappointment in our budgeting process because we never seem to get to year two. We always make the hard decisions in the out years and make either no decisions in the early years or very weak ones. And i have complained a lot that we ought to start getting ourselves to year two, three, four, five six of the budgets we put forward. Not only have we recently gotten into a problem with getting into year two, we havent even been able to get into year one. Now, chairman, you are helping us get there. And youre making tough decisions in year one. I commend you for that and appreciate you for doing that. We must deal with our National Debt. Senator sessions indicated that one of his constituents told him at a town meeting you cant borrow your way into prosperity. I say that differently, i say we cant spend our way into prosperity with borrowed money. Thats exactly what the history of this congress has been for too many years now. This budget starts to solve that problem. Doesnt solve it perfectly, but it starts us down the road of addressing that difficult question. We do have a 10year window in this budget. Interest on the National Debt, i believe, is the Fastest Growing element of the budget. And from the numbers i have seen interest on the National Debt will exceed all discretion nondefense Discretionary Spending within about five years. And will exceed our entire National Defense budget within about seven or eight years. That i hope, helps me understand the urgency of the need to not only adopt a budget but to adopt a budget that the mandate that we must adopt a budget that helps make some of these tough decisions about how we need to move forward. And remarkably many of those who are attacking the budgets that have been put forward by the senate and the house, are attacking them because they dont raise taxes. As if the old philosophy of taxing and spending was the solution for our country for our economy and for our budget. Well, its not. And i want to say that i commend the chairman for not only resisting the urge to just raise taxes once again, but going Even Stronger and more significant step and giving us the opportunity to contemplate reforming our tax code and getting our economy the opportunity to grow. If you look at our current tax code, you would be hardpressed to come up with one that is more unfair more complex, more expensive to comply w. And more anticompetitive to our own business and job growth in the United States. We need to fix it, and this budget gives us an opportunity to take those steps and look at that kind of reform of the tax code. Instead of defining tax reform as raising taxes on somebody else. In addition, and i have to agree with my colleague senator wyden, who pointed this out, the growth that can come in helping the middle class and helping develop jobs and improve wages and improve benefits from reforming our tax code and taking a strong stand at controlling the explosive spending that is driving our government toward insolvency, we will be able to significantly address the kinds of problems that others who criticize these budgets are bringing forward. I want to talk also about a couple specifics in the budget in the time i have left. A couple of amendments that i brought are in the subject. One, to stop the congress from continuing to use fannie and freddie fees to off set other spending. Another to stop congress from basically robbing the Crime Victims Fund taking money thats not taxpayer dollars and using it to mask spending on other things and stopping the money from being able to be used for some of the most vulnerable victims of Domestic Violence in our society. I also, i see im running out of time, mr. Chairman, im going to just quickly say i support the comments that have been made by senator sessions and others that weve got to find a way to offset the s. G. R. Vote. It was a good vote, but we need to offset it. And i hope that we can continue to successfully address those issues that senator wyden raised in how we deal with our wildfire management and how we deal with our secure rural schools and pilt funding and we move forward. Again, mr. Chairman, thank you. I commend you both for the hard work and the hard decisions you have made in bringing us to this point. Senator enzi thank you. Congressman black. Congresswoman black thank you, senator enzi. Let me begin by saying what an honor it is to serve on this Conference Committee as we begin important work of adopting a unified budget agreement. That will confront our spending problem and return us to a point of fiscal solvency here in washington. We know that the stakes are high and the challenges are big, but we can also be encouraged by the knowledge that our house and Senate Passed budgets already reflect many of the same Core Principles. And thats important because as we have all heard said here today and before, budgets truly are a statement of our values. So im pleased that the house and Senate Republican budgets agree on the importance of a plan that balances within 10 years. We agree that we shouldnt take more from hardworking families to fuel washingtons run away spending with another tax increase. We agree that we must offer americans a way out of the harmful regulations, mandates and costs of obamacare. And we agree that budgets arent an optional part of our jobs as legislators. They are a fundamental responsibility of governing. Now looking forward to working alongside my conferees on both parties and both chambers in the coming days to pass this bicameral budget agreement. During that time i hope to have a productive conversation on each of these major tenets of our respective budget documents. As a nurse for over 40 years, im particularly interested in discussing how our budget can lay a vision for a better way forward on health care. We know that the president S Health Care law is failing to live up on some of the moats basic promises. Most basic promises. I hear that in my town Hall Meetings across my 19 counties. In my business with providers here in washington, and in the phone calls and emails i receive in my office on a daily basis. The Congressional Budget Office says that obamacare will cost our economy the equivalent of more than two million fulltime jobs. Once its all said and done those same estimates tell us that about 31 million americans will remain uninsured. We have to do better. And that is why our budget agreement repeals obamacare in the full, allowing us to start over with some real reforms that put patients and their doctors in charge of health care. Not washington bureaucrats. I believe it is critical that our final unified budget document maintain these provisions. So if we truly want to offer Real World Health Care Solutions that strengthen the doctorpatient relationship, that lets families keep more money in their pocket and protect our seniors, it starts with erasing the damage of obamacare and offering a clean plate to work from. We have the opportunity through this budget process to do exactly that. Im looking forward to the important work ahead and i want to especially thank chairman price and chairman enzi for their leadership on this effort. Thank you. I yield back. Senator enzi thank you. Next would be senator stabenow followed by congressman mow lynn nar mole nar and senator whitehouse. Senator stabenow i have Great Respect for you and the process of the committee. And chairman price, appreciate you being here. Its good to have another michigander on the committee. Congresswoman, great to see you as well. The budget process is our opportunity to have a debate about our values and priorities. Thats really what it is. We should ask ourselves, how do we make sure every american has a fair shot to work hard and succeed. Thats really, i would hope, the goal of what we do in terms of a budget. In other words how to make sure everybodys got a chance at what we have always called the American Dream. To me the answer is clear, to make sure our countrys budget works for the middle class and those who are working hard to get into the middle class. Unfortunately, the republican budgets passed by the house and senate do not do that. Now, there is some good news in the economy and deficit. We are not hearing that much today. But there is in fact, good news, when the president took office we were in the biggest hole we have seen since the Great Depression. I know in michigan our Unemployment Rate at the time was 15. 7 . It was a very, very difficult, painful time. Instead of 15. 7 , its now 5. 6 . Thats a huge shift. And 2 3 of our yearly deficit has been eliminated. More to do . Yes. But 2 3 of our yearly deficit has been eliminated. The challenge for us, i believe the challenge for the country is to make sure that every american has the opportunity to succeed in this economy. To work hard and succeed with one job not two or three. Too many folks are working two or three just trying to hold their head above water. We need one good paying job where you can raise your family and succeed. In fact, that means a middle class budget. One that creates millions of good paying jobs, that invests in rebuilding america, that protects Social Security and medicare, and other health care services. One that lowers the cost of college for young people so youre not coming out of college with more debt than it would take to buy a big house, which is whats happening to too many young people. And cut taxes for middle class families. Unfortunately, these budgets keep the system rigged for the wealthy and the well connected. These budgets dont do enough to create jobs and invest in rebuilding america. We know our economy will only go as far as our infrastructure will take us, and yet right now that infrastructure is crumbling. We should be paying for Infrastructure Investments by closing Corporate Tax loopholes and practices on conversions that take our jobs overseas oftentimes just on paper. If the majority was serious about empowering all american workers, then the budget would call for an increase in the minimum wage and equal pay for women. It would make sure that the Affordable Care act would continue for 16. 4 million americans. Instead of having the massive tax increase on the middle class that comes from getting rid of the tax credits. It would stop the cuts in medicare and in medicaid. Mr. Chairman, i do want to mention one other thing as chair of the agriculture, Nutrition Committee during the 2014 farm bill. We made very tough decisions at that time. Frankly, things that i hear everybody talk about they want to do. We looked at every program. We cut over 100 different programs and authorizations. We cut billions of dollars, more than was required from sequestration. The only committee that did that. But our farmers and ranchers and families need the certainty of this farm bill. Mr. Chairman, i want to thank you for not including agriculture in the reconciliation instruction in the senate. We have about 400 different organizations led by the American Farm bureau and others who have asked us not to include the house language in the final document. We have made the cuts. Lower than any other committee. Beyond reconciliation. Unfortunately, if we open up the farm bill, everything is opened up. No mistake about this. This is not just a debate about nutrition. If we open up the farm bill it will be livestock kiss as ter assistance, conservation as well as nutrition and Rural Development and other things that are absolutely critical for certain the certainty in rural america. Certainly across michigan and across the country. Mr. Chairman, i look forward to working with you. I hope this final document will recognize the work that was done on a bipartisan basis. It was my great pleasure to work with chairman lucas and all of our members at the time to achieve what i think we want to do in every part of the budget. Making smart cuts consolidating, cutting duplication, and putting in place a path for economic development. We did that in agriculture. And i hope that that will be recognized in the final document. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator enzi thank you. Next will be congressman molely nar moll moo moolenaar. Congressman moolenaar while we come across the nation and backgrounds vary, we are here today as an important step toward governing in way the American People expect. Todays meet something a poss stiff step in the right direction. For the first time in a long time there is a real possibility that both chambers of congress will adopt a budget resolution for a balanced budget. This budget will set the guardrails for federal spending in the upcoming year as well as the decade ahead. Families in my home state of michigan understand that they need to tighten their belts and balance their budget. When there is a change in Household Income or expenses. Thats something we need to do in washington as well. This balanced budget will not raise taxes on the hardworking americans. And it will keep the promises that have been made to seniors while flowing the soaring slowing the soaring National Debt. From our nations founding it took more than 200 years for the government to accumulate 5 trillion in debt. By 2008, the debt had doubled to 10 trillion. In the last seven years, it has skyrocketed to 18 trillion. Divided among 320 million americans, as been mentioned already, a child born today inherits 56,250 in debt. Thats 225,000 for a family of four. Leaving less debt to our children is vital f we fail to act, debt payments will crowd out spending for the bipartisan priorities of the American People. Including national security, medical research, programs to protect the great lakes, and funding for our roads and bridges. Our National Debt is also costing us jobs because our debt to g. D. P. Ratio is over 90 . Hindering Economic Growth and job creation. One way we can boost the slow economic recovery is tax reform. Which has the potential to add one million new private sector jobs. This budget calls for tax reform. Many americans just filed their tax returns, ending another year they had to deal with the long and complicated federal tax code. As my predecessor chairman dave camp, who many of you served with he was fond of saying the tax code is bigger than the bible with none of the good news. Middle class americans dont have time to read the code 74 ,000 pages. Its estimated that individuals, families, and employers spend more than 160 billion trying to comply with it every year. The tax codes complexities distort the decisions a couple makes when planning to save for retirement and leave middle class families hoping they filled out their return correctly and that the i. R. S. Will not audit them. For Small Business owners, filing quarterly estimates a better system cannot come soon enough. The federal tax code complicates their plans to expand and hire new workers. It also burris them under paperwork and pulls their time and talents away from running their businesses. The last Major Overhaul of the tax code was 29 years ago. Long before the internet and cell phones gained widespread use n this global economy, other nations have built their tax systems for the 21st century. And our job creators are being left at a competitive disadvantage. Its time for a better tax code that is simpler and fairer. More americans will move up the economic ladder if the federal government makes it easier for families to pay their taxes and for entrepreneurs to have certainty of their costs. Again, this is the first time in a long time that a budget Conference Committee will meet to pass a balanced budget. This budget will boost the slow growing economy, create jobs, raise wages, and build a more prosperous america. This budget addresses our countrys fiscal problems in a responsible way and puts our nation on a brighter path for our children and our grandchildren. Thank you. I yield back. Senator enzi thank you. Senator graham is not here. Next would be senator whitehouse followed by senator portman, senator warner. Senator whitehouse. Senator whitehouse its been an interesting week last week in the senate. I just completed last week a bipartisan markup on a contentious issue in the Health Committee with the result there of a 220 bipartisan vote on a new elementary and secondary education act. We have just witnessed a unanimous bipartisan result in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on another difficult and contentious question. We have before us as a conference the bipartisan and bicameral record of the ryanmurray negotiations. We even in a bipartisan and bicameral way just resolved the annoying annual ritual of the doc fix. So bipartisanship and progress are possible. But apparently not in the Budget Committee. This budget effort has been a partisan ramrod. Even todays formality not even a token effort of bipartisanship. When i said my peace here this morning, we are all done. Republicans can ram their budget through. So they will ram their budget through and that is that. The problem is that this has made the budget process ridiculous. Nobody cares. Virtually nobody came to our heags and markups. Nobody cares about the result. Appropriations now have to pass the senate by 60 votes. So even the 60vote budget point of order is meaningless which is not surprising since unlike those other legislative successes, none of the hard work of accommodation and compromise went into this budget. The partisan ramrod of an effort has produced a foreseeable result. A budget so bad that if it were applied to actual appropriated accounts, i doubt even most republicans would vote for it. If republicans did actually apply this budget once the American People got a good look at its extremism and favoritism, i suspect it would put a quick end to the republican majorities. What will happen instead is our republican friends will ask president obama to bail them out by negotiating them out of this dreadful hole they have dug for themselves. If it worked for the price regular families would have to pay, it would almost be worth letting republicans have to apply this budget. Just to educate the American People. Can you see the rest of this meeting online at cspan. Org. About 40 minutes left. Well leave it at this point. The u. S. House is about to gavel in. Members are offering oneminute speeches and expected to go into recess until 3 30. Well have live coverage when they come back to debate a measure to curtail Prescription Drug abuse. Also a debate on Consumer Financial protection advisory bill. Now to live coverage of the house here on cspan. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy