Into the overseas contingency account, which this Committee Said last year was against the budget process, was at abuse to the process. This is a lot of mealymouthed words to justify a run around the budget process area im glad the Senate Republicans in their budget today, they dont play these games. They take the president s level. They take the joint chiefss level. This is a lot of running around. It is going to undermine the integrity of this body. This doesnt send any message of certainty to our troops. In fact, it tells our troops their republican colleagues are totally uncertain and undecided about how to meet our basic commitments. The president s budget does it in a straightforward way. We should too. [applause] clerk the gentleman chairman price the gentleman yells back. Rep. Blackburn i thank you, mr. Chairman. The world is a dangerous place. We talk about that in this amendment. It is imperative that we lay out a way to work through the sequestration. This is something the president wanted. It is something that he wanted and what we are doing is laying it have forward and saying, here are the funds. We are going to work with this. We are going to meet the obligations that we have to the troops. With that, i yield back. Chairman price the gentlelady yields back her time. I will claim that 25 seconds remaining. It is imperative for folks to recognize the contrast between the president s budget and this budget. Our budget lays out a path to get to a point where we are able to change the sequester, which requires a president ial signature. The president s budget does not of that. It is a fictitious number. Time is expired. The question is on the amendment offered by ms. Blackburn. Those in favor . Opposed . In the chair, the ayes have it. A recorded vote is requested. The clerk will call role. Clerk mr. Rokita aye. Mr. Garrett aye. Mr. Diazbalart aye. Mr. Cole aye. Mr. Mcclintock aye. Ms. Black aye. Mr. Will aye. Ms. Blackburn aye. Ms. Hartzler aye. Mr. Wright aye. Mr. Stutzman aye. Mr. Stanford aye. Mr. Womack aye. Mr. Brett aye. Mr. Bluhm aye. Mr. Mooney aye. Mr. Grossman aye. Mr. Palmer aye. Mr. Moolenaar aye. Mr. Westermann aye. Mr. Buchanan aye. Mr. Van hollen no. Mr. Yarmuth no. Mr. Pascrell no. Mr. Ryan no. Ms. Warren ms. Moore no. Ms. Castor no. Mr. Mcdermott no. Ms. Lee no. Mr. Pocan no. Ms. Lujan grisham no. Ms. Dingle no. Mr. Lieu no. Mr. Nor call mr. Norcross no. Mr. Moulton no. Mr. Chairman aye. Chairman price have all members voted . Any member wish to change their vote . The clerk will report. Clerk on that vote, the ayes are 22 and the nos are 14. Chairman price the amendment is adopted. The chair has an announcement to make. Our proceedings have been expeditious. The decisionmaking on our side of the aisle has not been expeditious. Consequently this stands in recess until the call of the chair. Tonight . Tomorrow . Next week . The House Budget Committee in recess now. Members may yet come back this evening to continue their work on the 2015 federal budget today. The Budget Proposal by Committee Chair tom price woodcut 5. 5 trillion in projected spending over the next decade and balance the budget in that timeframe. The house is expected to begin floor debate on the request next week. While we wait for the House Budget Committee to resume their work, we are going to show you a portion of todays markup session from earlier today starting with Opening Statements. We will proceed with the budget. I want to begin by thanking Ranking Member mr. Van hollen for working with me to develop an agreement. It closely follows what has been done in the past. Our goal is to consider the budget resolution in a timely fashion. We have a long day ahead of us. We will complete our work by midnight. I hope that we can finish sooner than midnight. Under the agreement reached, we will begin by having presentations on the budget. 45 minutes controlled by the majority, 45 minutes controlled by the minority. After Opening Statements, the majority will use the remaining time left in its 45 minute block and the minority will use its time left. Any member that doesnt get an opportunity to speak during that time or has additional comments may submit them for the record. After the presentations are concluded, we will have a step walkthrough in which members may ask any questions. The walkthrough will be for one hour. The minority and ask any questions they like. After the walkthrough, we will proceed to the amendments in accordance with the agreement. I will describe that process in more detail when we get to that point. Let me make a comment about this Great Committee that we all love. By its very nature, it generates passionate debate on both sides. Our custom and tradition is to set an example for the entire house and do so in a collegial manner. Our ideological disagreements dont have to result in personal attacks. I request that we operate with the appropriate courtesy and the koran. I want and decorum. I recognize the gentleman from indiana. I thank the chair. I ask unanimous consent for house rule 16, the chairman be authorized to declare a recess at any time. Chairman price without objection, so ordered. We will now move into Opening Statements. I want to once again welcome everybody and thank you for being here. We meet today to consider the fiscal year 2016 budget resolution. I cant thank enough any individual who has been part of developing these solutions to our nations challenges. When we look at america today, we see a nation not living up to its potential. Too many of our neighbors are out of work or living paycheck to paycheck. Too many Hardworking Taxpayers are learning to do more with less while washington is unable to solve the challenges with positive solutions. We must do better. On behalf of the individuals families, and job creators all over this country, those that get up every day to make their communities safe and strong. The Budget Proposal we are considering is a plan to make washington more efficient, effective, and accountable to those we serve. To create a genuine opportunity and a healthier economy. Our plan honors our commitments to the American People so that we deliver real results. First, we balance the budget. 5. 5 trillion in savings over a 10year the mom of time so we can begin to pay down the debt and avoid fiscal crisis. This isnt just some accounting exercise. Every single dollar thats used to pay taxes, every single dollar thats borrowed is a dollar that cant be used to buy a car, pay the rent, send the kids to college or technical school, pay the mortgage, expand a job. Getting our debt under control will create meaningful results that benefit every single american. A balanced budget means a healthier economy. It means we avoid an outofcontrol growth in debt and Interest Payments on that debt which will swallow critical spending priorities. We avoid future tax increases and true austerity measures that would harm families and job creators. Our budget sets forth positive solutions to secure programs like medicare and medicaid so they can deliver on the commitments we made to the American People. We ensure that we are meeting our opportunity to provide for the nation so we have a strong, safe, and more secure america. The brave men and women who protect our freedom need resources to complete their mission. This budget honors our commitment to them, their families, and the proud veterans. In a dangerous world, future fiscal crisis would make the job of protecting and defending the American People more difficult. The former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff just a few years ago was asked what the single greatest threat to our nation was. He said the nations debt. Our budget aims to defeat that head on. There can be no National Security without economic security. Too often washington folks have shortterm Political Considerations rather than real problem solving. Rhetoric takes the place of results. With our budget, we take an honest look at commitments to seniors on medicare and veterans who served this nation. We make certain that the promises are cap and real results are achieved. When it comes to controlling spending, we do not ask the American People to mail out washington with higher taxes and more debt. We take our responsibility seriously. We address the drivers of that debt. Our budget puts a premium on accountability and effectiveness in all areas of government. We streamline government functions with Regulatory Authority to stop taxpayer dollars from being wasted. We also acknowledge that the best ideas dont necessarily come from washington. Year after year, we see more power concentrated in washington where decisions are made with a topdown approach. America is a diverse nation. Our cities, states, and communities know best how to develop solutions that will serve their people. Our budget realigns the relationship the federal government has states and local communities by restoring the principal of federalism to provide more choice and opportunity. From health care to education states will be empowered to create their own solutions, free of the onerous washington mandates. This plan, this balanced budget for a stronger america, this is a blueprint for how we solve our nations fiscal and economic challenges. The success of these ideas is dependent on the courage and common sense of policymakers to break away from the failed policies of the past and pursue a new, hopeful course. We are ready to turn these words into actions and produce real results for the American People. I appreciate the diligent work of our members on our committee and their staffs for their work on this important endeavor. I look forward to today, and open and honest and productive conversation. I now recognize the Ranking Member, mr. Van hollen. Rep. Van hollen i thank you, chairman price. We face some good news, some bad news, and some very bad news. The good news is that the economy is improving. More americans are working. The private sector has added 12 million new jobs over the last 60 months. It is not all rosy. Many americans are still looking for work, but the Unemployment Rate has fallen. The bad news is that americans are working harder than ever, but their paychecks are flat. This is not a new problem. It has become a chronic problem that dates back to the 1970s. As this chart shows, there has been a growing gap between the increased value workers are creating in the economy, the blue line, and the paychecks that they are taking home. Worker productivity steadily climbing paychecks flatlining. Where are the gains from that hard work going . Income gains have gone overwhelmingly to those at the very top of the income scale, as this next chart shows. The red lines are the income gains from the top 1 . Everybody else, pretty much flat lines. It is no wonder that people i talk to around the country feel like they are running in place or falling behind. Right after the last election, there was some hope that Republican Leaders understood this problem. Speaker boehner and Republican Senate leader mcconnell wrote that they were humbled by the opportunity to help struggling middleclass americans and deal with wage stagnation. With todays republican budget, the country gets a very bad news. They were just kidding. This republican budget is very hard on hardworking americans and those looking to find a job. It says, work harder, takehome even less. It will do nothing to increase paychecks and takehome pay for working families. In fact, it squeezes them even more. It will increase the tax burden on millions of families in the middle class and those working to join the middle class. Amazingly, it cuts Higher Education tax credit and ends the boost in the child tax credit. Millions of americans will lose access to tax credits for Affordable Health care. The cuts in Student Loans and health grants will make college less affordable and add to the already huge student debt load. Seniors who have worked hard for financially secure retirement will immediately have to pay higher medicare premiums, bigger copays for preventative care, higher cost for prescription drugs, and more for nursing home care. While this budget raises the cost and further squeezes hardworking families, it paves the way for the plan to cut tax rates for millionaires. It is based on the tired and disproven theory that we can grow our economy through trickledown economics, a theory that ran aground in the real world under george bush. The only thing that went up for the incomes of folks that were already doing well and the deficit. Everybody else fell behind. While this budget will make life harder in the daily lives of working families, it slashes the part of the budget we used to invest in education. It is a sad day when we start chopping away the rungs of the letter of opportunity in america. It devastates the investments we make in Scientific Research and innovation, investments that help power our economy and keep us at the cutting edge. It provides no shortage no solution to the looming shortfall. By the way, this is not rhetoric. Let me show you what it does. Over the next 10 years, that horizontal line is the lowest level weve seen in our education and Scientific Research and the 1950s. This takes us 40 below the lowest level since weve been keeping records. It does it without balancing the budget. Mr. Chairman, this budget doesnt come close to balancing. In fact, it takes quackery to a new level. It actually assumes the revenue and savings from the Affordable Care act while claiming it gets rid of the Affordable Care act. It doesnt account for the cost of almost 1 trillion in business tax cuts that our colleagues have asked four. It plays a shameless game with defense spending. It would make enron accountants blush. Most americans would agree that the policies in this budget, cutting tax for the wealthy while increasing the burden on working americans, increasing the cost for students and seniors, cutting vital investments, simply stacks the deck more in favor of the already powerful. We can do much better. Next week, the democrats in the house will propose a budget that promotes a more rapidly growing economy with more broadly shared prosperity. That is the right direction for the country. I thank you, mr. Chairman. I look forward to a vigorous debate today. Chairman price i think the Ranking Member. We will now proceed to Opening Statements from members of the majority. We will use the balance of our 45 minutes, following which the minority will use the balance of their 45 minutes. We begin with mr. Rokita from indiana. Rep. Rokita i want to thank you and the members of this committee for their commitment to produce a responsible federal budget that balances in less than 10 years and empowers all americans to build better lives for themselves and their families. I mean both republicans and democrats. This is my fifth budget that ive been proud to the a part of. In all discussions with the majority and minority members, i would say we get a better product every year. This is the quickest that the budget balances in the last several that weve done. It is in stark contrast to the president s budget. A budget that never balances, ever. This budget takes responsibility for actually addressing our 18 trillion National Debt, with another 100 trillion or so on the way over the next 3040 years. The president was like the American People to believe that we can continue down the path we are on with no consequence. The average hoosier in my district understands that they cant spend more money than they make, at least not for long. You cant spend your way to prosperity. A balanced budget is crucial to getting families and job creators greater certainty for the future. It shows the American People that we are ready to hold the government accountable for how it spends our taxpayer dollars. The budget reduces spending by 5. 5 trillion without, mr. Van hollen, tax increases and accounting gimmicks. It delivers real results. It trusts states. It demands accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness from us in the federal government. This plan truly balances our budget which will result in a stronger america. Even under this budget plan, the federal government will still spend trillions of dollars annually and more than 43 trillion in the next 10 years. That is a lot of money. Americans deserve to know that they are spending wisely. I encourage my colleagues to abandon the tired political and dogmatic approach to how we talk about these programs. Instead of asking how much more money can we throw at these programs, a simple formula that has not worked, we must ask, are these programs working . If not, how can we improve them . These are the questions that were asked as the House Budget Committee majority members crafted this budget. I commend the chairman and my colleagues for their diligent work. I yield back. Chairman price thank you. I now yield to mr. Garrett. Rep. Garrett i would like to begin by thanking the chair and the committee for their hard work. The budget resolution that this committee will continue today. Back in 2009, president obama took office. The net stood at 10. 6 trillion. The federal debt is now over 18 trillion. The debt now represents more than 100 of the gdp. Americans own more money towards creditors than the value of all the goods and services produced in the United States in an entire year. This level of debt is unsustainable. In fact, the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office states that both our high and rising debt would have serious negative consequences for both the economy and the federal budget. Admiral mycroft put it best when he said, the single biggest threat to our National Security is our debt. We do a disservice to the American People if we are not upfront about the debt. We must be honest about the budget crisis facing this country. We must identify duplications and opportunities for reform in all areas of spending, including entitlements and defense spending. Ensure that taxpayer dollars are wisely spent. We will strengthen and preserve our social safety net as well as ensure americas National Security. Today could be the day that we embark on a new path where democrats and republicans worked together to put forth a plan that transparently balances the budget. That is why i commend chairman price and urge all members to support the budget that is before us today. I yield back. Chairman price i now recognize the gentleman from california mr. Mcclintock. Rep. Mcclintock thank you, mr. Chairman. The elephant in the room is the National Debt that has doubled in eight years and will sink this country. According to the cbo, the interest for this debt will exceed our entire defense budget. That is why the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff warned us that this was the greatest single threat to our National Security. That was five years and 4. 5 trillion of debt ago. We cannot provide for the common defense if we cannot pay for it. Countries that bankrupt themselves arent around very long. The debt has been impressively we cannot continue to ignore the increasingly dire warnings that both medicare and Social Security will collapse on an entire collapse on an entire generation of americans in just a few years unless immediate steps are taken to restore them to solvency. For the past four years, this committee and this house have passed budgets to address these issues, bring us back into balance within the decade, and thereafter pay down the enormous debt that directly threatens the prosperity and security of our childrens generation. For four critical years, these budgets fell on deaf ears in the senate. Fortunately with the new majority, we have the fleeting opportunity to enact a budget that averts the predictable crisis just ahead of us. That will involve compromises in policy, but in doing so we must not compromise the integrity of this budget document. Among the most chilling words in history attributed to louie the 15th, after us the flood. Let that not be the epitaph of our generation. Mr. Price i recognize the gentlelady from tennessee, miss blark. Mrs. Black thank you, mr. Chairman, for your leadership on this important issue. Unlike the president s plan this budget is a serious proposal that balances our budget and helps grow the economy. Our nation is 18 trillion in debt, and if we want to preserve this country for our children and grandchildren, we must reform the way washington works. Everyone knows that medicare will soon go bankrupt. And thats why im pleased that this Budget Proposal saves this Important Program for todays seniors and tomorrows retirees. By transitioning to a premium support program, we can preserve medicare for those who are in or near retirement and strengthen medicare for younger generations. Furthermore, this budget obamacares raid on the Medicare Trust fund and repeals obamacares independent payment advisory board, an unelected and unaccountable board of bureaucrats charged with making coverage decisions for medicare. Despite what some critics say, this does not eliminate traditional medicare. Instead, it ensures that americans will always have traditional medicare as an option. Under this plan, every senior will have the support they need to get the care they deserve. Those who attack this reform without offering a credible alternative are complicit in medicares demise. I want to commend chairman price for leading on this issue and putting forward a solution to ensure that medicare can continue to deliver quality care for years to come. One way or another, this country will have to address our outofcontrol debt and deficits and this budget does so responsibly. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Price i thank the gentlelady. I now recognizes the gentlelady from missouri, mrs. Hartzler. Mrs. Hartzler thank you, mr. Chairman. First of all i want to commend you and the rest of the colleagues on this committee for building a fiscally responsible budget that goes a long way to address our outofcontrol Spending Program and the debt the nation has fostered over the last few years. Unlike the president s proposal our budget repeals obamacare most importantly, it balances. As i look at why this budget is important, i go back to the people in my district and how this impacts them. Its good for people because it helps them in areas where the government has overreached. The obamacare is hurting families. This budget provides health care that helps provide them choice. People in my district are reeling from the energy costs. Our budget helps provide a path to affordable energy, American Energy independence. For the Senior Citizens in this country, who have uncertainty about the future of medicare and other safety net programs, we take steps here to address that, preserve and protect t we encourage entrepreneurship which is so important to allow our economy to grow. We reduce the tax burden, the families in my district are facial, and all of our American Families are facial april 15. Its important. It will reduce the tax burden and it gets us to a path out of the crushing debt for all of the children in our district. And what their future entails. I commend the chairman and this committee for putting forth this budget and truly it will provide a balanced budget for a stronger america. I yield back. Mr. Price i thank the gentlelady. I now am pleased to recognize the gentleman from north carolina, mr. Rice. Mr. Rice our economy continues to limp along. Each year c. B. O. Lowers its forecast for growth over the next 10 years. 3 two years ago. 2 1 2 last year. And now 2. 1 for the next 10 years predicted this year. One of the reasons for this, maybe the primary reason for this, is the uncertainty that comes from washington that we put upon our economy because of our failure to deal with large problems. Problems that i think everybody in this room recognize. I dont think anybody in this room would argue that our spending, our debt is on an unsustainable pace. I think everybody in this room would agree that we need tax reform in some measure. Regulatory reform. Everybody understands and agrees, i think, that the Social Security trust fund is on a path to insolvency. And the Medicare Trust fund. And the Highway Trust Fund. But we seem unable to grapple with these large issues. This budget doesnt solve these issues, but it lays out our position on many of the major issues that faces us. It lifts some of the clouds of uncertainty. This budget lays out an objective for tax reform. It lays out a path to make medicare solvent. It does it in a way that our budget balances in 10 years. We relieve the increasing burden of debt from our children and grandchildren. The budgets not perfect. We are not going to agree on everything. But its a huge step in the right direction. I yield. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Im pleased to yield to the gentleman from the great state of indiana, mr. Stutzman. Mr. Stutzman thank you for your leadership and all the members on this committee who have worked really hard as we work towards putting a federal budget together again. Theres no doubt that americas experiencing serious financial issues. The latest one of the latest polls show that the greatest concern of americans across the country is the government. And that just should not be the case. People should be able to be proud of their governments operations and how we Work Together to accomplish and address the challenges that we face. Our National Debt has soared past 18 trillion. Our entitlement programs are unfunded liabilities. Over 90 Million People are not participating in the work force. It is our responsibility not only as members of congress, but specifically as members of this committee, to produce a budget that will return washington to a time of fiscal responsibility and that will strengthen our countrys economy. Unfortunately, the president in his budget submission chose political short cuts over longterm solutions. Instead of working towards meaningful reforms, he chose to grow the size of the federal government with more taxes and more spending. On top of that, his budget never balances. Ever. The budget before us, however, is a bold plan to solve many of our fiscal problems that we face. For starters, it does balance within 10 years. It reforms our entitlement programs and saves our social safety nets for future generations. It also reforms our mandatory spending which currently makes up 2 3 of government spending. It provides the necessary resources to keep our military strong in a time when the world becomes more and more dangerous. It reforms our tax code, cuts regulation, and creates a certainty our economy desperately needs. The bottom line, this is a budget that our constituents can find open. Its a balanced budget for a stronger america and i hope that we as a committee in a bipartisan way can pass this budget. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Pleased to yield to mr. Sanford from south carolina. Mr. Sanford i thank the chairman. I find it astounding that it took us about 200 years to go from zero to 5 trillion in National Debt. And then over the eight years of the bush administration, we went from 5 to 10, it doubled. Now the obama administration, it will double again from 10 to 20. That is geometric growth in significance in the way that the deficit and the debts that are accumulated. I find it equally startling, you look about 2025 or so and our country, our civilization, will reach a crossroads where there will only be enough money for interest and entitlements and nothing else based on the current revenue stream unless we substantially raise taxes or draconian bring about draconian cuts to government or go out and borrow a bunch more money. We are at a crossroads. Mr. Chairman, therefore, i just want to thank you for what you and other members of the committee have done in proposing this budget. To my colleague from marylands point, its not a perfect budget, but i think when its compared against what the president proposed, where hes talking about 2 trillion in new debt and 8. 5 trillion in new deficits, and structural deficits of 500 billion to 1. 1 trillion in size, over the 10year window, it really is a marketed improvement n that regard wholeheartedly support and look forward to working with you on amendments today. Thank you again for what you have done, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Im now pleased to yield to the newest member of our committee from the great state of florida, mr. Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan thank you, mr. Chairman. Appreciate the opportunity. Also want to thank and look forward to working with the Ranking Member van hollen as well as all the members here on the committee. Everybody has a different reason why they run for congress. For me personally i was concerned eight years ago about the debt and deficit. Came in 2007. We were 8 trillion and change today we are at 18 trillion. You look at 49 out of 50 governors. They have to balance the budget. I look at florida after 2008, we had a lot less revenues. The next couple years, they made the tough choices that made common sense. Today we are more prosperous than ever in terms of whats going on in florida. Its not when if you look back historically about democrats have been the problem or republicans. Its been both. Over 50 years we balance the budget four or five times. I grew up in the city of detroit. It was a great city. We were the fourth largest city in the country. It went bankrupt. When you look at the cost of our debt today at 18 trillion normally the cost of money is not 1 , its 4 or 5 . 5 on soontobe 20 trillion, 1 trillion year. Look at the overall, how many dollars we take in in terms of taxes and revenue, 3 trillion. Its a third. Could be as high as a third of the overall debt. Thats why i believe in a constitutional balanced Budget Amendment that we can work towards. I think this is a good start. Its not perfect. As some other members have mentioned. I think if we dont do it, at some point, i dont know when that is, it ends badly. Thats why i want to do everything i can to move forward in terms of a balanced budget at some point in the future. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Price i appreciate the gentlemans comments. Im pleased to yield to mr. Womack. Mr. Womack i thank the chairman and have Great Respect for our chairman and Ranking Member van hollen for your leadership on this particular committee. Its a great honor to serve here. This is arguably the most fundamental of our legislative duties. And im mindful of the fact that there are as many opinions on the priorities of federal spending in the United States of america as there are members seated around this dais. Indeed, the total membership of the house. Nonetheless, it is our duty to coalesce around a budget that meets the commands of the worlds greatest nation. The end result of our work should at a minimum keep our nation safe. It should address the longterm drivers of the deficits and debt that have been mentioned so often in this discussion. And contribute to a climate that creates jobs and opportunities for all americans. It is my opinion that the two things most important for our country that this congress can do right now is to balance its budget and to bring regular order to its legislative process. We are about to air our differences in this markup. What is sad is we are going to be here for several hours doing what the average american does every night sitting around their Kitchen Table in a matter of minutes. I am hopeful that we can do it in a constructive way so that those we represent are served by this effort. I yield back. Mr. Price thank the gentleman. Pleased to yield to the gentleman from virginia. Mr. Brat. Mr. Brat thank you, mr. Chairman. Its a pleasure to work under your chairmanship. Thank you to all my committee members, both sides as well. I dont want to reiterate the basics, but i just take pride of the basic components of this budget as well. I was an economics professor for the past 18 years. Im most proud of three fundamentals that this budget has embedded inside it. First it balances within 10 years. I taught college kids in an age bracket. We are going to be putting that debt, 18 trillion, on their generation. So for me making so many inroads on paring back that deficit. I think we know Interest Rates will go up, not down. This is a true benefit for the college kids i taught for the past 18 years. I always told them to come up here. They are the one group that does not have a lobbyist and not represented up here. I take that part of our job especially seriously. Secondly, the debt that 18 trillion, the entitlements should go down to the bottom of the debt clock, about 127 trillion. Depending who you look at, a purple Group Estimates it in the ballpark of 200 trillion. So those entitlement programs will take up the entire federal budget by 2032 if we dont get our house in order. This budget starts to address those major, major issues. None of those programs will be in existence in 2032 if we dont start addressing them now. Third, i did my ph. D. Way back when on Economic Growth. That matters perhaps more than anything else. If you have growth, a lot of other issues fade in significance. And this budget takes into account progrowth incentives. So for all three of those reasons, im proud to be associated with the work this Budget Committee has done. With that i yield back. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Im pleased to yield to the gentleman from iowa. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Also id like to thank you for your leadership on the Budget Committee. Multicomments do not agree on most things, but they do agree on this, mr. Chairman. Mr. Blum this budget because of those policies contains an average annual g. D. P. Growth of 2. 3 . Versus the 40year average of 3. 3 . In spite of this, in spite of this, this budget actually balances, emphasize the word balances because the president s budget never balances. It balances in less than 10 years without increasing taxes. And id like to add this footnote. If the president and the administration would implement progrowth economic policies this budget would balance in far less than 10 years. Ronald reagan in 1980 said, no nation can tax and spend its way to prosperity. He was right in 1980 and he is right today. With that profile and thought, i yield my time back, mr. Chair. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Pleased to yield to the gentleman from alabama, mr. Palmer. Mr. Palmer thank you, mr. Chairman. First of all id like to commend you and mr. Rokita for your vision and integrity and leadership of this committee and commend the other misdemeanors of the committee for the work that they put in on this. Mr. Chairman, we are in a crisis. Every year we spend more than we are and try to convince ourselves that deficits dont matter. In 2014, washington spent nearly 3. 5 trillion while only collecting 3 trillion in revenues, resulting in a deficit that is literally 14 cents on the dollar. In other words, every dollar we spend, we borrowed 14 cents against our childrens future. Votes turned out in the last election, this past november they came to the ballot box because many of them lost their Health Insurance plans or premiums had skyrocketed because of obamacare. They voted because severe overregulation cost them their jobs because businesses cut back or closed. We are at a point now where the United States now ranks 12th among nations in terms of business startups. We now have more businesses closing than are opening up. The American People voted because they have seen enough of the reckless status quo in washington and they demanded a change. A responsible budget would show them that this congress is listening. I appreciate the work that went into this budget. This budget authors a framework for how to begin decreasing the size and scope of government. Some of the best provisions include adding work requirements to welfare reform programs, to Welfare Programs. Eliminating the department of defenses unnecessary and ineffective Renewable Energy goals and lifting the ban on exporting the United States wealth of crude oil. These are good ideas with real impact and we need more of them. We also need ideas that establish an environment in which business can star start up and thrive and create the Economic Growth we need and more jobs. But we cannot keep putting off the real reforms that will help us get to a fiscally responsible budget. I look forward to working with this committee and other members on policies that will help us get our fiscal house in order. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Pleased to yield to the gentleman from michigan. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Overspending by the federal government and a lack of fiscal discipline have expanded our nations debt. In 2014, revenues to the federal government was 49 higher than it was in 2000. Yet spending for the same year was 95 higher, nearly double what it was in 2000. Spending on unsustainable Government Programs is a percentage of n. D. P. Has increased dramatically and crowded out funding for National Security and other programs. Mr. Moolenaar more spent funding the entire federal government in 2004. With 18 trillion in debt, and 320 million americans, an individuals share of the debt is 56,250, or 225,000 for a family of four. The budget we are proposing today keeps the promises we have made to our seniors and those near retirement age. It stabilizes and preserves Social Security by eliminating the double dipping between Disability Insurance and unemployment benefits. This budget also enhances our countrys National Security. The number of people including the chairman have mentioned, admiral mullen called the debt the single biggest threat to our National Security. And as a senator, the president called the debt a hidden domestic enemy. This House Republican budget addresses the debt in meaningful way and changes the trajectory of government spending. This budget balances within 10 years and doesnt raise taxes on hardworking americans. This budget puts our country on a path toward a more stable and responsible fiscal future and will boost our slow growing economy, create jobs, raise wages, and build a more prosperous america. I yield back. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. Pleased to yield to the gentleman, mr. Westerman. Mr. Westerman thank you, mr. Chairman. I, too, voice my appreciation for your leadership on this committee, integrity, and genuine concern for a Better Future for our country. In 1969 a fellow arkansans said, today we are taking an historic chance to make welfare what it is meant to be a Second Chance not a way of life. When president clinton signed the welfare reform act, he said its far from perfect legislation, but will go a long way toward overcoming the flaws of the welfare system for the people who are trapped in it. During the ceremony, he also quoted another iconic figure across the aisle, robert kennedy, who said, work is the meaning of what this country is all about. We need it as individuals. We need it we need it as a society and as a people. Even president Franklin Roosevelt said in a 1935 address to congress, the sustained Welfare Program are a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. It is in violation of the traditions of america. Work must be found for ablebodied but destitute works. This budget provides a blueprint for ablebodied working age adults while protecting services for the aged, blind, disabled, and children. We get what we incentivize and we are incentivizing ablebodied working aged adults not to work. Case in point, in my state, we accepted the free money from washington, d. C. , for Medicaid Expansion under the a. C. A. The enrollment data results are back for the largest welfare Expansion Program in my states history. Please note this program provided 100 federal government funded health care not for the aged, blind, disabled, and children that were already and are still covered under traditional medicaid, but for ablebodied working age adults of that population, 40 have zero earned income. Four out of 10 have no job and no incentive to get one. This budget provides the framework to allow states to compel ablebodied workingaged adults to work if they receive federal benefits. It saves hundreds of billions of dollars and allows these programs to be solvent in the future and to function as those before us intended. President clinton said in 1996 that this is not the end of welfare reform, this is the beginning. We have to all assume responsibility. I encourage my friends across the aisle to assume responsibility with us and create a balanced budget for a stronger america. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Price i thank the gentleman. I want to thank all of my colleagues on the majority side for their cogent remarks and for their really wise statements as it relates to the challenges that we face right now. It couldnt be more clear the difficulty that is we have. Sometimes, though, our constituents say it best. I had a former colleague who called me and said, price, its just math. Thats all it is. Its just math. I said, hank, what do you mean . He said, we spend about 12,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country every year, we only take about 10,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. Just doesnt work. Cant work in your home. Cant work in your business. So what we are putting forward here is a balanced budget for a stronger america. Positive solutions. I want to underscore a couple comments that were made. Few folks talked about the growth thats occurring right now. You talk about stagnant growth. This is the lowest, slowest, economic recovery ever in the history of the country out of an economic down turn. If people are honest with themselves, folks in this audience, people across this country, if youre honest with yourself you have to step back and say why . Whats happening . Why is it the slowest economic recover ever . Why has the Congressional Budget Office estimated growth over the next 10 years, four years ago at 3 , three years ago at 2. 9 , two years ago at 2. 7 , and now 2. 3 . Why is that that this Congressional Budget Office says that growth is slowing down . If we are honest its because of the policies that are coming out of this town. So what we are trying to do is to say to our friends on the other side of the aisle, look, there are solutions, positive solutions that can meet these challenges. Thats what our budget does. This balanced budget for a stronger america. My colleagues talked about the budget that gets to balance. It does get to balance. Well hear a lot of talk today from our friends that it doesnt get to balance. When theres more revenue coming in to the federal government than going out thats called balance. Thats what our budget does. Its important to appreciate that. Its also important to appreciate you began begin paying off the debt until you have a surplus. The debt continues to go up and the more it increases, the more we are paying interest on the debt. Folks talked about the kinds of volume of money that we are going to require to be needed to just pay the interest at the end of this 10 years the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will be 1 trillion a year. 1 trillion a year. Just interest on the debt. Every one of those dollars is dollars that cant be used by the American People for productive kinds of activity. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves if thats all we can do in this town as it relates to budgeting. We balance the budget. Balance the budget in less than 10 years. We do so without raising taxes. Taxes are at this point when taxes are raised on the American People, it actually decreases their vitality. Decreases their economic ability to improve their lives in this great country. We do so in a way that recognizes that the programs that exist out there for individuals, that there are challenges there as well. Medicare, not according to yours truly but according to medicare experts is going broke. The president s plan apparently is to let it go broke. The budget doesnt address it. In fact, his programs, not just budget, his programs take money, raid medicare. 716 billion to prop up another program, obamacare, that frankly s. Not just a problem for our economy, its a problem for our health. As a formerly practicing physician, can i say there are real challenges in that arena. What we do is save and strengthen and secure medicare and provide a program that would be a guarantee program for individuals, seniors, to have health coverage. Have an array of options choices, choice that is my friends on the other side of the aisle will remember the Congressional Budget Office says is appropriately designed, actually saves money for seniors and saves money for the federal government. Thats what we call a winwin. What we call a real solution. And its guaranteed program for seniors and allows them the kind of choices they need to respond to the needs that they have in their own lives. We recognize that this is a very dangerous world. Very dangerous world. And what we believe is that the appropriate resources need to be put in place for our military to respond to the mission, to respond to the challenges that they have in way that protects our liberty and protects our freedom. The president s budget, what does he do . He makes up a number. Makes up a number. Throws it out there. Says this is a good dream. Id like to this have number. We would, too. The fact of the matter is he doesnt lay out a plan to reform the law, to change the law, to get to that number. Thats what we do. We lay out a plan. A concrete, honest, sincere plan. Transparent plan. That says this is what we need to do and this is how we are going to get there. The challenge we have in changing the law, because thats whats required s. That we need some help from the other side of the aisle. Sadly, thats been lacking. And the president s been less than helpful and comes to the table to solve the challenge weve got and make certain our military has the resources that it needs. We embrace the notion of federalism. Its at the heart of our nation. Not just because we think that states are governments that are closer to the American People and therefore most often make more responsive decision force their people. But because it provides greater choices and opportunity for individuals back home. Whats right in georgia isnt necessarily whats right in indiana or in maryland or california or new york. So providing greater flexibility, greater opportunity, greater choices for local government, state governments, thats how you solve these challenges. People know that they can contact their state legislator more readily than they contact their member of congress or the United States senate. Thats where when its appropriate to have those decisions made locally, thats where they ought to be made. Im excited. Enthusiastic about the budget we are putting forward. This balanced budget for a stronger america. We are going to have a great conversation and a great discussion today. Our friends on the other side are going to offer all sorts of suggestions and amendments to this budget. I would urge folks to listen carefully. How many times taxes will be raised. How much more money they want to take out of your pocketbook in order to pay for their priorities. And oftentimes theyre priorities that frankly havent worked. They are the kinds of programs that have gotten us to this slow growth. We look forward to the days ahead, we look forward to the conversations that well have, and i want once again want to thank the members of the majority who have worked tirelessly along with their staffs to come forward with this positive solution, positive solution for the challenges that we face. A balanced budget for a stronger america. And i now recognize the Ranking Member who will control the remaining time for the minority to provide the presentation. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. Chairman. Im going to turn this debate over to my colleagues in a minute. To quickly respond to a few of the points you have raised. I cant emphasize enough the fact that this republican budget does not balance. Dont take it from me. Take it from republicans including the new Senate Leader on the senate Budget Committee senator enzi, who pointed out using the Affordable Care act revenue to balance the budget is a gimmick. Heres what he says. One of the problems ive had with budgets that i have looked at is they use a lot of gimmicks. He points out that it assumes the obamacare will go away, but all the money would still be there. Then he says, id like to see us get to real accounting with the budget. Also trillion dollars in business tax cuts that have been proposed by our colleagues on the floor of the house. Some last year, some this year. Not counted for in this budget. Lets talk about defense spending. The chairman said the president doesnt have a plan . Actually, the president does have a plan. He got rid of the provision in the law that caps defense spending where it is. He did it the straightforward, transparent way. The reason we are late today, we were supposed to start at 10 30, now 11, we know our republican colleagues couldnt figure out what they want to do on defense spending. What did they come up with . They come up with a total scam well talk about it a little later. Senator mccain said, quote, its not legitimate budgeting. Putting all the money in the o. C. O. Account when the joint chiefs of staff say they dont need those funds for overseas operations . Well have an interesting discussion today. Well hear about the comments our colleagues made last year about how we shouldnt be using o. C. O. As a slush fund. Its a joke. So, mr. Chairman, this budget is not balanced. Not by a long shot. Lets talk about medicare. It is interesting to hear this premium support plan. We have a good system for medicare. The voucher plan, the voucher plan is like the Affordable Care act for medicare. It is like obamacare for medicare. For millions of uninsured americans, a lot of democrats said we wanted medicare for all. Republican said no. Heritage foundation, newt gingrich, lets do something else. Ok. If they cannot afford it, we will give them a tax credit. That was a republican idea. President obama adopted it. It was a romney plan. Republicans ran away from it and now you want to impose that same theory on medicare. It is bizarre. Lets talk about taxes. We think there are lots of loopholes in the tax code. We do not think we should provide tax breaks for corporate jets. We do not think that Hedge Fund Managers should get special tax breaks. Yes, we think we should close the loopholes and we should dedicate some of those funds to reducing our deficit in a straightforward way. I am looking forward to the debate today. I know my colleagues are. We believe we should have a budget that really does help hardworking americans, not a budget that raises their cost. I want to turn the debate over to congress and more congressman moore. Moore much ado is made over the redistribution of wealth. The republicans have regaled us for decades. This budget sets the table to cut the top tax rate to 25 shifting the tax burden to average americans who will pay 2000 apiece for this tax shift. It neds tax ends tax credits to struggling parents trying to send their kids to school. It ignores the trillion dollars much a do was made of the debt in this country, but a trillion dollars a year is spent through the tax code with tax expenditures for offshore tax havens, asked and oil subsidies. 17 of the tax expenditures are consumed by the top 1 . Much discussion about the National Security interest in wanting to beef up our National Security in this budget. The greatest threat to our National Security is income inequality. Income inequality is greater that it has ever been since 1928. We know what happened in 1929. We entered the great recession. 2007, when we have the great collapse, we have the greatest inequality of any democracy in the world. We are ignoring our students. We are ignoring important infrastructure. We are at the precipice of collapse all in the name of balancing the budget. It is very frightening that this debate welfare recipients, unworthy poor people who need health care and food stamps. The 1 is the we are really protecting in this budget. Is who we are really protecting in this budget. I yelled my time for the derailment from wisconsin. I yield my time for the gentleman from wisconsin. It will make it harder to afford a home. Part of to send your kids to college harder to send your kids to college, harder to have a secure retirement because your privatizing medicare. It does all of this just to provide new tax breaks for the super wealthy. Take a look at what we are doing in this budget. We still allow the off share tax havens, the inversions. We are encouraging milliondollar ceo bonuses. We subsidize Oil Companies and Gas Companies who have record profits and we are still favoring special interests. We provide brandnew tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. We know this will greenlight top tax rate to 25 . That has to be paid by someone it will be paid by the middle class. It will increase their taxes. It does so immediately, health care and child care. It fails to propose any jobs agenda. It rejects a minimum wage increase. It has cuts in education, cuts to pell grants. It cuts research to the lowest level since 2002. It cuts job training dollars. We still need to make sure everyone can come back. It is going to cut the medicare guarantee that we have had with americans and it will cut the Affordable Care act, 60 Million People could lose their coverage because we need to provide tax breaks for the wealthiest one or 2 in this country. That is exactly what this budget does. Hardworking americans are going to work harder for less. Ms. Moore without objection, i would like to enter into the record remarks by janet yellen. Clerk without objection let me thank our Ranking Member. Judging by this budget it it seems our republican colleagues did not realize that austerity is truly a failed policy. They once again put forth a slash and burn budget that dismantles the very investments that have been proven to grow our economy and keep it strong. And they include devastating cuts that will push more children, seniors, and families into poverty. Many of these investments began 50 years ago under president johnsons war on poverty which has listed millions out of poverty into the middle class. Make no mistake, these austerity budgets have real impacts. Because of the sequester, 50 7000 children could not be enrolled in head start 57,000 children could not be enrolled in head start. The individual an economic effects of these budget cuts really cannot be underestimated. Take, for example, cuts to education, from Early Childhood to Higher Education and job training for 21st century workforce. It is unconscionable that this budget keeps special interest tax breaks while claiming there is not left enough left to educate our young people. We know people with a College Degree have an Unemployment Rate of 7 compared to 17 who do not. Why would my colleagues suggest cutting mandatory Higher Education funding by 161 billion over 10 years and why would they eliminate 89 billion in pell grants . Congress has already an active and paid for enacted and paid for. We already know there are major gaps in skills and access opportunities among students from different backgrounds. It has left hightech companies with dismal numbers of women and people of color in their ranks. This budget would threaten our critical job training programs, leading to a lower skilled and lower paid workforce. This budget foolishly cuts investments in Scientific Research and development. Our nation cannot compete globally if we cut these vital investments that support innovation and science. I want to yield to my colleague. I would like to thank my colleague from california. The proposal fails to make the appropriate investment and innovation and infrastructure needed to strengthen our economy to ensure that america has a net over our global competitors has an edge over our global competitors. Now is the time to reinvest in our transportation and infrastructure systems. The proposal does nothing to address the immediate need to fix our broken roads and bridges. It sets congress up to face another manufacturing crisis down the road. The Highway Trust Fund cannot run a negative balance. When he to find a solution to the deficit. The president s proposal would add 238 billion dollars in transitional revenue. These major corporations headquartered here at home use our roads and transit and layout to pay in the system that enables them to make their profits. They ought to pay into the system that enables them to make their profits. For every 1 billion we invest in infrastructure projects, we create between 10,000 and 15,000 jobs. The republican budget makes cuts to nondefense Discretionary Spending. Through cuts to Vocational School programs. Technicalmany of these schools cannot expand their classes due to financial constraints. Additional cuts will marginalize these vital educational institutions further. The republican budget fails to set our nation on the right path toward Economic Growth. It lacks decisive action. Thank you to my colleagues for the time. [inaudible] chair five minutes to mr. Mcdermott. Mr. Mcdermott i do not know where to start. I have been on this committee for 15 years. I am sorry to tell the chairman, this bill is doa. I would like unanimous consent to enter into the record several articles. The New York Times says house budget disaster. Washington post, gop, fiscal phonies. The house gop budget is gimmicky. And then we come to the senate. Senate gop blasts house plan for their way to boost the budget for defense. This budget is a compilation of every tired idea we have heard talked about and we will not watch the Republican Party roll around in the street trying to make sense out of this. The republicans in the senate are not going to go for it for one simple reason. It repeals aca. The budget is out of step with reality. By repealing that so many people, 16. 4 Million People are receiving health care today that were not before the aca. The level of uninsured in this country is the lowest point in many years. This allout assault on medicare has been going on since i came here with newt gingrich. Newt gingrich said, we want this thing to wither on the vine. The real trick here, and i want folks if anyone is watching this on television, they should get anyone who is 55 years or older to watch and listen. What they are planning to do is set up an exchange. They do not like exchanges in the Affordable Care act. They went to the Supreme Court over that issue. It is not good enough for the ordinary folks. For seniors, they will set up an exchange they say will be carefully monitored for medicare plans. It is not good at us good enough for the rest of the country. We will take medicare away from the seniors, give them a voucher, and send them to the exchange. No one can look at that and think they care anything about the health care of this country. That is why this budget is dead on arrival. Thank you to my good friend from washington for yielding. Previous hearings, republicans on this committee have said that wages are stagnating, Economic Activity is expecting to slow and the u. S. Has a significant problem with poverty. This may come as a surprise to many but i agree with my republican colleagues on many of these points. You mentioned that many people in this country are struggling. However, this budget only perpetuates these problems and does nothing to fix them. Our economy has come along way since 2008, but Economic Growth does not benefit everyone equally. Even though the stock market is highest that it has ever been, the top 1 of earners have accumulated more wealth than the entire bottom 90 of the nation. Even though the Unemployment Rate has fallen to 5. 5 2. 7 million americans have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks and the Unemployment Rate for hispanics and African Americans is stubbornly high. Wages for the vast majority of American Workers are stagnant and middleclass families have not seen a real Income Growth since before the recession. Many people in my home state of new mexico are hurting as well. One out of every five adults live in poverty. My community is not unique. There have been people in all this turks left behind. What what would happen there have been people in all of the districts left behind. Do you support eliminating social Insurance Programs that help you make intimate . Helps you make inends meet . The answer to that question is no. We still have Economic Issues in this country. I oppose this republican budget which devastates safety net programs that support some of the most Vulnerable People in the United States seniors the disabled, and those living in poverty. Considering the Economic Issues millions of americans face removing the support system is the last thing we should do. Chair[inaudible] thank you, mr. Chairman. I will be offering an amendment later on the very topic you just mentioned. If this was a play on broadway, it would be shutting down tomorrow. Or offbroadway. Maybe it would make it through the night. This is real theater. We supply the votes for the majority. I do not want to hear pontification about the security of the nation. Democrats supplied the majority on that bill and the transit bill the same week. This budget assumes 760 billion in cuts to nondefense Discretionary Spending. Below the levels of the budget control act, a level at which the republican majority was forced to pull Appropriations Bills off the floor because they did not have the votes. Does anyone think the Appropriations Committee can realistically do its work under this lower number . It relies on dynamic scoring dynamic sleepwalking. Any economist will tell you how difficult it is to make dynamic revenue estimates. Let me show you the chart. Can the folks in the back see this chart . This is what they predicted. This is dynamic predictability by the Republican Party in 2001 when they cut our taxes. Look at the result of that and how may jobs were lost. This is the record. This is what they want to produce again. So we can have further crisis. You quite simply cannot have it both ways. When democrats passed the aca we financed it in a first possible in a responsible manner. This budget steals its funding from the poor and middle class. It uses it to finance the budget assumes the revenues will remain the same as the Current Despite the majoritys devastating intent. Id yield back i yield back. Chair i yield five minutes. I think the chairman and i look forward to the debate today. I want to talk about the democratic goal for the budget and our vision for the country and contract in contrast to the republican budget. We will offer a more optimistic and realistic vision for america. It is a vision that strengthens Economic Growth so that everyone in america has an opportunity to be successful, not just the wealthy. Democrats intend to build on the economic progress and americas Success Stories of the past years. A noted economist you would not know it from my republican colleagues doom and gloom. The u. S. Is the strongest economy in the developed world right now. For the private sector, 12 million new jobs. Extending the longest streak on record. Unemployment has dropped from 10 to 5. 5 . Gas prices are low. That has been a great help to families all across america. The Energy Information Administration Says on average every American Household will save 710 in the coming years. Solar and Renewable Energy clean energy is going gang busters. America has experienced an energy revolution. Health insurance, my colleagues are correct. 60 million americans are newly covered 16 million americans are newly covered. Most people have employersponsored health care. Their Health Insurance rates grew at one of the slowest rates in history. Health care Price Inflation is remarkably low. Capital is flowing into the United States of america. The annual deficit has been cut by two thirds during the obama administration. The cbo report, the deficit has fallen sharply. It is 2. 6 of gdp, the smallest relative to the nations output since 2007. We have to work on the debt. It does not help when the republican budget continues tax loopholes, the largest problem facing the debt. Friends, if you are 14 enough to have money in the stock market, you have senior 401 k s grow fortunate enough to have money in the stock market, you have seen your 401 k s grow. The stock market has performed better than under any president. We now have a strong dollar. We import more than we export. This gives america stronger purchasing power. We cannot take the radical turn the republicans propose. We have to stay on track. Immigrants intend to offer amendment democrats intend to offer amendments to bolster education, modern transportation infrastructure system. We want to keep the momentum going. We want to strengthen and keep the promise of medicare and build on the economic progress we have i would like to yield my time to the gentlemawoman from michigan. Thank you for all the work, the discussion we are all having among ourselves. The budget resolution has many things in it that concerns me. It hurts seniors. It hurts young people. Perhaps most of all, it takes away Economic Opportunities for young working hardworking families in this country. I am concerned by the assumption that there are some people who dont want to work. In michigan, i know too many people who are looking for jobs and cannot find them, or are working hard just to get ahead, working two or three jobs. In michigan, and across the country, people just want the chance to work and the opportunity to earn a fair living. For many years anyone willing to put in an honest day of work in this country could earn a fair wage. That built the Auto Industry in michigan. Across the country hardworking americans put in long days but left with a paycheck that could support their family. In the last decade the real income of a typical family has barely grown. In the last few years, we have seen stagnant wages and consumer cost go up. A lot of working men and women dont have that chance just to earn a decent living. Helping hardworking families is good for everyone in this country. Economists at the International Monetary fund have found that growing income inequality hurts Economic Growth. It is vital for all americans to have the opportunity to earn a fair wage. Unfortunately, the republican budget doubles down on policies that will put working families further behind. I have one example of a man walking 21 miles a day to work. It is critical that we take action to strengthen Economic Growth for all, to make sure hardworking families do well. I look forward to working with colleagues as we consider the amendments to give americans a chance to earn an honest living for a hard days work. I know yield five minutes to mr. Ryan of ohio. Mr. Ryan i think the gentleman. The main issue we agree on as democrats is that we need an opportunity for average people in our country to earn a living, to go to work and earn a living. Thats all they want from us. We have proven on our side that our philosophy is much better at growing our economy. I dont know how many of you sit on military committees. I know i do. We have hollowed out our military because of sequestration, but we also hollowed out our domestic economy. When you look at how we got to where we are as a country, we got here because we had public investments and private investments. And the republican philosophy of dismantling the public investments have decimated the middle class. Look at our infrastructure today. Anyone driving in the northern part of the country after the winter. We need investments to grow our economy in public infrastructure. Roads, bridges ports, airports broadband, this is how you grow the economy. But you cannot necessarily do it if you cut out public investment. You want to break the digital divide, you need to make these investments so access gets to poorer communities. People want to go to work, and they want the opportunity, a hand up, not a handout. If you look at public and private investments we want to make in clean energy, i know that even with the issue of natural gas, we had republicans abandon ship. We want to make these investments into wind and solar. You want to resuscitate manufacturing . Drive money into making windmills and solar panels. You know how many component parts, gear shifts, steel, go into a windmill . Times, and that could be made in the United States. Same with solar panels. If you Cost Investment in clean energy, youre never going to get there. Same thing with the National Science foundation. We are down 690 fewer National Science Commission Grants than in 2013. Will we grow our economy if we continue to gut these programs . We have a more comprehensive Publicprivate Partnership approach that has been proven to work. With that, i yield to my friend. Thank you, mr. Ryan. German price, Ranking Member chairman price, Ranking Member then holland. We are looking forward to working with you. In congress, we talk a lot about the american dream, the american promise, that if you work hard you can make it Better Living for yourself and your children. At the center of the dream is opportunity. This opportunity only exists if the American People are given the tools to succeed. Today, we are marking up a budget that fall short of advancing the cause of american opportunity. We on this committee have a chance choice to vote on amendments that will invest in putting people back to work, repair roads, bridges, ports and other critical infrastructure, two providing Affordable Access to strengthen education systems, and three provide a fair tax system. While we have to make tough choices to deal with the deficit and debt, we remain committed to a strategy that strengthens infrastructure in a sustainable way, makes sure American Workers can compete. Investing in infrastructure will create jobs, grow our economy, facilitate american exports, and increase the return on taxpayer investment. The final tool to create opportunity, a fair tax system that rewards hard work. Putting my back in the pockets of hardworking families so they can invest in education, spent money at stores, restaurants, communities and take trips and vacations to stimulate the u. S. Tourism economy. All these proposals are designed to give hardworking families the tools they need to grow the economy from the middle out, not the top down. We will see democrats offer amendments that will reflect this priority in a different way. I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to make hardworking families the top priority, as well as voting for these democratic amendments. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Norcross. I yield the remaining time to mr. Young. Mr. Young the budget before us today not only fails to address the challenges of hardworking American Families, it jeopardizes the tools of opportunity that helped them get ahead. The amendments we will offer are designed to reflect the needs and prepare protect priorities of American Families. I would like to use my state as an example. In addition to massive cuts to medicaid this proposal would end Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care act. In the commonwealth of kentucky, with a population of 4 Million People, 370,000 residents were able to get coverage under Medicaid Expansion just last year. We reduced the number of uninsured in my district alone by 81 . Over six years, this is predicted to create 40,000 jobs statewide and inject 30 billion into our economy. This company and of taxes, revenue, and cost savings is expected to generate 820 million for state and local government over that time. This is in a state that has senators named Mitch Mcconnell and rand paul. The Affordable Care act and Medicaid Expansion is quite literally paying off for kentucky. Saving money, hospitals are earning more, and hundreds of thousands of people across kentucky rest easier everyday knowing they have care they can rely on. The Budget Proposal before us today would be enormous we will do everything we can to opperman minutes to move forward for the American People and build on the gains we have made. I yield the remainder of my time to mr. Lieu of california. As i read the proposal, i saw it is the best argument i have ever seen for two plus two equals seven. You cannot just repeal the aca and assume, get hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenues by calling it dynamic scoring. If you use fake numbers, why have such a meanspirited document . The democrats will call for an alternative budget, one that instead of eliminating medicare as we know it, will preserve it. Instead of cutting Social Security, we will preserve it. Instead of punishing the middle class, we will help the middle class. On top of that, we want to do it with real numbers. It is important to understand that there are very stark choices between the democratic budget and the republican budget. The democratic budget believes that investing in america in transportation, education, infrastructure, the social safety net, that grows the economy. Past history shows that that has grown the economy. As we go through the market today, you will see just how fake this budget is. I served in the California Legislature for nearly a decade. We had a constitutional requirement to pass a balanced budget. No one in california would be able to vote for this document. This is simply a madeup document, with madeup numbers. It is one of the most fanciful things i have seen in all my years. You see through the markup, how outrageous these numbers are. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. I just want to thank my colleagues on the democratic side for putting forward a critique of the republican budget and laying groundwork for the budget we will present next week. I think the Ranking Member. We will proceed with the staff walk through of the fiscal year 2016 resolution on the budget. Staff to move to the witness table, please. While staff is getting set e remind members that this let me remind members that this is an opportunity to ask questions that are factual and technical in nature. The staff is not here to answer questions that defend policy. That is our job, and we will have a great opportunity to do that. These questions should be factual and technical. How do you want us to do that . As you go through the section, we stop and do it in that section . What we will do, once we began, we will have the first question asked and the Staff Members will respond to the question in that area. It has to be about the information in that section . There is no walkthrough of the entire legislation. It is whatever portion you wish to discuss. I think the chairman has agreed that the best use of our time is to allow members to begin with questions, rather than a presentation. We have with us today rick may our staff director. We also have with us jane lee our policy director, and jim hertz, director of budget review. As i mentioned, these questions should be factual and technical in nature. We will begin. This will last for one hour. This provides members of the committee the opportunity to understand some of the policies behind the numbers. We appreciate the opportunity and we will use this time for that. I would like to put up a chart i used in my Opening Statement with respect to what this republican budget does with respect to what we call nondefense Discretionary Spending. For people listening, those are funds we invest in our kids education, in Scientific Research, Homeland Security, those Ongoing Operations that are part of the nondefense space. As i understand it, the budget would cut below the postsequester level, below the sequester caps, by 579 billion over the 10year window. Is cut that correct . That is correct. Thank you. Now, relative to what would be required to maintain 2015 levels adjusted for inflation, that cuts nondiscretionary nondefense Discretionary Spending by 1. 1 trillion. Theres not much detail on how you would allocate these cuts. You have function 920 and function 930, which contain 766 billion in unallocated cuts over the next 10 years. In other words, you say go make that huge cut, dont tell us where they are coming from. By our calculation, if you apply those across the board, it would come to a cut of 25 in that category of the budget by 2020. Is that square with your calculations . I think you have to turn on your mic please. I dont think your mic is on. There im sorry. I think you have to give us a minute to reconnoiter about what the best answer is. But the best way to start, and i will turn to jane and jim for further details remember, the budget resolution is only a budget blueprint designed to provide, shall we say a vision of where we believe the fiscal policy of the federal budget needs to go over the next 10 years. It is not designed to provide every single solitary assumption behind the numbers. The committee is a tradition that started under the previous chairman and continues with this chairman, we give illustrative examples of both direct spending as well as discretionary, how we achieve our numbers. We created this budget plan based on policies, as the chairman of the two earlier in his remarks. This is not a mathematical exercise. It is a policybased effort. We are not required to provide every single solitary assumption behind the numbers, but we can assure you that there are policy assumptions behind every number. The concern about the discretionary number is a valid one. We believe that the size and scope of government should be reduce, and the best way to do that is through reduction in Discretionary Spending. I would point out, this chart illustrates that this budget takes that category of spending, investments in our economy areas Like Research and development, education, 40 below the lowest level in recorded history. You have, as i look at your budget shown how, what you would allocate within certain functions over the next 10 years. Maybe those are illustrative purposes. But lets look at just 2016 because that is upon us right now. It appears that the budget has a lower amount for veterans programs. Is that your understanding . Are policy assumptions regarding veterans our our policy associate regarding veterans, our assumptions are pretty much on the cbo baseline. We made some assumptions regarding mandatory spending that mirror the president s budget regarding veterans benefits. If yours is a baseline, i understand. A baseline that puts funding for veterans at one point billion 1. 9 billion below the president s recommendation. We can double check that. You have a huge unallocated cut to the budget that includes Homeland Security and veterans programs. Have you made any provision for protecting our investment in veterans programs, or is that left to the whim of the appropriators . I am not certain the appropriators would appreciate that the decisions they make are simply whgims. Fiscal year 2016 numbers are based on the overall allocation we provide to the Appropriations Committee. Appropriators have maximum flexibility in order to meet that allocation number and they can divide that as they see fit among the various appropriation bills. To decide exactly how the appropriators are going to use those dollars is a most impossible for the budget almost impossible, for the Budget Committee to make those assumptions. By our activation, this would result in a 25 cut. If you cuts less from some programs, you will cut even more than 25 from others. Let me ask you about the cbo macroeconomic analysis of the budget released yesterday. If you look at it, on page seven it indicates that as a result of the budget you are presenting, including the budget cuts to this portion of the budget, our national gdp, our National Economic output would fall by 0. 7 in 2017, 0. 3 in 2018, relative to baseline. Relative to if we did not have this budget in place and continued with existing policies. Did you see that cbo outlook . Of course. If you would like us to explain more, we look at the macroeconomic feedback from cbo as the equivalent of what the president s budget and the office of management and budget are able to do. The president s budget is a postpolicy analysis budget. They put various assumptions together as a starting point for the budget, as we do. But as the president s budget goes forward they have the ability, or the tools to adjust their economic assumption, Interest Rate assumptions, etc. To achieve policy goals. When they say the president s budget will drive the numbers to a certain point. The Budget Committee uses a different approach. We start with the cbo economic assumptions, Interest Rates Economic Growth, etc. , and until we take that economic feedback approach, we are stuck with the positive things that occur from deficit reduction efforts. We do not include that until the very last step, when we do this feedback. You are correct, that there is a small change in the front end, but there is a very large change at the back end, which we believe there are five the validity verifies the validity that this is good for growth, good for job creation. And the numbers by the cbo, we do not have our own black box this is cbo numbers that provide the fa positive feedback we get from the budget. We are we have a big budget here, and we have some questions. It does raise the question about why we would want policies to slow down Economic Growth in the short term. Let me respond. As i understand, you have what you call the cbo dividend as part of the budget. Thats right. Is there anything in the revenue assumptions you have made that are not based on cbo analysis . To you have any dynamic scoring assumption in this budget . That are not based mr. Chairman, mr. Van hollen, we started off with the cbo baseline because we thought that was a reasonable place to start. The feedback does not assume any changes regarding tax reform assumptions we are making in this document. We would argue that if we did provide the feedback if we did provide, the feedback would be even higher. Cbo does not give that to us because we are not presenting a full, detailed plan. So therefore there is no tax provision, tax benefit or feedback. This is simply the feedback you see, simply from lowering the deficit, lowering pressure on Interest Rates, creating growth because of the substitution, if you will, of borrowing less money in the government. I understand. Bottom line is, other than what you just described with respect to the cbo there is no other assumption impact from socalled dynamic scoring on tax policy . There is no assumptions at all. No assumptions on tax policy, other than the cbo baseline. I will ask some transportation questions. We all have some more questions. I know mr. Mcdermott let me ask you quickly, on transportation. Your budget shows 187 billion in outlays over 10 years primarily in discretionary then a budget cut of 166 billion on the mandatory side. The combination suggests this budget does what last years republican budget does which is that the spending out of the Highway Trust Funds will be cut to a level supported by current revenues. Is that correct . That is correct. I would like to defer to my colleagues here. I dont want to be the hot of the limelight hog of the limelight i know the budget would allow people to come up with increased spending. My question is this budget before us does not provide a specific solution to the problem. It assumes unless something is done through the other fund, that the Transportation Trust fund will simply be funded by cart revenues. Our assumption is that we follow the current law. Current law presumes that if expenditures do not match the revenues coming in that expenditures will be ratcheted back. Right now, theres going to be a shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund later on this year. We provide flexibility for the Transportation Infrastructure Committee to provide a more flexible provision later on. Thank you. I appreciate that. But it would increase spending. There is no provision for the shortfall other than in the font. You have a particularly big cut, 57 for next year. In this account. Was going on, and is there any assumption for new starts in the Highway Program next year . I would prefer that to jim. In fiscal year 2016, the Highway Trust Fund is projected to go insolvent. The budget assumes that we will match the spending. That occurs in fiscal year 2015. That explains why you see we do have a reserve fund to address that. We have a role carried over from last year that says that congress should pay for any general Fund Transfer into the Highway Trust Fund. Thank you. I know yield thank you. A couple questions. I know that mandatory spending is cut by 161 billion below the baseline over 10 years, and your budget document says that the maximum grant is frozen for the next 10 years. I have four questions based on those two assumptions, if they are correct. First, what does it mean, does that mean your budget eliminates the 89 billion of previously enacted mandatory funding for pell grant increases . As the president himself noted in a previous state of the union, the tell Grant Program is facing a budget shortfall in fiscal year 2017. So in order to sustain the continued payments to these programs the house budget assumes that the telegraph is fully funded at a maximum grant award at 5,775. Fully funded. Does that mean that your budget eliminates the 89 billion of previously enacted mandatory funding for call grant increases . We fully fund the program on the discretionary side. You say the answer is a no . Yes, sir. It would move the mandatory portion so the answer is yes. Lets try that format for the rest of them so we can get the questions in. Would request the gentleman yield . They are moving it from mandatory to discretionary, but that is under the discretionary caps. Other areas would be cut out. This tell Grant Program was originally funded on the discretionary ledger. How much will the hell grant lose in purchasing power if it is frozen over 10 years the pell grant. Past republican budgets said they it today eliminated the block grant. Does your budget assume the savings . Yes, those it
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