I can see the house people [indiscernible] sen. Enzi i am pleased to call this to thousand 16 concurrent budget fiscal meeting to order. It is my privilege to recognize the chair of this years conference, the distinguished chair, senator enzi. Sen. Enzi today were going to consider the resolution on the budget and the house amendments, we will begin with Opening Statements, ill recognize myself first and then dr. Price and senator sanders and mr. Van hollen, then we have a list of the others in order. Glad we are at this point, and i appreciate all who have shown up so far, although those who dont show up will help reduce the the length of the meeting, of course. [laughter] sen. Enzi so we meet today on moving forward with the joint house, Senate Budget conference with the goal of producing 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. It was no small task, in fact, the last time both houses of Congress Passed a balanced joint budget resolution, was in fy 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 and lets a congressional policy makers who allocate the dollars lets us congressional policy makers who 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. Over the past five years, Senate Democrats have only been able to pass one budget. Now that congress is under new management, Senate Republicans put together balanced vegan in balanced budget for the First One Hundred 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 balanced 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 the trust of the American People because of 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 their priorities ahead of politics and gridlock. Today, thats exactly what we are doing. A balanced budget promises a government that will actually spend tax dollars wisely and gives hardworking americans the freedom to pursue their future. Our work today and in the coming weeks will show Hardworking Taxpayers that congress is committed to a government that is 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 the federal government will collect a record 3200 billion, thats 3. 2 trillion in revenue this year. So even as federal revenues hit record highs, were on track to overspend by nearly a thousand billion dollars in the 10th year. American taxpayers understand that the more we overspend, the more debt we all, and the more debt our children and grandchildren will have to carry. Every man woman and child in this country now owes 56,000 on that debt. Left unchecked, that number is expected to grow to more than 75,000 per person in the next decade. Federal overspending means higher Interest Rates for consumers because the government is 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, good paying 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 everyday. 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 with spend 61,000 a year. The family would add an additional 9,000 to its credit cards, despite owing a whopping 311,000 in debt. Hardworking taxpayers are counting on us to set priorities and to stick to them, because a balanced budget will boost our nations economic output and help restore the promise of a government thats more effective. A balanced budget will 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 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 . Chairman price i want to thank the chairman and appreciate everybodys participation. The number of senators significantly outnumbers the number of house members, but we are fine with that. We think we have each fire power so we are ready to go with the conference committee. 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 for the house and senate for their dedication to this work. Completing a budget is one of our core legislative responsibilities, yet congress has gone without one for several years now. I look forward to this opportunity to help restore process that will ensure congress is fully embracing its power of the purse legislating in an orderly manner that provides for the most transparent the and accountability. That being said, we all know that a budget is more than just a set of numbers. Its 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. We are not here today to just make the numbers add up. We are 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 dc have been Holding America back. Deficits remain in the hundreds of billions of dollars and are set to go even higher in the years to come. For millions of americans, wages are stagnant, 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 much brighter. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has revised down its tenure average of economic its tenyear average of Economic Growth projections from 3 annualized its 2012 outlook to just 2. 3 in his most recent 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 inefficiency throughout the federal urography, so that taxpayers dollars are spent more wisely. We need to ensure 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. The have to be targeted toward those who truly need assistance, and where appropriate, state and local communities often have more freedom and flexibility to administer these programs. A balanced budget can be an on to be achieved without raising to us. Raising taxes. Washington does not need to take more from hardworking americans. It needs to start living within its means. I would remind my colleagues that every dollar that is taken for taxes and every dollar that washington borrows is a dollar that cant used to pay the rent or buy a car or buy a home or send a kid to college or 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 that it is simpler and fairer so that 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 patient centered healthcare reform were patients and families and doctors are making medical decisions, not washington, d. C. While getting rid of what doesnt work, we have to be adequately supporting that which is vital to the success and security of our nation. 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 troops, and do so in a way that is both fiscally responsible and reflective of the tremendous threat facing america, our allies, and our interest around the world. Because a budget is more than just a set of numbers, because it is a vision for how we achieve a stronger nation with more opportunity, we are 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 that is going bankrupt and without reforms will not keep its promises . Do we want to continue to force low income individuals and families into Medicaid Program in which access to actual care is limited, where doctors are under reimbursed and are therefore unable to see and treat patients . Should our College Students face years of crippling debt because of a governmentrun Student Loan Program that price up tuitions . We have to ask these questions and others. The answer to all of them ought to be, of course not. We have to figure out the right policy so that we leave our kids and 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 that is fair and compassionate to all. The current policies in washington are clearly not working. They have shown they cannot break the pattern over growing debt and an underperforming economy, and too many folks just struggling to get by. The budget that we produce from these negotiations means we must respect the American People and respect the seriousness of the challenges we face so we can provide positive alternatives and Real Solutions to achieve real results. I want to thank chairman enzi and every body for serving on this committee and for their hard work. I look forward to hearing the thoughts and ideas of my colleagues here and in the days to come. Weve got a big job ahead of us to get the country back on track. We will be up to pursue policies that will build a stronger, more prosperous and more secure america. Thank you, and i yield back. Thank you, chairman price. Senator sanders. Senator sanders i want to thank you for holding this important meeting. While we have huge philosophical differences, he has run this in a civil and court away and civil way and in a cordial way, and i appreciate that very much. These solutions 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 Senate Budget, do exactly the opposite of what needs to be done 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 for cap it for capita on health care as do the people of any other country. Thats the problem. A sensible approach says ok, had a 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 for medicaid a nd in the house a lot more. What is the result . You throw 27 Million People off of Health Insurance, on top of the 35 million who today 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 . We 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. Youre throwing people off of Health Insurance. When you end the Affordable Care act, it means 2. 3 million young adults who now have insurance with their parents are 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 absurdity where we denied care to people with preexisting conditions. We are going back to those days. That iS Health Care. But i go back to vermont and i expect every member here when they go back to their district 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 they are lucky enough to graduate college, they are deeply in debt. We all have staff, i have several members of my staff, im sure you do as well, who leave school over 100,000 in debt. Talk to a young doctor, 300,000 in debt. What we should be doing is figuring out how to make college more affordable to working families, and how we reduce student debt, the Interest Rate that students have to pay. What the republican budget does, amazingly enough, is exactly the opposite. They cut 90 billion of mandatory funding from the pell grant program. The major source of funding for low and moderate income young people who want to attend college. This would increase the cost of College Education for more than 8 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 would receive the academic help they need under the title i program. When you get down to basics and you talk about morality, it seems to me that the least that we can do as a nation, a nation which 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 40 Million People living in poverty. The very least we can say is that nobody in america goes hungry and that i would hope would be the least we could say as 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