Senate Proceeding on Apr 6th, 2011 :: 9:05:20 to 9:14:10
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9:05:08 to 9:05:29( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: i.r.s. refund -- depending upon a timely i.r.s. refund check and the government is shutdown and you need that money and you're counting on it, it's your money, you may found out if the government is shut down, there's no one to talk to and that check will be delayed. or entitled to social security disability payments and you have a case that's pending, there's not going to be people there to resolve those cases and you're

9:05:20 to 9:14:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Benjamin L. Cardin

9:05:30 to 9:05:51( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: going to have to wait. and that could very well affect your ability to literally pay your bills. or if you're doing research at n.i.h., cutting-edge research which depends upon the continuity of the work in order to discover the answers to many of the problems we face in

9:05:52 to 9:06:13( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: health care, that's going to be disrupted if we have a shutdown in government. the bottom line is everyone loses if we have a shutdown of our government on friday. the taxpayers lose. study after study shows that a shutdown of government will actually cost the taxpayers more money.

9:06:14 to 9:06:34( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: it makes no sense at all. and yet there are some on the -- in the house that said, look, bring a shutdown on. they're not negotiating in good faith. they're saying, it's our way or we're not going to do it. basically they want to shut down the government. well, we need to negotiate in good faith. it's not going to be what the democrats want.

9:06:35 to 9:06:56( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: its not going to be what the republicans want. that's how the system works. you've got to negotiate in good faith. i know that our leaders are doing that. i would just urge all of us to understand the consequences of a shutdown and make sure that we take steps to negotiate in good faith to have a budget agreement completed by friday of this week.

9:06:57 to 9:07:17( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: i just really want my colleagues to understand why people in my state should be very concerned about the budget that passed the house of representatives, the republican budget. it would hurt children on head start. in my own state of maryland, 1,795 children on head start

9:07:18 to 9:07:39( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: would be -- would lose their ability to go to the head start program. we know how important that is to our country. for students in maryland, they would find that their pell grants would be reduced by almost $700. women would be hurt by the loss of essential preventive health services. families would be at risk of the

9:07:40 to 9:08:02( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: lack of enforcement of our regulatory bills that protect us from -- on public health issues. and the list goes on and on. it's been estimated that 700,000 jobs would be lost if the house budget became real. 700,000 jobs would jeopardize our recovery. as you know, we're just starting to see job growth.

9:08:03 to 9:08:23( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: we certainly don't want to take steps that would be counterproductive to this. and as we pointed out many times, the budget the house sends us over is concentrating on 12% of federal spending. 12%. we need to broaden this discussion and we all understand that. but it starts by allowing the political system to work and for to us get dispoag reach an

9:08:24 to 9:08:44( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: agreement -- get together and to reach an agreement on a budget that is already six months we're into. we're talking about the last six months of the budget that we're working on. in my own state of maryland, if the house budget were to pass, in the rometro lose $150 million. this, of course, is the nation's transit system. people would find if the transit

9:08:45 to 9:09:06( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: system can't operate, the -- the commute in to work's going to take a lot longer, roads are going to get clogged. it's not what we need for the nation. and i guess my point to you is this. the house budget, the republican budget's not going to become law. it's not what the republicans want. it's not what the democrats want. we've got to come together. we've got to -- to -- and we're doing that.

9:09:07 to 9:09:27( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: but let's not let a minority in the house tell us that we're not going to let the system work for the best interests of the american people. now, i think, though, we should be very concerned about whether this is part of a plan with the republicans when we take a look at their budget for next year,

9:09:28 to 9:09:48( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: the 2012 budget, which was released this week. there's some very disturbing signs. as to what their intentions are all about. we saw it with their budget for this year. now we see that continued with their budget for next year. they literally want to turn the medicare system into a voucher program, where seniors are going to have to rely upon private

9:09:49 to 9:10:09( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: insurance companies. we tried that before medicare. in the early 1960's, the number of seniors couldn't get health care -- a number of seniors couldn't get -- the number of seniors who couldn't get health care insurance was staggering. why? because the insurance companies didn't want to insure people who were going to make claims. if seniors are at the mercy of

9:10:10 to 9:10:31( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: private insurance companies, it's going to be much more expensive for seniors and they're not going to get the adequate protections that they need. we understand that. that's a reason why we should all be concerned about the budget that was brought out this week. the medicaid system that protects our most vulnerable and protects our system -- protect our seniors. seniors rely on large part in

9:10:32 to 9:10:53( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: the medicaid system to deal with long-term care, nursing care. the republican budget would thereafter to the states with a block grant, making it very unlikely that we would see the continuation of the program that is critically important not just to people who are vulnerable but if they have to rely ghosn use of emergency -- rely again on the use of emergency rooms to

9:10:54 to 9:11:14( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: get care, once again it's going to be more expensive for all of us. those so-called short-term budget savings turn into long-term costs for our country. but then the republican budget tons do these domestic discretionary cuts well beyond what we need as a nation to grow, taking again our most vulnerable, those who depend upon government, making college education more expensive,

9:11:15 to 9:11:36( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: denying young people the opportunities that they need is continued. but guess what's missing in the republican budget? getguess what's missing? there's no effort to really deal with the revenue problems of america. now, i say there's a better way to do this and there's 64 senators that have come together and say, look, we've got to deal

9:11:37 to 9:11:57( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: with our national debt, we've got to deal with it with a credible budget plan, a credible budget plan that starts with the -- with discretionary spending cuts -- and we all agreed to that -- got to do the military, reduce military spending, got to deal with mandatory spending, but we also have to deal with the spending

9:11:58 to 9:12:19( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: side. that's 32 democrats, 32 republican senators have said that. that's what we do. the republican budget in the house doesn't take us down that path. it's not a credible plan for dealing with the budget deficit that can pass and be enacted and give confidence not only to financial markets here in america but around the world and tell the american people they're putting their interests first.

9:12:20 to 9:12:40( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: so i just really want my colleagues to understand, we don't want to jeopardize the -- the recovery. we want to get our budget into balance. and we've got to get this year's budget behind us. we've got to deal with it. president obama's right when he said in his state of the union address that we've got to beat our competition. we've got to outeducate, out spin rate is and out --

9:12:41 to 9:13:02( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: outinnovate and outbuild and we've got to do it in a fiscally responsible way. we can do that if we work together now and deal with the budget that we're currently in that ends on september 30 of this year. in a fiscally responsible way. the dollar budget cuts we've all agreed to. we know what it's going to be. now let's get this done and move on and work together for the sake of our nation. i am convinced that if we work

9:13:03 to 9:13:24( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: together, we can have a responsible plan and we certainly should not minority in the house to block a budget resolution for this year causing the government shutdown. that's the worst case for the american people. and i urge our colleagues to continue to work together so

9:13:25 to 9:13:47( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: that we can keep government operating, reduce the deficit, and allow america to grow and compete to meet the challenges of the future. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.