At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rep. James Comer (R-KY) spoke about the reconciliation bill.
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00:00Chair recognizes Mr. Lynch.
00:02Mr. Chairman, I just want to say our federal budget reflects our values.
00:11When we fund the VA, so it's not just about numbers.
00:16It's about the mission and the purpose of our budget.
00:23You do understand our federal budget is $2.5 trillion in debt.
00:29We're cleaning my time, though.
00:29I know, but our values, we can't have values.
00:33Mr. Chairman, you don't get to just interject, Mr. Chairman.
00:36You know what?
00:37I think you've already spoken, so you're out of order.
00:39I have not spoken on this.
00:40I borrowed on somebody else's time.
00:41All right.
00:42All right.
00:42Go ahead.
00:42I borrowed somebody else's time, and I will speak.
00:46We'll speak.
00:47You all have put our country in debt.
00:50It does reflect value.
00:50Kids are graduating from college with debt.
00:52You're about to put our country in $4 trillion more debt.
00:55I don't think you all could find a billion dollars in savings.
00:58You don't care about the Congressional Budget Office, because you don't care what anything
01:01cost.
01:02You just want to spend hard-working American taxpayers' money.
01:06I have to restore the time.
01:08Give me five minutes.
01:08You can talk all you want.
01:09I want everyone in America to see how much opposition you all have to get to get the fiscal order here.
01:17Your own chairman, and you're out of order.
01:19Go ahead.
01:19Go ahead.
01:20Go ahead.
01:20Now, without interruption, what we decide here in the budget is what I'm – the point I'm trying to make is it's not just dollars and cents.
01:32It's about where that money goes and what purposes and what priorities it reflects.
01:40And those – you know, governing is about making decisions, and we choose to fund things that in this country we have honored for a very long time.
01:52And that – you know, I have to say, in my 25 years in Congress, we have had very little disagreement on funding veterans' benefits.
02:01I have to say that.
02:03I don't think I can count on one hand the time we had disagreements over 25 years when we talk about how do we care for our veterans, things like that.
02:12And I miss that because now we're fighting tooth and nail about whether we're going to lay off 80,000 employees at the VA.
02:24What I'm saying is that, sure, it's about the budget, but underlying that budget is our priorities as a country, what we consider to be worthwhile.
02:38And I feel that veterans' benefits are worthwhile.
02:45Veterans' health care is worthwhile.
02:48The way we treat our federal employees is important.
02:52It is intrinsic to the work of the federal government and how we help the most vulnerable as well as, you know, average, everyday Americans on Social Security, on Medicaid.
03:06So I've had layoffs recently in one of my big health centers, community health centers, laid off 60 people in a city that can't afford that.
03:17And that's because of the decisions that are being made on the budget, on the numbers on the budget.
03:23We're going to cut over $800 billion on Medicaid.
03:28I've got nursing homes.
03:30So I've got seniors who, you know, they can't go out and get another job.
03:34They're in nursing homes.
03:37Their families are trying to care for them.
03:39We're cutting 40% of the income for those long-term care nursing homes for elderly are being impacted by the numbers in this budget.
03:52And that's very troublesome.
03:55So I'm just saying that this is different.
03:59I've been, yeah, the gentle lady from Georgia is correct.
04:02I've been through reconciliation before.
04:04I know how this process works, and it is about numbers, and I agree with that point.
04:10But this is different.
04:12This reconciliation is going after things that have been long respected and honored in this country.
04:19And we are changing our ideals and our commitments to people like our own veterans to, you know, they want to pull benefits from federal employees.
04:37And, again, the numbers behind this all, the general purpose here, as you know, Mr. Chairman, is to make a tax cut possible.
04:48So we're going to increase the debt.
04:51We are.
04:52That's the plan here.
04:54We're going to increase the debt by, I think, at least $4 trillion, you know, based on what we're looking at right now.
05:05And to justify that, we're cutting all this.
05:09We're cutting people who, you know, veterans' benefits are different.
05:15They're different.
05:15They're different, and they're special because veterans' benefits are for courageous service previously rendered.
05:27We owe this.
05:30We owe those benefits.
05:33Those wounded veterans lying in VA hospitals all across this country, your state and mine, we owe them for their service.
05:44They have delivered.
05:46Every one of them, by definition, every veteran who's eligible for this has honorably served this country in uniform.
05:57Put their life on the line for the benefit of us all.
06:02We made a commitment to them.
06:05We said, if you come back with wounds, visible or invisible, we will take care of you.
06:12We made that promise.
06:13Multiple generations of Americans have made that promise.
06:16And we, this budget, these numbers, breach that promise.
06:23We break that promise in this bill.
06:25First time ever, at least in the 25 years I've been here.
06:28Mr. Chairman, thank you for your courtesy, and I yield back.