Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - November 09, 2005)

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Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn) for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to keep this very brief. I just came here 64 days ago, and I served on the general assembly and I served on the appropriations committee. And I can tell the Members most States are seeing their budgets being crippled by Medicaid, and Medicaid is tied to the Federal programs. What we have done in this bill is we have a plan to reform government, to reduce spending, not just at the Federal level but at the State level as well.

The gentleman from Texas's (Chairman Barton) program that addresses the eldercare with Medicaid will really help States initiate programs that truly take care of the elderly who are in need, but force people who are not in need who try to circumvent the system from circumventing that system. And that is so important. That is reforming government. That is reducing spending. That is getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. And that is a plan.

Chairman Barton also has a plan for Medicaid savings on prescription drugs. That is important, because when I came from Ohio and when 85 percent of our budget is crippled by Medicare and education, we need to have help at the Federal level to enact reforms at the State level that will allow us to feed our poor, feed our elderly, educate our children, and not bankrupt our system. That is what this act does.

I am going to vote for it, and I want to applaud the leadership on the Republican side of this aisle for giving us a plan to reform government, reduce spending, and save our future.

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