Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 3.djvu/657

 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS-JUNE 5, 1997 111 STAT. 2745 self-employed would make health insurance more attractive and affordable, resulting in more dependents being covered. The government should not encourage parents to forgo private insurance for a government-run program. SEC. 314. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON A MEDICAID PER CAPITA CAP. It is the sense of the Senate that in order to meet deficit reduction targets in this resolution with respect to Medicaid— (1) the per capita cap will not be used as a method for meeting spending targets; and (2) the per capita cap could represent a significant structural change that might jeopardize the quality of care for children, the disabled, and senior citizens. SEC. 316. SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT ADDED SAVINGS GO TO DEFICIT REDUCTION. (a) FiNDiNGS.The Congress finds that— (1) balancing the budget will bring numerous economic benefits for the United States economy and American workers and families, including improved economic growth and lower interest rates; (2) the fiscal year 1998 budget resolution crafted pursuant to an agreement reached between the Congress and the Administration purports to achieve balance in the year 2002; (3) the deficit estimates contained in this resolution may not conform to the actual deficits in subsequent years, which make it imperative that any additional savings are realized be devoted to deficit reduction; (4) the Senate's "pay-as-you-go" point of order prohibits crediting savings from updated economic or technical data as an offset for legislation that increases the deficit, and ensures these savings are devoted to deficit reduction; and (5) Congress and the Administration must ensure that the deficit levels contained in this budget are met and, if actual deficits prove to be lower than projected, the additional savings are used to balance the budget on or before the year 2002. (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE. —It is the sense of the Senate that the provisions of this resolution assume that— (1) legislation enacted pursuant to this resolution must ensure that the goal of a balanced budget is achieved on or before fiscal year 2002; and (2) if the actual deficit is lower than the projected deficit in any upcoming fiscal year, the added savings should be devoted to further deficit reduction. SEC. 316. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON FAIRNESS IN MEDICARE. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— (1) the Trustees of the Medicare Trust Funds recently announced that Medicare's Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is headed for bankruptcy in 2001, and in 1997, HI will run a deficit of $26,000,000,000 and add $56,000,000,000 annually to the Federal deficit by 2001; (2) the Trustees also project that Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI), will grow twice as fast as the economy and the taxpayers' subsidy to keep the SMI from bankruptcy will grow from $58,000,000,000 to $89,000,000,000 annually from 1997 through 2001;

�