[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 118 (Friday, August 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   AARP ENDORSEMENT OF HEALTH REFORM

  (Mr. MILLER of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include 
extraneous material)
  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I have in my hands a letter that 
of my colleagues--including the entire Republican leadership--sent to 
Mr. Horace Deets of the AARP. How could the Washington staff of the 
AARP endorse Clinton-Gephardt before the details of the health bill had 
even been drafted. How could the AARP endorse some $380 billion in 
Medicare cuts. Why would the AARP endorse a bill that so clearly 
threatens senior citizens with rationed health care? And perhaps most 
importantly, we wanted to know why the AARP would endorse Clinton care 
when the AARP's own polls show that senior citizens have rejected this 
Government takeover of healthcare.
  We are still waiting for an answer from Mr. Deets, but we have heard 
plenty from former AARP members. I received over 150 angry calls the 
morning after the AARP's surprise endorsement. Ray Stanclift of Sun 
City, FL, told me ``Mr. Deets does not represent me with such an 
endorsement.'' It is time for AARP to speak for their membership rather 
than serving as lobbyists for Clintoncare.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit this letter to include for the Record.

                                     House of Representatives,

                                  Washington, DC, August 11, 1994.
     Mr. Horace B. Deets,
     Executive Director, American Association of Retired Persons, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Deets: We are writing to express our complete 
     dismay over the AARP's decision to endorse the Clinton/
     Gephardt health care plan, legislation that contains key 
     provisions that would dramatically reduce the quality of and 
     access to care currently enjoyed by senior citizens. 
     Amazingly, your endorsement came before the language of the 
     bill had even been drafted.
       Now that the details of the bill have been released, the 
     members of the AARP are going to be surprised that the 
     Washington staff has endorsed a bill that contains over $380 
     billion in Medicare cuts over nine years, while expanding 
     Medicare coverage to an additional 95 million Americans. The 
     new Medicare Part C extends coverage to the unemployed, part-
     time and seasonal workers and small businesses, creating a 
     huge new entitlement class to compete with senior citizens 
     for scarce federal dollars. Clinton/Gephardt also contains 
     global budgets and price controls that will lead to rationing 
     of care. And senior citizens understand--even if the 
     Washington staff of the AARP doesn't--that they are most 
     vulnerable to such government rationing schemes.
       Poll after poll--including the AARP's own surveys--show 
     that senior citizens have rejected the Clinton approach to 
     health care reform. Yet, the AARP plans to spend millions of 
     dollars of their members dues to convince AARP members they 
     are wrong about Clinton/Gephardt.
       It may be politically expedient to ram Clintoncare down the 
     throats of America's seniors before they are given the 
     details of the legislation, but it is no way to fix the 
     health care system. We would have thought the AARP's 
     leadership would have learned something from their ill-fated 
     endorsement of catastrophic coverage in 1988. Upon learning 
     the details of that legislation, seniors overwhelmingly 
     demanded its repeal.
       This is not the first time the Washington staff of a major 
     organization has lost touch with the people they ostensibly 
     represent. But this case is different because the AARP is so 
     influential, and the stakes in the health care debate are so 
     large. A recipient of $86 million in government grants last 
     year, America's largest lobby has apparently forgotten who it 
     is they represent. America's seniors deserve better.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Dan Miller,
     and 67 other Congressmen.

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