[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5085-H5086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            SAVING MEDICARE?

  (Ms. RIVERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. RIVERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to point out some 
inconsistencies in many of the arguments that we are hearing today. In 
the Republican budget, the line item that guts Medicare is called 
saving Medicare.
  Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, this is not about saving Medicare. This 
is [[Page H5086]] about saving the Republican's political behind. They 
have made promises to the most financially secure people in this 
country, and they choose to pay for them by taking from our most 
vulnerable.
  If this were about reform, we would have seen more action from the 
Republicans. Where were they in February 1994 when this issue came up? 
They did not have anything to say. Where were they when fundamental 
health care reform was being debated in this country? They were 
obstructionists. Where were they when the Danforth-Kerrey proposal came 
out? They had nothing to say. Where was this issue when they were 
writing their Contract With America? It was a nonstarter. And where 
were they in February of this year when the trustees' report came out 
again? Nowhere to be seen.
  Mr. Speaker, it is only when they have to make good on the promises 
to the wealthy that they have turned to the services to our elderly to 
get the money. Shame, shame, shame.

                          ____________________