[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 82 (Wednesday, May 17, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   WHY ARE REPUBLICANS GOUGING MEDICARE TO PAY FOR TAX CUTS FOR THE 
                            PRIVILEGED FEW?

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, why are Republicans gouging Medicare to pay 
for tax breaks for the privileged few? Why do they cut almost $300 
billion in Medicare to senior citizens for tax breaks, of which only 
1\1/2\ percent of those tax breaks go to families under $20,000? 
Incidentally, 50 percent goes to families over $100,000. Yet the 
Medicare cuts go to 100 percent of all senior citizens.
  Why are Republicans cutting the student loan program to pay for tax 
breaks for the privileged few? Here are petitions signed by thousands 
of West Virginia high school and college students and parents asking 
Congress not to cut the student loan program, not to cut their future. 
We do not have to be Phi Beta Kappas to know that giving already 
wealthy Americans a tax break while denying students a chance just to 
be middle income simply is not fair.
  Mr. Speaker, budgets reflect values. Slashing Medicare, cutting 
student loans, Americans want the budget balanced, but not on the backs 
of American values.


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