[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 83 (Thursday, May 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H5237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page H5237]]

             CLINTON'S CHANGE OF HEART CONCERNING MEDICARE

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, let me just say as one Member who speaks in 
this well to the Member who just spoke, the Democrats have bankrupted 
Medicare for 30 years. It is now the Republicans' responsibility and 
obligation to preserve, protect, and improve the Medicare system, which 
we intend to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to give you a quote and ask who said this quote:

       Today Medicaid and Medicare are going up at three times the 
     rate of inflation. We propose to let it go up at two times 
     the rate of inflation. That is not a Medicare or Medicaid 
     cut. We are going to have to have increases in Medicare and 
     Medicaid, but a reduction in the rate of growth.

  Who said that? President Clinton said that last year.
  Let me give you a quote from Mrs. Clinton:

       We feel confident * * * that we can reduce the rate of 
     increase in Medicare without undermining quality for Medicare 
     recipients.

  That is Mrs. Clinton. That is what she said. So when the President or 
Mrs. Clinton proposed slowing down the rate of growth in Medicare and 
Medicaid, it was not a cut. But now that the Republicans offer our 
budget which contains a similar proposal, the Democrats are now saying 
it is a cut.
  My friends, let us put aside our differences and work in a bipartisan 
manner to solve the problems of how to save the Medicare program.

                          ____________________