[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5780-H5781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     THAT IS THE REST OF THE STORY

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, I have waited and heard a lot about Medicare, 
people saying there are distortions coming from this side of the aisle 
and so on. As noted radio commentator Paul Harvey says, ``Let's hear 
the rest of the story.''
  For those who say the President's remarks the other day with the 
Speaker said there must be Medicare cuts, the President has always said 
that Medicare must be restructured, but in the context of total health 
care and bringing total health care costs down.
  To those who keep holding up the bloody shirt of the trustees' 
report, but let me say that that trustees' report, and indeed one of 
the trustees, has said, ``You can solve Medicare's problems by cutting 
far less than what the Republican balanced budget proposal does.''
  For those who say that it is really we who are talking about 
increases in [[Page H5781]] Medicare, not cuts, what about the senior 
citizen who will pay $3,500 more out of pocket over the next 7 years, 
pay more deductibles and copayments?
  The rest of the story is very clear. All these reductions in Medicare 
go not to balancing the budget, but to paying for a tax cut for the 
wealthiest individuals, mostly the wealthiest individuals in this 
country. One and a half percent of the people get 51 percent of the tax 
cut benefits, and yet a hundred percent of senior citizens end up 
paying up to $3,500 more.
  Now that is the rest of the story.

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