[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 113 (Thursday, July 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H6919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             SAVE MEDICARE

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, the real question is, How many years 
have your loved ones, parents, aunts and uncles, relatives, been in the 
work force? 30 years? 40 years? 50 years?
  The legacy of our seniors who have given to this country is one of 
hard work.
  But do my colleagues know what the call of the Republican Party is 
today?
  Let's ration them. Let's voucher the Medicare system. Let's make sure 
that seniors and the disabled just get a minimal amount of medical care 
and make sure that, if they need more, the heck with them. It doesn't 
matter whether you've been in the work force and given to this Nation 
30, 40, 50 years of commitment, and now you come to a time when you are 
retired and you need the Medicare system, developed by this Nation in 
order to relieve the health care burden on seniors and the disabled. 
What the Republicans want to do is voucher you out of the system. They 
want to cut $270 billion out of Medicare with the false premise that 
we're slowing growth.
  What does slowing growth mean? It means that those who are diabetic 
who have been able to be under maintenance, and survive, and be healthy 
will no longer have any care. It means people with high blood pressure 
will wind up in hospitals with strokes, without adequate health 
maintenance to keep their blood pressure down.
  Save the Medicare program. What we need is to fix the fraud, but we 
do not need to voucher those who contributed to this Nation out of the 
system. Medicare is for those who have worked and the disabled. Both 
groups now need our help to save Medicare.


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