[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 118 (Thursday, July 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7263-H7264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1020
                       TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY

  (Mr. BROWN of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Speaker, I have a modern day Robin Hood 
story to tell. Except this one, unlike the original story, does not 
have a noble ending. You see, the Robin Hood of Capitol Hill has it 
backward: He is stealing from the poor to give to the rich.
  Of course, Republicans do not want to admit this. But how else can we 
describe the Republican plan to cut Medicare to pay for tax breaks for 
the wealthy?
  Consider this: The median income of senior citizens in 1993 was about 
$15,000 for males and $8,500 for females. About 3.8 million seniors 
lived below the poverty level in that year.
  It is this group of citizens--27 million of them--that will have 
about $1,060 

[[Page H7264]]
per year in Medicare benefits taken from each of them in order to give 
1.1 million of America's richest people a $20,000 tax break.
  Now if the Republicans want to have a substantive debate about how to 
improve Medicare and rein in its costs to ensure future solvency, then 
let us have that talk. But the Republicans' current effort is not about 
that. It is about finding ways to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy 
under the guise of saving Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans are not so stealthy that their Robin Hood-
in-reverse crusade will go unnoticed by seniors.


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