[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 119 (Friday, July 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10474-S10475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICARE

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, we are nearing, now, the 30th anniversary 
of Medicare, in another week or so. Recently we have been discussing on 
the floor of the Senate, at great length, a range of Government 
policies that have been failures, and there are plenty. We have done a 
lot wrong and we need to 

[[Page S10475]]
change that and address that. It is funny that we do not discuss 
success much. Success is not very sexy, not very interesting. Nobody 
writes about it.
  There is an old saying that bad news travels halfway around the world 
before good news gets its shoes on. That is the way life is. You are 
not going to turn on a television program today and hear somebody say: 
Do you know what that Government did? That Government did this: In the 
last 20 years, this country, the United States of America, uses twice 
as much energy as it used 20 years ago and it has cleaner air. Do you 
know what that Government did? That Government put in place regulations 
that said polluters cannot keep polluting. We are going to require the 
air in America to be cleaned up. And 20 years later we have cleaner air 
and less smog. Things are not perfect yet, but 25 years ago people were 
talking about where we were headed and it was doom and gloom, an awful 
scenario, with degraded air and degraded water, a desperate situation. 
We have cleaner rivers, cleaner streams, less acid rain, and cleaner 
air, 20 years later.
  That is a success. Nobody is going to celebrate much success, but we 
have done a lot of the right things. One of the things that we have 
done that is an enormous success in this country, in my judgment, is 
create a Medicare system for America's elderly. We have decided that if 
you get old, if you reach that age of retirement, we will give you some 
assurance that you are not going to suffer for lack of health care when 
you are sick.
  This health care system has worked for the elderly in this country in 
a remarkable way, in a wonderful way. The fact is, a lot of people did 
not like it. A substantial part of one party voted against it when it 
was initiated. Some would say they are against everything for the first 
time. Then later on they support it when they find it works.
  But now we are in a situation where some say, ``Let us threaten the 
underpinnings of Medicare because we do not like it, we never did like 
it, and we would like to privatize it.'' The fact is, the Medicare 
system works. We have folks here who bring priorities to the floor of 
the Senate, who say, we do not have enough money for Medicare. We want 
to take Medicare apart and dismantle it. We are going to threaten the 
very existence of Medicare. And we also, by the way, want to give a tax 
cut, the bulk of which goes to the richest Americans.
  I brought charts to the floor to talk about the tax cut that has been 
proposed over in the House. We do not have numbers over in the Senate 
yet, but in the House it says if you are earning $30,000 or less, your 
tax cut is $112 a year. But if you have $200,000 or more in income, you 
get $11,000 a year in tax cuts. That is quite a deal, I suppose. If you 
are somebody who makes over a couple of hundred thousand dollars a 
year, especially if you are somebody who does not get your money from 
wages--if you get your money from interest and dividends--you are 
really doing well out of that plan.
  But my point is, we say, at this point in our life as a country, that 
we have an enormous Federal budget deficit and the way to address that 
is to give a big tax cut to the wealthiest Americans and then turn 
around, after we have given the tax cut to the wealthiest Americans, 
and say, by the way, we do not have enough money for Medicare. We do 
not have enough money for what I think is an enormous, successful 
program in this country?
  It does not make any sense to me. We have to be smart enough, it 
seems to me, to distinguish between what works and what does not, and 
keep what works and strengthen and improve it, and get rid of what does 
not. And we ought to take a look. We have been delaying clean air and 
clean water regulations and safe food regulations. Let us keep those 
that work. And let us keep the Medicare system, and, yes, let us 
improve it.
  But let us not cut out the foundation from a program as important as 
the Medicare Program has been to this country. Let us especially not do 
that so we can give a big tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.
  I live in North Dakota, in the northern Great Plains, the Old West. 
And we know about the wagon trains, because they crossed North Dakota 
not so long ago. Wagon trains did not move unless all the wagons moved. 
They did not make progress by leaving some behind.
  The point with respect to the economic issues I have mentioned, 
including Medicare, is that at a time when corporations have record 
profits, the highest in history, the stock market is reaching record 
highs, and we see lower wages for American families. And then we hear 
the suggestion that the rich need a tax cut and that we ought to 
undercut the pinnings of Medicare. It just does not make any sense.
  We ought to try to get all of these wagons moving along. We ought to 
try to get the standard of living for the average American family 
increasing--not decreasing. We have to support the things that work. 
Yes. Let us celebrate a little bit of success. And that is what I hope 
this debate will be about in the coming days and months. There is no 
debate about whether we should have regulatory reform. We have silly, 
foolish regulations that in my judgment hinder the work of small 
businesses and others. Let us get rid of them. But let us not roll back 
important regulations with respect to safe food and clean air and clean 
water.
  Let us celebrate the success of programs that work and decide that 
these programs are going to strengthen--not undercut. That is what I 
hope this debate will be about between Democrats and Republicans. There 
ought not be such a great divide between the two parties in this 
Chamber. We want the same things. We have different approaches for 
getting there perhaps. But let us have a healthy, aggressive, robust 
debate and decide to celebrate things that work and change those that 
do not. Let us decide that we want a country whose economic system 
provides opportunity for all, which lifts all Americans, so that when 
they roll up their sleeves and want to improve their lives, they are 
able to do so.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  

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