[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 26, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DO NOT BREAK OUR 30-YEAR COMMITMENT TO SENIORS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, this week we celebrate the 30th anniversary 
of the creation of Medicare, and it is an event that is worth 
celebrating. Thirty years ago we made a commitment to the Nation's 
seniors when we said to them, ``Never again will you go without health 
care. Never again will you be forced to squander your life's savings to 
pay a doctor's bill.''
  But now Medicare is in danger, real danger. The Republican budget, 
which cuts $270 billion from Medicare, would end Medicare as we know it 
today. Thirty years ago, 93 percent of the Republicans in this body 
opposed the creation of Medicare, and now Republicans are closing in on 
a 30-year goal to end what they never wanted in the first place.
  In 1965 we made a deal with seniors. We said, ``You pay into this 
trust fund all of your working life and when you are unable to work any 
longer, we will use that money to pay for your health care costs.''
  Seniors have kept up their end of the bargain but now Republicans 
want to back down on our end. Medicare is the real Contract With 
America and Republicans should not break it.

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