[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 123 (Thursday, July 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H7806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   STRENGTHEN MEDICARE, DO NOT GUT IT

  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, in defending their indefensible cuts to 
Medicare, my Republican colleagues say we are increasing spending on 
Medicare. Only in Washington, DC can a cut be called an increase. This 
argument ignores the real-world implications of their so-called 
increases.
  I challenge my colleagues to talk to real seniors who are struggling 
financially. They, not us, are the real experts on Medicare.
  Ask them whether paying $1,000 more a year for health care is, A, an 
increase, or, B, a cut. Ask them if being forced into HMO's, which will 
limit their choice of doctors, is, A, an increase, or, B, a cut.
  They will answer that they are having to pay more for less. They may 
have to compromise food and shelter to pay more for health care. We 
must hold firm on Medicare. We must strengthen it, not gut it. Medicare 
is the real contract with the people of America.

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