[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H9367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                               ONLY 1 DAY

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, no wonder there are brawls in 
the House of Congress. It turns out that the Republican plan to raid 
Medicare of $270 billion to pay for $245 billion in tax cuts. By a 
party-line vote the Republicans delayed the release of their plan and 
only committed to 1 day of hearings, maybe tomorrow.
  We had 28 days of hearings on Whitewater, 10 days on hearings on 
Waco, and 8 days of hearings on Ruby Ridge, and I did not object to any 
of those hearings. That is what Congress is supposed to do, is to have 
hearings. But this shows the hypocrisy of the Republicans when they are 
taking only 1 day to hold hearings on their plan they are so proud of.
  Why is the majority rushing the Medicare reform bill to the House 
floor for a vote before the 37 million elderly Americans and their 
families have time to review the plan? I think the answer is clear. The 
Republican majority, they do not want the American people to know what 
is in their Medicare reform bill because it does major surgery when 
only minor surgery is needed. The $270 billion cut for Medicare and the 
$245 billion cut in tax cuts, we can cure Medicare by cutting fraud, 
waste, and abuse, but not major surgery.

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