[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 154 (Friday, September 29, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H9675-H9676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        DEMOCRATS NOT INCLUDED IN REFORMING MEDICARE OR MEDICAID

  (Mr. KLINK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KLINK. Madam Speaker, I got a hoot out of hearing my colleagues 
talking about the Democrats having no plan. It is like a baseball game 
and it gets to be the bottom of the ninth inning, and they turn to our 
team and say, hey, do you want to go to bat? They have not included us 
in any of the plans, they have not included us in anything, and now 
they want to know if we can to join with them in the bottom of the 
ninth inning. 

[[Page H 9676]]

  I got a great hoot today out of one of my colleagues talking about 
the Contract With America. The first Contract With America was the 
Constitution. It guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. Then in 1935 we made another contract with Americans. We 
said if Americans work hard and pay into Social Security, they will 
have a safety net. Then in 1965, when one-third of our seniors were 
living in poverty, we said we will make another contract with America, 
we will create Medicare and Medicaid.

  Now, the Republicans, for the first time in 40 years, have control of 
the House, and they want to undo those safety nets. They want to say to 
these people we are going to save Medicare by bleeding $270 billion out 
of it. We are going to save Medicaid by bleeding $182 billion out of 
it. This is the same kind of medical care they used to give George 
Washington with leeches. I say this is the actually the biggest highway 
robbery since the James Gang rode the west. They should be ashamed.

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