[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 161 (Wednesday, October 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENIORS NEED NOT BE SCARED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Washington [Mrs. Smith] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I have been listening tonight 
and listening to some of the statements I have heard. And I have worked 
with the elderly for years, chaired the long-term care committee in our 
State, have worked in the nursing homes and delivered meals to the 
elderly in their homes. And tonight I think there is a whole lot of 
calls that need to be made into our districts from 430-plus legislators 
telling these people the truth. We can argue over the future. We can 
argue over our assumptions, but we have to tell them the truth.
  When I heard tonight a quote from an older lady saying, and this was 
from the lady from North Carolina, from a person in her district, she 
said, without Medicare I will have nothing. I pictured faces that I 
know.
  I hope that women from North Carolina assured her there was nothing 
before Congress that took away her medical care, because what I could 
picture is them listening to all of this and believing their medical 
bills are not going to be paid next month or next year or the next 
year. And I think the important thing is that we all tell them, please, 
do not be frightened. We are trying to save this system. And it is 
important that you know you do not have to be frightened. Because you 
see, what you are saying by not calling them and telling them we are 
talking about systems, we are not talking about tomorrow for you, what 
you are doing is you are scaring them. And you need to tell them they 
do not have to worry. If you do anything less than that, you are using 
the elderly for your political gain, whether you are Republican or 
Democrat. And that is so shameful to these vulnerable people, sitting 
in their homes listening to TV night after night, listening to this.
  I also heard earlier, we are going to dismantle Medicare. No. That is 
not true. No matter who says it. No matter who is listening, that is 
not true. The good thing that happens with untruths is the future 
proves them out. If after this vote next month you find out by a letter 
in the mail, a proclamation in the newspaper, that Medicare has been 
dismantled, then you know tonight what was said here was true. But you 
will find next month, time is going to show that is not true.
  If next month all of a sudden you are required to have a great co-pay 
or you are forced into some system you do not want, then you will know 
what was said tonight is true. But let me tell you what you are going 
to find.
  No one should be frightened, if you are sitting in your home, if you 
are just not sure, do not be frightened. The trustees report in 
February frightened me. I was a new legislator. I had got that 
Presidential report from his trustees when it said Medicare was going 
to be bankrupt. And I thought, I have heard every so many years 
Medicare is going to go bankrupt and I do not agree with it. I cannot 
believe it. The Federal Government has a lot of money and they will 
make it work. So I started going through it on a flight home. Takes me 
about 7 hours to fly home to the west coast.
  When I got done with the actuaries, and I do know how to read these 
reports, I found out it was true. The amount of imbalance is not sure. 
It is hard to tell how long I will live and how much we will take out 
of it or what health care costs will be, but for sure it is not stable. 
Some say it is, $100 billion, some say $200 billion. It is just not 
stable.
  One thing that is for sure is middle of next year we start draining 
that trust fund, the money we have put in, and we take more money out 
than goes in. We know that for sure. But I resolved, when I read that 
report, that I was going to join an effort that would stabilize it, 
secure it, and then I found out something else. You cannot secure it 
after 15 years. I am 45. When I hit Medicare, I am with the baby 
boomers. I blow it up.
  There are two-to-one, my two, I have six grandkids and I have enough. 
Some people do not have enough. And they cannot sustain the number of 
elderly that will be on it. But for right now, I want to make a 
commitment.
  I will tell you, do not worry. It is going to be stabilized and this 
is a responsible approach tomorrow. And you will have Medicare 
tomorrow, next week, and next year.

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