[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 162 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      VOTE ``NO'' ON MEDICARE BILL

  (Mr. BENTSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Medicare 
Pilfering Act of 1995 that the Republicans are bringing to the floor 
today.
  The Republicans think they can fool the American people by dressing 
this bill up in Orwellian language and calling it the Medicare 
Preservation Act of 1995.
  But the American people have caught on that they really are pilfering 
Medicare to pay for a tax cut for the rich.
  Under the Republican plan, you reduce Medicare spending by $270 
billion and you only extend the life of the Medicare hospitalization 
trust fund to the year 2006. Under the Democratic alternative, you 
reduce Medicare spending by $90 billion and you also extend the trust 
fund to the year 2006. Even the Republican staff of the Ways and Means 
Committee admit that the two bills achieve the very same goal.
  So what is going on here? If cutting $90 billion and cutting $270 
billion achieve the same goal, why do the Republicans insist on cutting 
Medicare by $270 billion and what happens to the $180 billion 
difference?
  The answer is that it is being used to pay for those $245 billion in 
tax cuts that we do not need and cannot afford. No matter how the 
Republicans disguise it, there is no escaping the fact that they are 
cutting Medicare to pay for tax cuts.
  That is irresponsible. That is wrong. That is unfair to America's 
senior citizens. Vote ``no'' on the Medicare Pilfering Act of 1995.

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