[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 179 (Monday, November 13, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H12163-H12164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MEDICARE AND STUDENT LOANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Brown] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, for months Speaker Gingrich promised 
to shut the Government down so he could score political points. The 
Washington Times earlier this year said, ``House Speaker Newt Gingrich 
vowed yesterday to create a titanic legislative standoff with President 
Clinton by adding vetoed bills to must-pass legislation increasing the 
national debt ceiling.''
  The Washington Times, in April of 1995, said the President will veto 
a number of things and will then put them all in the debt ceiling and 
then he will decide how big a crises he wants.
  Five months later leading up to this budget problem we are in now and 
this close-down-the-government threat, Speaker Gingrich said, ``I don't 
care what the price is. I don't care if we have no executive offices 
and no bonds for 30 days, not at this time.''
  An Ohio Congressman, Ohio Republican Congressman said, If we close 
down, people will listen. An Ohio Congressman also said, I do not see 
the Government shutdown as a negative; I see it as a positive, if 
things get righted. A Nebraska Republican Congressman said, If we have 
to temporarily shut down the Government to get people's attention, then 
so be it. The question, Mr. Speaker, is, why are they doing this? What 
is the point of this? The answer is, the Gingrich plan 

[[Page H 12164]]
cuts $270 billion from Medicare and billions of dollars more from 
student loans in order to pay for a tax break for the wealthiest people 
in this country. Say it again, the Gingrich plan cuts $270 billion in 
Medicare and billions more in student loans aimed at middle-class 
families in order to give a tax break for the wealthiest people in this 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, no Congress in our history, in the history of this 
country, has ever demanded an increase in Medicare premiums as a 
condition of keeping the Government open. What I do not understand is 
the feelings that some Members in this body have, notably the Speaker, 
toward Medicare.
  Medicare, Mr. Speaker, has been in effect for 30 years and a few 
months. It was created in 1965 when Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare 
Act in July of that year. At that time 50 percent of America's elderly 
had no health insurance. Today between 1 and 2 percent of America's 
elderly have no health insurance. This is a successful program. It is 
expensive, but it has helped people live better and helped people live 
longer. It is a Government program that works. It is probably, very 
possibly, probably the Government program that has done the best things 
for the people of this country, perhaps of any program in the history 
of this country.
  Yet Speaker Gingrich said, speaking to a bunch of insurance 
executives who will benefit monetarily in a big, big way from the 
Gingrich Medicare plan, he said, ``Now, we don't want to get rid of 
Medicare in round one because we don't think that is politically smart. 
We don't think that is the right way to go through our revolutionary 
transition. But we believe that Medicare is going to wither on the 
vine.''
  This is a man that took the oath of office to the people of this 
country. Yet all of us, I think, have an obligation to the people of 
this country to make sure that we honor the trust, the agreement 
between the American people and this Government that Medicare be there 
and work for people.
  Medicare works. It is a program that works. It has insured a huge 
number of elderly people in this country and made a difference in 
keeping their lives healthier and helping them live longer.

  The other attack from this Government, from the Gingrich budget and 
the Gingrich plan, is an attack on student loans and middle-class 
families. How can we look to the future when we are cutting, taking 
away the ability, reducing the ability of middle-class families in this 
country to send their kids to college. Whether it is Ohio State, 
whether it is a private school, whether it is Lorain County Community 
College, students have needed those student loans, they have two 
parents working oftentimes. Often the student himself or herself is 
working but they need those student loans in order to go to college, in 
order to get the kind of degree to compete with people around the 
world.
  Employers around Lorain County in my district, in and around Toledo 
and my friend from Lucas County's district and around Ohio and around 
this country, employers tell us over and over that they have got $8- 
and $12- and $15-an-hour jobs out there and sometimes they cannot find 
people qualified to fill them. We have got to continue to put, to move 
forward in global competition. We have got to ensure that students get 
loans. This Gingrich budget goes right at the heart of middle-class 
America in cutting and reducing and eliminating student loan programs. 
It simply does not make sense, Mr. Speaker.
  I ask again this House for a clean continuing resolution, a clean 
debt ceiling resolution. It is absolutely senseless to hold up the 
Government in order to cut Medicare and in order to cut student loans. 
Let us move forward on these clean resolutions. Let us debate Medicare. 
Let us debate student loans and see what the country thinks and make 
those decisions separately and move forward the way we were elected to 
do.

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