[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     SCARE TACTICS AND DEMAGOGUERY

  (Mr. HOKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, for the past 8 months liberal interest groups 
have been advertising in my district, and we have heard a drum beat of 
the same message here in the Congress from the minority, where millions 
of dollars have been spent trying to scare seniors about Medicare and 
mislead the public about what Congress is trying to do to secure 
America's future.
  Most people recognize that the ads and the rhetoric are completely 
politically motivated and dismiss them, but the problem with the big 
lie is that if it is repeated often enough some people will believe it. 
And the real tragedy will be if it works, because, let us face it, it 
really does not matter if I am back or any particular individual is 
back, but what matters very, very deeply is if our Nation misses this 
extraordinary opportunity to stop stealing from our children's future 
to save Medicare from bankruptcy, most importantly, to renew the 
American dream and to get our country back on the right track. That 
would be an incalculable tragedy.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I just hope that you are listening and the American 
people are listening, and that this demagoguery and scare-mongering is 
not effective.

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