[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 82 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H5938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IT IS TIME FOR ACTION TO SAVE MEDICARE

  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Medicare Board of Trustees, 
made up entirely of Clinton administration appointees, reported that 
Medicare is going bankrupt sooner than expected, now projected to be by 
early in the year 2001.
  Last year the Republicans led the fight to save this system with a 
Medicare Preservation Act. This act increased benefits, attacked waste 
and preserved Medicare for future generations, and it put the program 
in sound financial condition.
  In that plan we proposed increasing per-person spending by over 
$2,000 per year over the course of the next 7 years. But the President 
vetoed the plan.
  Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, the trustees showed yet again it is time for 
action to save Medicare. Let us hope that the Congress and the 
President will act cooperatively to save Medicare while there is still 
time. As the trustees write in their own report, ``prompt, effective 
and decisive action is necessary.''

                          ____________________