[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 23, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H8109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             REPUBLICAN MAJORITY TRYING TO REWRITE HISTORY

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority last 
night and today; we have all heard it, is trying to rewrite history. In 
fact we heard it again this morning where they are trying, the 
Republican colleague, my Republican colleague is trying to rewrite it. 
Their method of operation is to threaten possible libel suits against 
television stations that run commercials that accurately reflect what 
the Speaker's views on Medicare are. The logic is: ``If you can't beat 
them, then prevent them from broadcasting.''
  The question is whether the Speaker of the House said Republicans 
planned for Medicare to ``wither on the vine.'' After he made that 
famous speech last year, it was not quite clear, and yet reporters 
asked the Speaker's press secretary for clarification. He confirmed to 
a reporter that the Speaker meant the fee-for-service medicine.
  Fee-for-service medicine, that is Medicare. That is not some change 
in interpretation a year later.
  Later, in a town hall meeting in his district the Speaker said he was 
referring to the ``fee-for-service portion of Medicare.'' That sounds 
to me like Medicare that most of the country is familiar with.
  Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority says the Democrats and the media 
are lying to the American people. But the record shows that the 
Speaker's words are what is getting Republicans in trouble.

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