[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H10976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TIME TO DISCUSS TRULY CRITICAL EVENTS OF 104TH CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut [Ms. DeLauro] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I think that in these closing days of this 
Congress, it is particularly important that what we try to do is to 
organize the remaining time that we have to discuss the truly critical 
events of this 104th Congress. Quite honestly, that has not always been 
easy to do, and time and again in the Gingrich Congress Members have 
been gagged and have been unable to talk about truly critical events.
  In fact, this week we mark an anniversary. A year ago, Democrats were 
forced to go out onto the lawn in front of the Capitol to hold a 
hearing on the cuts in Medicare that were proposed by Speaker Gingrich 
and the House Republican leadership. We held these hearings out on the 
lawn, and my colleagues will recall that we did that because the 
committees of jurisdiction were only going to hold one hearing.
  I repeat: One hearing on their proposal to devastate Medicare with a 
$270 billion cut, a cut, I might add, that was going to be used to pay 
for something coined the crown jewel of the Contract With America. And 
that was a tax cut, as it turned out, where we saw a tax cut for the 
most privileged people in our country.
  On that day, while we held these hearings on the lawn, to give a full 
airing to the impact of these cuts, we had a number of stalwart seniors 
who protested at the sham hearing that was being held. Those seniors, 
and sometimes we forget past events, those seniors were arrested.
  So, sadly, the history of this Congress has been a relentless attempt 
to keep the truth from coming out about the impact of some of these 
proposals.
  It is particularly important to note and to talk about again because 
what we are seeing in a proposal that has been offered by the standard 
bearer for the Republican Party, by Bob Dole, his economic plan, which, 
if we take a hard look at it could have devastating impact on Medicare.
  We also need in this context to recall what Senator Dole said about 
his own vote on Medicare, and I quote. Being only 1 of 12, proud to 
have been 1 of 12 who voted against the creation of Medicare because, 
he said, and again I quote, we knew it would not work. End quote.
  So Senator Dole has a track record on Medicare that seniors need to 
be informed about. Their families need to be informed about this track 
record. And, frankly, they need to be concerned about it.
  Under the Gingrich-Dole plan, Medicare could be cut by as much as 
$300 billion by the year 2002, even more than what Newt Gingrich and 
this Republican Congress tried to cut in 1995. If my colleagues will 
recall, that number was $270 billion, and no coincidence between the 
number 270 in Medicare cuts and the $245 billion that they wanted to 
provide in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
  So if we take a look at what this $300 billion means to seniors, it 
means even higher out-of-pocket costs and lower quality health care for 
seniors. These Medicare cuts would help to pay for a tax plan in which 
more than 40 percent of the benefits would go to the wealthiest 5 
percent of Americans.
  And the best evidence of how we would treat Medicare is what 
Republicans proposed to do to Medicare when they took over the Congress 
in 1995, and it is worth repeating.
  First, they proposed cutting $270 billion from Medicare to pay for a 
$245 billion tax cut for the wealthy.

                              {time}  2045

  Second, they proposed policy changes that would have doubled premiums 
and would have reduced senior's choice of a doctor. Third, they 
proposed creating risky medical savings accounts that would skim the 
healthy and the wealthy out of traditional Medicare, thereby weakening 
the system and increasing premiums for those who remained in the 
program.
  Let me quote to you Dr. Joseph White from the Brookings Institution, 
a nonpartisan Washington think tank. He said recently, ``I have to look 
at the numbers, at the campaign statements and at what then Senator 
Dole and his colleagues supported in 1995 and I have to conclude that 
the risks to Medicare from candidate Dole's economic program are 
substantial.''
  Finally I want to point out that this assault on Medicare is part of 
a larger attack on America's retirement security. Think about it. When 
Americans look forward to retirement, the three pillars of a secure 
retirement that they can count on are Medicare, private pensions and 
nursing home care. These were all under attack in 1995.

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