[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1115
                 A CALL FOR BIPARTISAN MEDICARE REFORM

  (Mr. NEUMANN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEUMANN. Mr. Speaker, the Medicare trustees released their report 
last week and issued a warning that the Medicare System will be 
bankrupt in 4 years. When I tell seniors back in my district of that 
and when I tell my own mom and dad of this, they ask me, how can this 
be? They say, my husband and I contributed into the system every year 
since 1965. How could the system be going bankrupt?
  Perhaps the best response would be that you should ask those who 
created the system why they created a system that has brought us to 
this point. But that aside, the answer lies in the fact that Medicare 
is a pay-as-you-go system. Your contributions do not go into a fund for 
your use. The contributions you made during your working years go to 
support those who are ahead of you, those who have already retired. 
When you retire, money from the current workers, not money from your 
contributions, will pay your benefits.
  So where do we go from here? We need to sit down and in a bipartisan 
manner decide how to reform the system and make it solvent. There is no 
other choice for our seniors in America today.

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