[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A REPUBLICAN VIEW OF MEDICARE EXPANSION

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, last year 67-year-old Sarah Rutherford of 
Brunswick, Georgia was very distraught about her health care, because 
she knew that in April 1995 the Clinton Medicare trustees said Medicare 
was going to go bankrupt if we did not do anything about it. After many 
struggles in Congress we finally passed a bipartisan bill that cut down 
on Medicare fraud, gave seniors more choices, and increased spending on 
Medicare for people like Ms. Rutherford from $5,000 to $7,000. Most 
importantly it created a bipartisan tax force to look at Medicare not 
just for the next election but for the next generation, to correct 
Medicare for the next 5 or 10 years. This bipartisan commission is 
working and working very hard.
  Now in an apparent desperation attempt to get the focus off the White 
House, the President has come up with a new entitlement on Medicare to 
say, and listen to this, in his own words, he will be qualified for 
Medicare in 3 or 4 years. When the President of the United States 
retires, he will be able to go on Medicare.
  I say, ``Mr. President, go ahead and retire, but stay away from Ms. 
Rutherford's Medicare.''

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