[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 12, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5409-H5410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         NO RAISE FOR SENIORS, BUT THE ONE FOR CONGRESS STAYS?

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. For the first time in more than 30 years, Social 
Security recipients will not get a cost of living adjustment in 2010 or 
in 2011, yet most will pay increasing premiums for part B and D of 
Medicare. This is the first Social Security check cut since 1975!
  So let me get this straight--no raise for seniors on a fixed income, 
but an automatic pay raise for Congress. What's wrong with this 
picture?
  We're telling our seniors to make it on less while we are shelling 
out millions to protect animals such as the Brolga crane and the 
Iberian lynx--species not even found in the United States.

[[Page H5410]]

  We're forcing our seniors to choose between food and medicine, but we 
are approving $3 trillion in spending and budgets that will double the 
national deficit in 5 years and triple it in 10 years. On top of this 
Social Security pay cut, we are raising utility costs to seniors by an 
average of $250 a month through cap-and-trade.
  Where are the priorities among the liberals in this country? 
Certainly not with the elderly and disabled on fixed incomes.

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