[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 26, 2010

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of seniors, 
Social Security and Medicare.
  Social Security and Medicare are among the most important programs 
ever created by our Government. Older Americans have worked hard and 
sacrificed themselves to ensure a better, stronger country for future 
generations. They deserve a secure, healthy retirement.
  Together, Social Security and Medicare have helped tens of millions 
of seniors avoid poverty, enjoy better health, and maintain a 
respectable standard of living. For countless seniors, Medicare has 
literally saved their lives, giving access to medical treatment they 
would otherwise have been unable to afford.
  These programs are a measure of what we truly value, and who we are 
as a Nation.
  It was not always this way. Prior to the establishment of Medicare in 
1965, a serious illness or hospitalization could easily bankrupt not 
only a senior, but his or her entire family. A single serious illness--
a round of pneumonia, or a broken hip--could render an elderly man or 
woman destitute. Too often, our elders simply went without needed 
medical care, suffering and even dying because decent health care was 
out of reach.
  I bring this up today to underscore the need for vigilance in 
protecting Medicare and Social Security from those that seek to 
privatize these vital programs. Indeed, the retirement and health 
security of today's retirees, today's workers, and future generations 
rests on the decisions that Congress makes on these programs.
  During the year-long debate over health care reform, we heard a great 
deal of rhetoric from our Republican colleagues about the need to 
protect Medicare. Yet when given the chance to strengthen Medicare by 
providing better benefits, lowering costs, and preserving Medicare's 
solvency for years to come, my Republican colleagues unanimously voted 
no.
  In opposing Health Care Reform, my colleagues said no to free 
preventive care for seniors, no to ending the `donut hole' for 
prescription drug coverage and lowering prescription drug costs, and no 
to more time with and better access to primary care physicians.
  Further, while erroneously assailing health reform legislation as 
detrimental to seniors and Medicare, the ranking Republican member on 
the House Committee on the Budget introduced H.R. 4529, the Roadmap for 
America's Future, which purports to rescue and strengthen Medicare, 
Medicaid, and Social Security, allowing them to fulfill their missions 
and making them permanently solvent--all while putting the federal 
budget on a sustainable path. If this were true, I would be the first 
in line to cosponsor the legislation.
  However, analysis of the ``Roadmap for America's Future'' by the 
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities revealed the plan ``would raise 
taxes for most middle-income families, privatize a substantial portion 
of Social Security, eliminate the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored 
health insurance, end traditional Medicare and most of Medicaid, and 
terminate the Children's Health Insurance Program. The plan would 
replace these health programs with a system of vouchers whose value 
would erode over time and thus would purchase health insurance that 
would cover fewer health care services as the years went by.''
  What I find most disturbing about this proposal is the failure to 
acknowledge a connection between the recent volatility of the stock 
market and the effect that would have on privatized Social Security 
accounts. When a trillion dollars of wealth can disappear in 30 
minutes, as it did on May 6, 2010, we know that the stock market is not 
the place for seniors' life savings. Privatization, or partial 
privatization, of the Social Security system would have been disastrous 
for millions of senior citizens that depend on their Social Security 
checks every month. Likewise, replacing Medicare with a voucher system 
and letting seniors fend for themselves on the private market would 
leave our seniors with less and less care every year.
  America's seniors have worked long and hard to build a prosperous 
Nation, yet too many seniors in this country saw their retirement 
savings get decimated by President Bush's economic crisis. I rise today 
to assure seniors that I and the Democrats in Congress will continue to 
stand firmly opposed to any and all efforts to privatize Social 
Security or turn Medicare into a voucher program. Moreover, we will 
continue to take a leading role to improve--rather than undermine--
Social Security and Medicare.

                          ____________________