[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICAID

  (Mr. AL GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. If a free society cannot help the many who are 
poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
  Mr. Speaker, there is an effort afoot to move Medicaid from a needs-
based program to a block grant program. This, of course, by some 
estimates, would save approximately $180 billion.
  Yet the question is not really how much money will it save. The 
question is, How many people will have their bodies healed by virtue of 
a reduction in the moneys that would go to Medicaid? How many lives 
will be saved is the question we have to ask ourselves.
  In a country that is the richest in the world, the rich must pay 
their fair share of taxes so that all can benefit from the tax coffers 
and so that those who are poor and those who need health care can get a 
fair amount of health care.
  I remind you again of what Kennedy said: If a free society cannot 
help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

                          ____________________