[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 21, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            RYAN BUDGET PLAN

  (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BERKLEY. Madam Speaker, I feel as if it's deja vu all over again. 
Just 1 year ago, Washington Republicans proposed a plan to kill 
Medicare by turning it over to private insurance companies. It passed 
the House and luckily failed in the Senate.
  Now, just 1 year later, Republicans are pushing yet another plan to 
kill Medicare and devastate Nevada seniors by forcing them to pay 
thousands more out of their own pockets for health care. Madam Speaker, 
it was a bad idea for Nevada seniors when it was first proposed, it's a 
bad idea for Nevada seniors now.
  Unfortunately, these are the kinds of priorities we have come to 
expect from Washington Republicans. Instead of strengthening Medicare, 
Washington Republicans have spent this year trying to undermine it in 
order to pay for massive taxpayer giveaways to big oil companies making 
billions in profits and tax breaks for corporations who are shipping 
our jobs overseas. It's a matter of getting our priorities straight, 
and the Republicans in Washington just don't get it.
  We need to put Nevada's seniors first, not Big Oil executives, not 
Wall Street billionaires. We must focus on creating jobs, not on 
killing Medicare by turning it over to greedy insurance companies.

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