[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 28188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



THE REAL CONCERNS OF AMERICA, SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, HMO REFORM, TO 
                               NAME A FEW

  (Mr. FROST asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, the American people want us to put aside the 
partisanship of the last Republican Congress and to get to work on 
American families' real concerns, the solvency of Social Security and 
Medicare, real HMO reform, more teachers and lower class sizes for our 
children.
  Unfortunately, this Republican Congress has been little different 
from the last. They are holding hostage real HMO reform and they refuse 
to help local communities reduce class size by hiring 100,000 new 
teachers.
  The chief actuary of the Social Security Administration has found 
that the Republican budget would do nothing to extend the life of 
Social Security, not by even a single day. They have done nothing to 
strengthen Medicare, and GOP leaders refuse to even admit the existence 
of American seniors' most pressing problem, the astronomical cost of 
prescription drugs.
  On the other hand, Republicans tried to squander the surplus, risking 
Medicare and Social Security, to fund a $1 trillion tax break for 
special interests. Those are the values of this Republican Congress, 
Mr. Speaker, $1 trillion for tax breaks for special interests but not a 
dime for prescription drugs for seniors.

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