[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 459]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP CONTINUES TO STALL ATTEMPTS TO PASS MEASURES 
                     HELPING MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, last year the Republican majority failed to 
act on the basic issues facing hard working Americans. Time and time 
again, they sided with special interests over the public interest.
  Today, the Republican leadership continues to stall attempts to pass 
measures that would help middle class families such as saving Social 
Security and Medicare, improving our public schools and passing real 
HMO reform.
  The American public wants to protect Social Security and Medicare 
first. We should also be paying down the debt, instead of giving tax 
breaks to the top 5 percent. We need to pass a real Patients' Bill of 
Rights that lets doctors and patients make medical decisions, not HMO 
bureaucrats. And we need to provide a prescription drug benefit for all 
seniors. These should be our top priorities.
  The Republican leadership needs to put the public's interest ahead of 
the special interests. Our families and our communities deserve a 
Congress that


fights for them. We need the opportunity to address the real needs of 
the American people.

                          ____________________