[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11754]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          KEEP MEDICARE PUBLIC

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, 37 years ago, the majority 
Republicans voted against the creation of Medicare, which has turned 
out to be probably the single best program the U.S. government has ever 
sponsored.
  Republican leader Newt Gingrich said that Medicare should wither on 
the vine. The Republicans, in the late 1990s, proceeded to cut $250 
billion from Medicare. Today, our Republican leader in the Committee on 
Rules labeled Medicare a Soviet-style program. In my 10 years in 
Congress, the only people I have found that are hostile to Medicare, 
that do not like the Medicare program, are my Republican friends on 
that side of the aisle.
  Today, we have a choice. We have a choice between a Medicare 
prescription drug plan written for America's seniors or a private 
insurance plan written, the Republican's private insurance plan, 
written by and for the drug companies, which will privatize Medicare.
  Let us keep Medicare public, let us pass a prescription drug benefit 
that works for seniors, not for the drug companies.

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