[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      PROTECTING AMERICAN SENIORS

  (Mrs. MILLER of Michigan asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, as Democratic leaders retreat 
behind closed doors to craft their government takeover of health care, 
American seniors are rightly concerned about what $500 billion in cuts 
in Medicare will mean to them.
  Throughout this process, Democrats have made clear that they intend 
to force American seniors to carry a large share of the cost of reform, 
and this includes eliminating Medicare Advantage. Democrats understand 
how negative the reaction will be when seniors learn that they are 
scrapping this program, so they have placed a gag order on companies 
that provide this coverage, stopping them from communicating with 
seniors on the ramifications of this change.
  That's right, the Democrats who promised transparency and 
accountability have gone behind closed doors to craft legislation and 
have used the power of government to stop dissenters from communicating 
with American seniors. Well, American seniors are right to be 
concerned.
  With the job-killing tax increases the Democrats are also talking 
about, American workers need to be concerned as well, Mr. Speaker. 
Perhaps that is why the Democrat majority will not allow us to have 72 
hours to read the bill before it's voted on.

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