[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25802-25803]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, there is much we don't know about the health 
care legislation being developed behind closed doors somewhere here in 
the Capitol. But this much we do know: the promises being made that 
this legislation won't add a dime to the deficit just don't hold water. 
Any characterization of this legislation as being deficit neutral is 
based on an assumption that we will obtain significant savings from 
Medicare, that we will somehow over the next 10 years summon up the 
courage to tell seniors that the benefits they currently are receiving 
are too lavish, and that they will need to sacrifice some of their 
current coverage to pay for those who don't currently have coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, this type of courage doesn't reside with this Congress. 
We recently passed legislation to shield high-income seniors from a 
slight increase in Medicare part B premiums. If we have to shield 
seniors who make

[[Page 25803]]

more than $170,000 annually from paying another $20 monthly, how are we 
going to find $500 billion in savings from Medicare over the next 10 
years? It simply doesn't add up.

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