[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PROTECTING OUR SENIORS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2011

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, Social Security and Medicare bring economic 
security within reach of working American families, regardless of 
income. Workers deserve the benefits they are owed after a lifetime of 
paying into these programs.
  And, yet, there are some, driven by blind ideology and partisanship, 
who aim to chip away at those guarantees, bit by bit. There are budget 
proposals--reducing the operating expenses for the Social Security 
program, and curtailing the ability of Social Security to pay 
benefits--that hint of a radical restructuring of the program. There 
are budget proposals that are unabashed in their radicalism toward 
Medicare.
  In the name of fixing deficits in other areas of the budget, some 
will try to point fingers at seniors programs as the culprit, but don't 
you believe it. We must be extremely cautious and jealous in protecting 
Social Security and Medicare, or we may find that they will be taken 
away forever.

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