[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SUPPORT MEDICARE

  (Ms. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of Medicare. It's a 
decades-old promise that my grandmother made to my mother and that I 
make to my son. For the last 5 months Republicans have played political 
theater with our Nation's most pressing issues, putting tax breaks for 
millionaires and oil companies ahead of the health care of our seniors.
  Just yesterday, in procedural silliness, it was yet another act by 
the Republican majority's quest to end Medicare and jeopardize the 
health of our seniors. Yet again Republicans told our seniors loudly 
and clearly that they are willing by any means necessary to end 
Medicare, and that's just wrong.
  They have also tried to trick our seniors into believing that their 
budget plan wouldn't affect them today, but that's wrong too. The fact 
is the end of Medicare would mean that our seniors and individuals with 
disabilities would pay $12,500 in health care costs. The plan would 
force seniors to pay nearly $6,800 out of their own pockets in the 
first year alone.
  So I am going to urge all of us and our colleagues on the other side 
to stop the political theater, to stand with the American people, to 
stop their quest to end Medicare and support our seniors.
  How about creating jobs instead of ending Medicare?

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