[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12534]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            PROTECT SENIORS

  (Mr. TOWNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I received a call yesterday from a senior 
citizen in my district that disturbed me greatly. It tore at my heart 
to hear the fear in her voice as she begged me to do all that I can to 
protect senior citizens, and I assured her that I would. She went on to 
say how hard she worked during her life. She kept her part of the 
bargain, and now she expects her government to do the same.
  It really bothers me to hear some people suggest that poor Americans 
and senior citizens who get checks from the government are freeloaders. 
Everybody in Congress gets a check from the government. How can they 
consider themselves as being different?
  We need to stop, regroup, and think about what we are doing. We need 
to think about all those people who have played by the rules, and now 
we want to change the rules in the middle of the game. Mr. Speaker, 
that is wrong.

                          ____________________