Political Quotes

“I've listened to a lot of allegations, Mr. Speaker, that the Democratic Party, the party that crafted Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid, is somehow cutting health care benefits. I don't want this debate to end without putting a few simple facts in perspective. There is one party in this Chamber that said to 13 million working class families on Medicaid for the first time, you have to make a co-pay for your kids to go to the doctor. There is one party in this Chamber that, 4 years ago, in the Medicare Modernization Act, tucked in the fine print of the bill a requirement of guaranteed Medicare cuts in the next several years. There is one party in this Chamber that passed the prescription drug bill that contained a massive doughnut hole for seniors which allowed them to lose their coverage for a period of time. There's one party in this Chamber that has sent five budgets, just in my tenure, to the floor of the Congress cutting Medicaid benefits. There is one party in this Chamber that has proposed to cut, that has passed a guaranteed 10 percent cut for reimbursements for doctors, set to go into effect beginning on January 1. It is the Republican party. Let there be no debate, Mr. Speaker. There is one party that has its bona fides on the question of health care. It is the party that is moving today a bill that will provide universal coverage for all children who need it. It is shameful for this debate to have been twisted and distorted in the manner that it has.”