On the recordJuly 30, 2013
Madam Speaker, today marks the 48th anniversary of the Medicare program, which has had a tremendous impact on the American public and on the quality of life of our seniors and our kids. On July 30 of 1965, a fellow Texan, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed Medicare into law--a program that at the time was considered incredibly controversial. At that time, about half of our Nation's seniors didn't have health coverage. Today, in Texas, more than 3 million seniors, including our parents and our grandparents, rely on this program for crucial medical care. The law has allowed our seniors to live with the peace of mind that health coverage will be available to them in their golden years. It is now just as vital to the long-term health and security of Americans as it was in 1965. We need to continue to demonstrate our commitment to those who have built this country by strengthening Medicare for future generations. I am very glad that we have done things like starting to close the Medicare doughnut hole so that seniors are starting to save money on their prescriptions. In the first 6 months of 2013, more than a million seniors with Medicare have received at least one free preventative service--and our seniors have earned this through a lifetime of work. ____________________
