Political Quotes

“I support the Senator from Illinois in his attempt to keep the age of Medicare eligibility at 65. Mr. President, raising the eligibility age to 67 in the future is part of the bill that is before us and was an amendment offered by the Senator from Texas, Senator Gramm. Now, had the Senator from Texas and his supporters had an alternative in place for those who would be unable in the future to get Medicare between the ages of 65 and 67--if there was an alternative in place, if this bill said that we will, in fact, raise that age, but only after we have an alternative in place for those people, I would be here supporting it. But it is so reckless, Mr. President, to take away Medicare from people who pay for it their entire working lives--to take it away from them for 2 years unless there is an alternative in place. I do not know if any of my colleagues know about our health insurance, but we have a pretty good plan around here. As a matter of fact, I voted in during the health care debate to offer that plan to every American. That didn't fly. But to take away Medicare from people who have been paying for it out into the future without any way to replace it, I don't know what we are doing here.”