Pete Stark: “I first start by reminding the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington that the Seattle Times said that one suspects…”

“I first start by reminding the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington that the Seattle Times said that one suspects that many conservatives do not really care how the chips fall as long as they are heavy enough to break the back of traditional Medicare. All this talk about choice and updating or modernizing Medicare with market competition is pure malarky. So it does appear that somebody from the State of Washington understands what is going on here tonight. But we are faced with a problem, and the Republican Party from the very top of its leadership to the very bottom have been lying to us. They have been lying to us about the war. They have been revising history. They have been going back on their word to give us 3 days. They have proven that we cannot trust them. Just recently, the past few minutes, the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means indicated that they had attempted to put in preventative measures. He seems to have forgotten that in 1995 he voted against colon cancer testing. He voted against prostate cancer testing. He voted against annual mammography. He voted against diabetes management. He has voted more often to cut Medicare benefits than he can remember, it appears. So we are faced tonight with people who want to destroy Medicare. They will lie to us. They will lie to seniors for the pure purpose of their own messianic desires to destroy a system that will protect the fragile seniors in this country.”