Sam Farr: “last week I got a check in the mail. At first I thought it was a check for having a flag flown over the Capitol. But it…”

“last week I got a check in the mail. At first I thought it was a check for having a flag flown over the Capitol. But it wasn't. Then I thought maybe it was a misdirected campaign contribution. But it wasn't. Then I looked again. It was a check from a senior citizen in my district who is so scared she will lose her Medicare benefits, she wanted to contribute $10 to the government to make the system whole again. She thought that if enough people contributed $10, everything would be all right and she could rest easy about the state of her health care. Mr. Speaker, I wish I could give her that reassurance. Not only did I send the check back to her, I had to tell her that the outlook was bleak for protecting her health care under current proposals now making their way through the reconciliation process. It's a sad day in America that we've come to this point; that our senior citizens are so scared of our actions that they are begging us not to take away their health care. I sent the check back but, unfortunately, it won't even begin to cover her Medicare cuts. My constituent is going to need that $10 check. Actually, she's going to need a whole lot more.”