On the recordJuly 28, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to work together to resolve our debt reduction strategy, and I rise to urge my GOP colleagues to abandon their efforts to end Medicare as we know it. For 45 years, Medicare has been that fundamental promise to our parents and our grandparents that if they work hard, if they play by the rules, and if they pay into Medicare, they're going to be able to live their retirement years in dignity, and that their children will have economic security because we won't be worried about the economic challenges that a diagnosis or an emergency situation or health condition would bring. It's fundamentally unfair that the debt racked up over the last decade with two wars put on a credit card, tax breaks for special interests, and other special provisions, and now the GOP is looking to end Medicare as we know it and to undermine that fundamental promise. We're not going to stand for it. We can work together on a more reasonable solution, and I urge my colleagues to do so. ____________________
