Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, let us be clear as to what is at issue for our military retirees. We have a very good approach by the…”

“Mr. Speaker, let us be clear as to what is at issue for our military retirees. We have a very good approach by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor). The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) is saying do not rush into anything, do not vote for the Taylor amendment in its original form. Our military retirees have been waiting patiently for quite a while for resolution of this issue. What the Taylor amendment, of course, does is apply to those military retirees who have already reached the age of 65 and permits them to be treated at military hospitals and to have those hospitals reimbursed by Medicare. What the Shows amendment does is to not only address those military retirees that are already 65, but the large number of military retirees who have not yet reached the age of 65. And it would permit those retirees, those men and women who have served at least 20 years for their country, to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the exact same program that we as Members of Congress and our staffs participate in, and every other Federal civilian employee participates in. The Shows amendment is a comprehensive approach. It is the amendment that has a very large number of supporters in this House and it is an amendment that we are not being permitted to vote on today. That is regrettable.”