Austin Scott: “let us get right to the chase of it. What the Republican plan is designed to do is end Medicare as we know it today.…”

“let us get right to the chase of it. What the Republican plan is designed to do is end Medicare as we know it today. Make no mistake about it. I have the quote right here and it says, ``To those who say that the bill would end Medicare as we know it, our answer is: We certainly hope so.'' Bill Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, MSNBC News, on 6/25/2003. It was stated, to back that up, the chairman of the Senate Republican conference said this, ``I believe the standard benefit, the traditional Medicare program, has to be phased out.'' That is what we are faced with today, and that is what the American people need to understand, and that is what the Democratic Party is doing in here today, to pull these covers off. We are talking about people who cannot afford it. Medicare was designed to help people, to help the least of us, to help those senior citizens who cannot afford the medicine. Government is there for something. They do not want it privatized. Mr. Speaker, let me just say this from one of my constituents, and I want to read this note. He said: ``I am a 74-year-old retired senior on Medicare and this Medicare drug prescription plan is just a stone's throw away from privatization of Medicare. That should not be allowed to happen.'' Let us not let it happen.”