On the recordJune 6, 1996
Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that what the Republicans are trying to do is to completely dismantle the Medicare Program. We deal with this issue in terms of big numbers, like a $290 billion cut versus a $168 billion cut now. And they have moderated their position. But the reality is the issue is not a monetary issue. We cannot get into a box of deciding, well, who is cutting less in terms of the dollar amount, because what they are rally trying to do, in my estimation, is to completely dismantle the Medicare Program as it was enacted in 1965. That is the message I think we have to tell the seniors: What are they being left with if we restructure Medicare? They are going to be shoved into a private insurance kind of program which does not have the protections that Medicare now offers.
Source
govinfo.gov
