Janice Schakowsky: “Again, this is just a warning, a friendly warning to you that if you pass H.R. 1 tonight, you better also go out and get…”

“Again, this is just a warning, a friendly warning to you that if you pass H.R. 1 tonight, you better also go out and get your running shoes because the seniors are too smart to be fooled by your proposal. And you can trash Medicare all you want. You can call it an outdated program, antiquated; but I do not know who you are talking to. I do believe that you love your mothers, but it is obvious to me that you do not call them enough. You do not go to senior centers enough. Not the ones I have gone to in my 5 years as director of the State Council of Senior Citizens. Seniors love their Medicare. The only thing they do not like is that it does not cover prescription drugs. And that is why if you are smart or out of shape and not able to be chased by seniors, you will vote for the Rangel-Dingell substitute. The Democratic substitute is what seniors have been asking for and what every politician has been promising them, an understandable, defined, dependable Medicare prescription drug benefit. It has all the features of Medicare that our seniors know and love, a set premium, no copayments. Vote for the substitute or start running.”