Political Quotes

“I rise to the floor today to talk about an issue in the context of the appropriations struggles that we are having, and that is to bring a modicum of fairness and justice to the people, American citizens, of the U.S. territories. It is ironic that there are many proposals around today which I endorse which will restore some of the benefits that have been taken away since 1996 for legal residents, not U.S. citizens of the United States, including some access to health care. At the same time that we are doing this, health care for U.S. citizens in the territories like my home island of Guam are severely hampered by the fact that Medicaid assistance to the territories is capped at certain amounts; for Guam it is $5.4 million. Moreover, the match between the local government and the Federal Government is fixed at 50/50. Madam Speaker, what this means essentially is that if the government of Guam is to participate in the Medicaid program, which it currently does and for this past year it did and spent some $14 million in Medicaid, the actual share that the government of Guam paid is not at 50/50, but is somewhere along the line of 70/30. And as a consequence, the people of Guam, the resources are taxed to a greater extent than is to be expected. The territories, especially Guam, have not shared in the economic boom that has occurred.”