On the recordMay 25, 2011
Mr. Speaker, yesterday on this floor a number of my Democratic colleagues took the floor to talk about the Republican plan to eliminate Medicare as we know it. Now, in response to that, some of my Republican friends stood up and said, well, where is the Democratic plan? I don't know whether they were sleeping through the 111th Congress or just failed to read the bill that they voted against and now want to repeal, but our Democratic principles were very much reflected in the Affordable Care Act that we passed in the last Congress. We found savings in Medicare, we extended the life of the program for at least 10 years, we are closing the doughnut hole, we are providing new services for seniors, all of that in addition to saving $1 trillion in the second 10 years of the program. So the Democrats have a plan for Medicare, and we passed it in the last Congress. The Republican response: repeal what we did and end Medicare as we know it--a very creative approach to solving one of the problems that faces this country and many of our seniors. ____________________
