John Shaw: “Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to deliver to my congressional colleagues a message from the 180,000 Medicare beneficiaries…”

“Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to deliver to my congressional colleagues a message from the 180,000 Medicare beneficiaries who reside in my south Florida district, and that message is simply: Stop the fraudulent and abusive practices against the Medicare Program, and do it now. This substitute ignores the issue of fraud and abuse. Mr. Speaker, this body has already voted for the Medicare fraud and abuse provisions that are included in this bill when it passed the Medicare Preservation Act, and, as we all remember, the Medicare Preservation Act was vetoed by President Clinton. Now we have another chance to move a step closer to saving the Medicare Program from bankruptcy. This bill is the toughest and most serious attempt that this Congress has made to stop fraud and abuse in the Medicare Program and health care generally with the new strong criminal penalties for offenses against the American people. I am proud to have contributed to this effort, and I know that when my constituents learn of their new rights under the Medicare Program, they will be proud of this Congress, too. Let us pass this bill and save Medicare millions of dollars and save all the American taxpayers billions of dollars in reducing fraud and abuse.”