Frank Pallone: “I want to continue this debate on the Medicare issue because I do believe, from looking at the Republican budget, that…”

“I want to continue this debate on the Medicare issue because I do believe, from looking at the Republican budget, that they do intend to end Medicare, it's quite clear. And, you know, the irony of this is that, when the Democrats were in the majority, we were trying to expand health care options, provide everybody with health insurance. And now what we see is just the Republicans, when they take the majority, are trying to get rid of, really, the best health insurance program that the Nation has ever seen, and that's Medicare. No one would argue that Medicare has not been successful. The fact of the matter is that before we had Medicare--which, as my colleague from New York mentioned, was a Democratic initiative--what would seniors do? Well, seniors couldn't get health insurance because, as you know, when you get to be over 65, or if you are disabled, people don't want to give you health insurance because it costs too much. You are in the hospital too much. You have too many health care needs. And so seniors basically couldn't find health insurance. They were really at the mercy, if you will, of whatever they could find, or if they got sick, they had to go to a hospital or they had to go to a doctor and pay out of pocket in many cases. And so when the Democrats came along and Lyndon Johnson said, look, this is something that we need because seniors can't get health insurance, well, they initiated Medicare.…”