On the recordApril 7, 2011
As we meet this morning, the top priority of the American people continues to be the jobs crisis in our country. There are too many people out of work and too many people worried that they are next. Last week, the welcome news came that last month the economy had created about a quarter of a million new private sector jobs. That's a good start, but it's not nearly enough. Shutting the government down just when the economy is starting to get back on its feet would be the worst possible mistake, but we're on the verge of that. It's important that people understand that the President has gone three-quarters of the way toward the majority party to settle this matter--didn't meet halfway; he has gone three-quarters of the way--but they won't go the full way because there is a fight here about values. This is a fight about what you value. Ladies and gentlemen of the House, we value Medicare. We believe that after someone has worked their entire life and paid taxes into that Medicare fund that they should not have to worry that a trip to the radiologist will be followed by a trip to the bankruptcy court. This is what Medicare accomplished for our moms and our dads and our grandparents. It said that after a lifetime of hard work, if you have medical worries, they will just be medical worries, not financial worries, because Medicare will pay the bill. The gentleman from California talked about how they're not destroying Medicare; they're saving it.…
