Louise Slaughter: “with the rule before us today, this body is being asked to hand over one of the most popular government programs in…”

“with the rule before us today, this body is being asked to hand over one of the most popular government programs in history to private insurance companies. Medicare is a critical program, a program that benefits a wide spectrum of our constituents and one that American families have come to depend on for their loved ones in need. But today, in a cynical nod to the pharmaceutical industry, the leadership has shut out any meaningful debate. No Democrat substitute will be allowed, no amendments to guarantee affordable prescription drugs for our seniors will be permitted, and anyone voicing dissent has been silenced. Indeed, in the wee hours of this morning in the Committee on Rules, one of my colleagues made it clear that he wanted the free market to determine drug prices, and declared that Medicare was, attention, a Soviet-style program, echoing the sentiment made by his former leader, Newt Gingrich, that Medicare should be allowed 'to wither on the vine.' Make no mistake: the contempt for Medicare runs deep within this leadership, as it does for other vital social programs.”