Paul Tonko

Thirty-three seniors paying $6,000 more per year. So we're making happy one millionaire and we're economically distressing 33 seniors who are going to pay at least $6,000 more to have the health care coverage if they, in fact, can get it.

And, Representative Courtney, when you talk about all of those costs, they were never put in the budget. They were off-budget. So that meant that those two wars, the pharmaceutical deal for Medicare part D, and the tax breaks for…

At least nine of every 10 comments we get either through the mail or on the phone are: Save Medicare. Don't let them mess with it. We're fighting the good fight here. America needs to know there is a risk of losing Medicare. There are…

Representative Courtney, I think what we're talking about here is legitimate reform in a way that bends that cost curve and takes a sound economic program like Medicare for our Nation's seniors and allows for that benefit and pulls the…

I think it's important for us to share with the American public what's happening on this floor in the House of Representatives. So many suggest that the history that drove Medicare to be developed, the dynamics that were so impacting on…

I thank the ranking member of the committee for yielding. Madam Speaker, there is not a single person in this Chamber who doesn't want to balance the budget, but the legislation before us today is not about that. It is about enshrining a…

Representative Garamendi, earlier you had talked about the impact on the 55-year-old or 54-year-old. If you look at a 54-year-old today, that individual is advised to save some $182,000 to $190,000 so as to have that available cash to…

We must fund the Army Corps of Engineers to repair damage caused by recent storms and floods and to prepare for future disaster events, there is no question about it. But doing so by cutting long-term investments in high-speed rail makes…

This evening it is my pleasure to initiate discussion as to the events here in Washington as they affect our debt ceiling limit. There is much attention being paid to the efforts for America to pay her bills, and obviously America's…

Representative Chu, you raised an interesting fact with the end to Medicare proposed by the Republicans in the House. The cost shifting that takes hold, it's about a two-thirds/one-third split today. And the out-of-pocket expenses to a…

Representative Edwards, when you talk about this debt, I think we need to state too very clearly that these were off-budget. All of these tax cuts, the wars during those Bush years were paid for by borrowing, and we borrowed from China and…

Thank you very much. With that, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________

Again, if you would suffer an interruption, when we talk about the beginning days of Medicare, the propensity to do something then would become the same cause today, because people were being impacted by cherry picking, by unaffordable…

Absolutely. Representative Edwards, you struck on a chord that is just repeated over and over again in my district. Many thought, well, if the seniors are told that this will affect senior communities into the future, that they will get…

Congresswoman Edwards and Congresswoman Jackson Lee, I would say, too, that Medicare, yes, speaks to the health care needs of senior households, but there's also a stability there. There's a security so that some of the available…

The Representative from Texas talked about strengthening and improving Medicare, not ending it. Some have suggested as much as $156 billion could be saved by bulk purchasing for our pharmaceutical needs for the program, for Medicare. That…

Very well said. We have about 5 minutes left. I'm just going to do a bit of close and then ask for each of our Representatives that remain here on the floor--we were joined earlier by Representative Chu from California--to offer your…

Well said, Representative Jackson Lee. You know, for us to now quickly approach this deadline by which the debt ceiling has to be raised and to put the added pressure of ending Medicare into that discussion is vulgar. {time} 2030 Forty-six…

Very well said, Representative Edwards, and I just want to attach my comments to yours about the impact of Medicare, an investment that has produced a lucrative dividend. We have kept the dignity factor alive for seniors, we have kept our…

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York will be postponed. Amendment Offered by Mr. Garrett

For a point of clarification, I would just point out the statutory deadline for the weatherization program and the State Energy Program is on March 31 of any given year, in this case 2012. So, of course, it's not all spent yet. There is…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 23, line 4, after the dollar amount insert the following: ``(increased by $226,800,000)''. Page 33, line 20, after the…

First I want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) for offering this bipartisan amendment with me. He is a leader on energy issues, and I thank him for his support. Mr. Chair, the Tonko-Bass amendment is…

The highest individual government salary funded by the American taxpayer is that of the President of the United States at a total of $400,000, or so I thought. The President is certainly the highest paid public servant, but it turns out…

You know, you talk about choices, and the choices are do we continue Medicare--and obviously the Democrats in the House want to improve, they want to strengthen Medicare, not deny it, not end it-- make it more stable, make it an even…