Steve Israel: “I am proud to be a Democratic Member of this body. I have always been proud to be a Democrat. And always will be. But I…”

“I am proud to be a Democratic Member of this body. I have always been proud to be a Democrat. And always will be. But I came to Congress 2 rac{1}{2} years ago with a promise to my constituents that I would work hard to break through partisan gridlock. I promised that when I agreed with the Republicans I would vote with them; and when I disagreed I would vote against them. But that I would always work to develop consensus and move our country forward. That is what brings me here today, Mr. Speaker. In those 2 rac{1}{2} years, I have focused on a health care crisis for seniors on Long Island. We used to have 12 Medicare HMOs in my communities. Now we have two left. Eighty-five thousand seniors have been tossed out of their Medicare HMOs. One out of five is skipping their medication because they can't afford them. And in those 2 rac{1}{2} years, I have listened to Republicans blame Democrats for this crisis; Democrats blame Republicans; the House blame the Senate; the Senate blame the House; Congress blame the White House; the White House blame Congress; and everyone blame the insurance companies. There is plenty of blame to go around. But all the blame in the world isn't going to help a single senior citizen get their prescription drugs at a more affordable price. It's time to stop blaming. It's time to stop finger pointing. It's time for conservatives to stop railing against a $400 billion prescription drug plan because it's too liberal.”