On the recordSeptember 27, 2022
Well, go back to that. You said ``a brand-new fight.'' I am not a historian. I like reading history, but I know enough about Medicare because I care a lot about the history, as you do, of that-- and Senator Markey and others and Senator Leahy, who is on the floor about it too. President Truman wanted to enact Medicare, but he couldn't get the Congress to do it. And then President Kennedy wanted to enact Medicare, and he couldn't get Congress to do it. It probably took the Kennedy assassination and all that was happening to sort of light the fire under Congress to pass Medicare. So you would need that kind of political will. In other words, it took almost 20 years to pass Medicare. So if Medicare were to expire, you would need a huge public wave with elected officials who want to do it to get it back, in effect.
Source
govinfo.gov
