Political Quotes

“I rise this afternoon to talk about the Medicare Program, which of course, is a lifeline--a guarantee for 50 million older Americans. In particular what the Senate wants to do is make sure that those older people have access to primary care doctors, nurse practitioners, specialists, and other providers in their local communities because they provide critically needed care to our seniors day in and day out. Many of those seniors have no idea that by March 31--just a few weeks from now--Congress has to act on their behalf to preserve access to the care that seniors depend on. Suffice it to say those providers would much rather be delivering the care than waiting for this Congress to act. Now, fortunately, there is a roadmap for getting this done--getting good care to seniors not just for a short period of time but, I say to my colleagues, once and for all. And I wish to this afternoon urge my colleagues to seize this opportunity. Beginning my remarks, I declare I can take little credit for the opportunity before us. The path that got us here, that got us started in the effort to make the needed reforms to protect our seniors, is a direct result of the leadership of my friend and colleague Senator Orrin Hatch. Just as Senator Hatch has done so many times over the course of an illustrious career, he was key to forging a bipartisan solution to a challenging, longstanding problem.…”