Political Quotes

“the budget reconciliation bill before us presents a historic opportunity to balance the budget, provide long overdue tax relief for families and ensure that important programs such as Medicare will be here for the next generation of Americans. I intend to support this legislation, but first, I would like to make a few comments about the Medicare provisions. We all know that Medicare is in serious trouble. For 2/2 years, we have been hearing that Medicare is going bankrupt. Today, we have an opportunity to do something to put Medicare back on the path to solvency. This bill calls for reasonable structural reforms of the Medicare program. It extends Medicare's solvency and promotes more choices for seniors--much like Members of Congress enjoy under the Federal Employee Health Benefits plan. If we truly care about Medicare--if we really mean it when we say that Medicare must be here for our children and grandchildren, then it's not enough to just talk about saving the program. We need to take action. And yes, we need to ask the baby boomers and today's young people--who I might add are already paying for a program which will not benefit them if we continue the status quo--to accept some structural changes that are absolutely necessary to protect and preserve this program. I commend those who have had the courage to come to the floor and explain these reforms in spite of what the special interest groups say.”