Political Quotes

“I will conclude these questions by going back to my first assertion. We are not talking about prescription drugs through Medicare; we are talking about an assault against the basic principles of Medicare itself. That is a universal program, not a program limited by class to only the poor and near poor of America: That is a voluntary program. That is a shared cost program between the beneficiary and the Federal Government. That is a comprehensive program that covers all of the necessary health care for older Americans. And, as I believe the Senator stated in his introductory comments, nobody would develop Medicare today, in 2000, without having a prescription drug benefit. When you attack all those principles that are the foundation of Medicare, what you are really doing is attacking one of the programs which has made the greatest contribution to lifting 39 million Americans into levels of respect and security and well-being of any program that the Federal Government has ever developed. The American people need to hear that this debate is not just about prescription drugs; it is about a frontal assault against Medicare. If this philosophy prevails, that is where the battleground will be.”