Political Quotes

“although none of us received all of what we wanted in this budget deal, I rise today not to point out its deficiencies. Rather, I want to highlight the key strength of this agreement--It makes Medicare and Medicaid smarter. It is smart to root out fraud and abuse; it is smart to permit competition; and it is smart to promote preventive health care. Cracking down on those who abuse the system is smart. Paying less for more goods and services is smart. And preventing diseases is smart. My colleagues and I are here today not to eliminate Medicare and Medicaid. Nor are we here to preserve the status quo. We are here to make these programs smarter--More efficient, more equitable, and more solvent. We were faced with the politically unenviable task for paring Medicare by $115 billion and Medicaid by $23 billion to accomplish the overarching goal of this legislation--a balanced budget by the year 2002. Both health care providers and senior citizens will share in the burden of meeting this goal.”