John Tanner said "I did not vote for the Democratic substitute because I thought it was too light on reform. The Republican bill is too light on substance. Mr. Speaker, we have a middle ground here, if we were only allowed to offer it; and it is what the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) said. Basically, any meaningful reform in the Medicare or health care area, the crux of that matter is, one, a Federal backstop for rural America, which is not in the bill we are considering; and, two, some measure of cost containment. That is how we save the program. Neither one of these essential elements in my judgment is in the bill. If we could get this motion to recommit, we could fix it and we could come back here with strong bipartisan support." @ PoliticalQuotes.com

On the recordJune 26, 2003

I did not vote for the Democratic substitute because I thought it was too light on reform. The Republican bill is too light on substance. Mr. Speaker, we have a middle ground here, if we were only allowed to offer it; and it is what the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) said. Basically, any meaningful reform in the Medicare or health care area, the crux of that matter is, one, a Federal backstop for rural America, which is not in the bill we are considering; and, two, some measure of cost containment. That is how we save the program. Neither one of these essential elements in my judgment is in the bill. If we could get this motion to recommit, we could fix it and we could come back here with strong bipartisan support.

Said by

John Tanner

Tennessee

Source

govinfo.gov

Editor's note · Context

Discussing Medicare reform and the need for a Federal backstop and cost containment.

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