Bill Archer: “Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark) did not mean to mislead, but the words…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark) did not mean to mislead, but the words that he spoke were not accurate. The monies that are currently going into the Medicare Trust Fund are from general Treasury, from income tax revenues. Now, there was no argument against that by the gentleman in 1993 when it happened. We are simply replacing one stream of income tax revenues with a stream from other sources so that the same number of dollars go into the Medicare Trust Fund. In no way is Medicare harmed. The gentleman knows that. It is not subject to appropriations every year. It is an entitlement under our bill, which will hold fast just as much as any other entitlement program under current law. Because, yes, any Congress can take any benefits away. They can do anything, unless it is written into the Constitution, but this will have the same degree of validity, stability and support as any other entitlement program. I think the gentleman knows that. Of course, this tax that was unfairly put on senior citizens in 1993 was a product of one vote, done totally by the Democrat majority, and they cannot stand to give up what they put on the books.”