Political Quotes

“I thank and commend the gentlelady from Guam for her resolution. We have so many heroes, aviators who have been shot down in foreign countries, defending our freedom and enduring tremendous hardship, even death. One of those who was shot down over Vietnam, the longest-serving POW in America, Congressman Sam Johnson of Plano, Texas, is a friend and a true hero to many of us. He opposes this health care bill because he is worried about the impact it will have on veterans. He believes by taking on a huge new entitlement we can never hope to pay for, at the end of the day we will end up robbing Peter to pay Paul, and we will rob from veterans' health care, which we don't even fully fund today as a Nation. It's embarrassing. And yet we are going to launch a brand new health care bill we can never afford to pay for. He is worried about rationing. He has seen what happens when Congress has the greatest intentions. They passed this wonderful new GI Bill and updated one, yet never even bothered to put in place a mechanism today. Most of the veterans waiting in our offices are just trying to get the fair benefits this Congress promised them, but this administration, this government can't deliver. He is worried about the fact that we can't fund health care under this bill. And I think what frustrates people is we already have a Medicare program that is going bankrupt. We have Social Security not far behind.…”