On the recordMarch 26, 2015
I thank the distinguished gentleman from Michigan and my friend from Texas, and what a celebration of Members coming together, Republicans and Democrats. Mr. Speaker, I stand on this floor to ensure and insist that I am here to protect seniors and to ensure that the vote taken today does not undermine the protection of Medicaid and Medicare, in particular Medicare for our seniors, and that any vote does not in any way hinder those and provide a burden for those who cannot pay. This provides a pathway for providing for our medical providers with the SGR fix; it provides seniors with quality healthcare services so they can go to the doctor they want; and, yes, it provides quality funding for our children and for our low-income families. It supports our federally qualified health clinics, and coming from the city of Houston with the Texas Medical Center, there are a lot of doctors. Those doctors serve the poor and they serve seniors, and I want to make sure they are able to do so. The CHIP program will be protected that has been a vital program to provide for those families for our children to be healthy. Let me agree with my colleague, brother Pascrell, this is good for America. I am delighted to support this, and we are going to help physician-owned hospitals and look forward to a better day. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2, the ``Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015,'' and the underlying bill. H.R.…
