On the recordJanuary 19, 2011
It's time to bust a number of myths. It's time to really tell the Americans the truth. As we begin another series of 5-hour debates on repealing a life-saving initiative, it's really time to tell the truth. Maybe it's time to tell the truth about this senior citizen, who had pneumonia and didn't know she had it. But if she had not had "a government-run health system," Medicare, she wouldn't be laying up in a sophisticated medical facility, providing her with the opportunity to live. Any of you know about pneumonia--walking pneumonia can kill you. It killed my grandfather, who did not have access to this quality health care because he did not have Medicare. It's time to bust the myths. It's time to tell our physicians that Democrats worked hard to build up your reimbursement. We were the leaders on it. This has nothing to do with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, because as this bill grows with research dollars, we also have the opportunity, with the President, to work on reimbursement. This bill is a bill to save lives.
