Rob Bishop: “many years ago, when I was in high school, I got my first car. It was new and it was sleek and it was fun to drive, and…”

“many years ago, when I was in high school, I got my first car. It was new and it was sleek and it was fun to drive, and more than anything I would like to have that car back today. There is only one problem with having that car back today. It is broken. It does not run. For it to do anything at all, it would require a major overhaul. That car is the same age as our Nation's Medicare system. And nostalgia for the good old days, which is why I want to have that car back, nostalgia may have warped some of our memories of what Medicare did or did not do or what it promised or did not promise to do; but nonetheless, our Medicare system today has the same problem. It is broken. It does not run. It needs some kind of major overhaul. Shortly after my election, Henry Kafton, who is a neighbor who used to live around the corner from me in Brigham City, talked to me about Medicare. And I asked him to put his thoughts down on paper. He wrote me a very simple two-page letter, and he delivered it to me the day after Christmas of last year. I still have that letter with me. In fact, I have it with me here this evening, because Henry suggested some good commonsense approaches to solving the problem with Medicare. However, in the third sentence of his letter, he put a perspective on the debate when he wrote, ``As much as we do not like to think of it, when you turn 65, in many ways you become a third class citizen.'' No American, Mr.…”