David Obey: “this amendment tries to do a lot of good things. One of the most important things is that it tries to add back $38…”

“this amendment tries to do a lot of good things. One of the most important things is that it tries to add back $38 million to correct the fact that this bill cuts 95 percent of the funding for the administration's nursing home initiative, which is aimed at strengthening the protection of our senior citizens in nursing homes. The General Accounting Office has said that there are one in four nursing homes in this country that has serious deficiencies. I think we ought to do our best to correct that, and this amendment does. I do not know how many have ever worked in a nursing home. I worked an entire summer in an institution when I was a young teenager that dealt with people in need of nursing home care and also dealt with people in need of care because of mental and emotional problems. It was not a pleasant job. It is a tough job. Nursing homes that are trying to do right by their citizens need to be backed up by the Government who will keep those who are not quite so fastidious towing the line, because otherwise it makes it impossible for the nursing homes who we are trying to tow the line to do so. I think it is a disgrace that we do not fund their money. I also think it should be on notice that this amendment restores money that fights Medicare fraud. It restores money to try to shorten the delays that people have when they apply for Social Security disability.”