May 9, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H 4555

and by cuts in Medicare, in school

lunches, and in student loans.

INTRODUCTION OF HOUSE RESOLUTION OPPOSING REPEAL OF

fGUN CONTROL LAWS

(Mr. SKAGGS asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, the Oklahoma City bombing has left Americans

looking for ways to prevent other terrorist assaults on innocent victims.

One thing Congress can do is refuse to

let the gun lobby blow away the landmark gun control laws passed during

the 103d Congress.

Today I am introducing a resolution

expressing the sense of Congress that

the Brady bill, the assault weapons

ban, and the juvenile handgun ban

should not be repealed. These laws are

balanced efforts to control crime that

are proving effective in keeping guns

out of the wrong hands, while respecting the rights of law-abiding Americans to own firearms. To let these laws

be tossed aside as a political favor to a

special interest would be a national

tragedy.

At the beginning of this Congress,

the gun lobby announced its plan to

get these laws taken off the books.

They have paused in their effort in the

wake of the Oklahoma tragedy. But

rest assured, it is only a tactical pause,

and it will not last long.

Oklahoma City is chilling evidence

that a few individuals with extremist

views can use weapons of enormous

power to kill and maim. Tragically, the

toll inflicted each day with handguns

and military-style assault weapons is

almost as great.

Our commitment to fighting domestic terrorism should start with keeping

the Brady bill, the assault weapons ban

and the juvenile handgun ban in effect.

I urge my colleagues to support this

resolution.

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HAPPY TALK ON MEDICARE

(Mr. BONIOR asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, don’t be

fooled by all the Republican happy talk

on Medicare.

They’re not cutting Medicare in

order to fix the system.

The Republicans are cutting Medicare for one reason and one reason

only: to pay for their tax cuts for the

wealthy.

You see, the Republicans made an

amazing discovery.

To pay for their tax cuts, they cannot just cut student loans and child nutrition programs and cops on the beat.

Even though they are cutting each

and every one of those things it still

leaves them about $300 billion short.

So, now they’re targeting Medicare.

And what is this going to mean to

the average senior citizen?

It is going to mean higher

copayments, higher premiums, less

choice of doctors and it is going to cut

into Social Security COLA’s.

And this isn’t just going to affect

senior citizens.

Where is the average working family

going to come up with the extra money

to care for their parents and grandparents?

Mr. Speaker, Medicare is not a cash

cow for tax cuts.

It is a sacred trust between the Government and the people.

It is time we keep that promise.

REPUBLICANS AND MEDICARE

f(Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, the

Republicans are having a hard time explaining to 35 million Americans who

rely on Medicare that their benefits

will be cut to pay for a $350 billion tax

break for the wealthy.

Now, Republican leaders are attacking the President because he refuses to

join them in slashing Medicare to pay

for their unjust tax break. Republicans

also fail to mention that the President

has in fact extended the life of the

Medicare fund in legislation that Republicans voted against last year.

The truth is that Republican cuts to

Medicare would make the average Medicare recipient cough up $900 more each

year out of their own pockets.

In my State of New Mexico alone,

200,000 Americans will be forced to reduce their food budget or their heating

costs to pay for this unfair tax cut.

Mr. Speaker, the President is right.

We should favor Medicare reform that

protects benefits for Americans, but

cuts in Medicare should not pay for a

tax break for the wealthy. The American people will not be fooled.

MEDICARE AND VETERANS

f(Mrs. SCHROEDER asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

her remarks.)

Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, as

we all celebrate V–E Day and the wonderful generation that saved Europe

from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy,

what are we doing to them? Well, the

Republicans are trying to take their

Medicare and slash it away. What a

way to salute them. This is the generation that saved the world. This is the

generation that paid for the Marshall

plan to rebuild the world, and now we

are telling them they have also got to

pay for the deficit so that the fat cats

can have more tax cuts.

That is not fair. That is not the

America they fought for. I hope that

all this Medicare scare goes away.

MORE ON MEDICARE

(Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked

and was given permission to address

the House for 1 minute and to revise

and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr.

Speaker, Medicare should not become a

political football because millions of

our seniors in America depend so heavily on it for their health care.

In today’s edition of the Houston

Chronicle that I picked up before I left

home this morning, it talks about the

Republicans laying plans to slash billions from the budget. The Republican

majority should come up with a plan to

reform the Medicare system but not

cut $250 billion, $300 billion, $400 billion

out of it.

I spoke and met with many seniors

yesterday in my district, and they

want the fraud and abuse out of Medicare. But they do not want less health

care than they have today.

The Medicare system was made solvent for 3 more years in 1993 without

one Republican vote. Now the Republican majority is planning to cut it in

the name of reform. The savings should

be used to increase the benefits for seniors and increase the reimbursement

rates and not just to pay for tax cuts.

I cannot support billions in Medicare

cuts when they would not help the system become more solvent in 7 years.

Medicare should be reformed but not

to save $380 billion and help pay for tax

cuts for the rich U.S. citizens.

(Mr. WARD asked and was given perSLASHING MEDICARE

fmission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today

in opposition to the Republican proposal to slash Medicare spending over

the next 5 years. I am reminded of the

riddle, the riddle is, what is the difference between the Contract With

America and a contract with the devil?

The riddle is, what is the difference between the Contract With America and

the contract with the devil?

The devil’s contract still provides for

our seniors and our children.

The fact that such cuts will devastate our hospitals across the country

forcing many rural hospitals who rely

on Medicare benefits to close sums up

the problem.

This is not the way to provide the

money that is needed to make the tax

cuts that have been promised in this

contract.

REPUBLICANS WANT TO REFORM

fMEDICARE

(Mr. BOEHNER asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, here we

go, once again, down the path of

spreading fear, fear that we are going

to slash this and slash that.