Seniors Task Force: Entitlements and the Supercommittee

Floor Speech

Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for older Americans and pledge to protect the program they have paid into, have been promised and deserve.

Throughout much of the year, we have heard how Congress needs to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits under the guise of deficit reduction. I reject that premise.

I do so for Dale, a Sacramento resident, who, at 70 years old, recently retired with his wife. The dream of retirement went well for a short while, then utility and home repair bills started piling up. And if this weren't enough, both Dale and his wife have suffered deteriorating health, which has increased their medical bills to levels they cannot afford. Cuts to Medicare or Social Security would, as Dale put it, ``take from the poorest of the poor.''

That is unacceptable. Any proposal to meet our deficit must meet the test of protecting our seniors.

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