Pelosi: 'We Passed Health Reform to Improve Medicare and Ensure Seniors Can Count on It Now and for Generations'

/PRNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Dr. Ben Williamowsky of Silver Spring, Md., a Medicare recipient, held a news conference today to discuss benefits of and misconceptions about the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.

The participants highlighted a four-page brochure, "Medicare and the New Health Care Law, What it Means for You," which was mailed by HHS this week to seniors. It outlines the benefits for Medicare recipients in the new health insurance reform law.

Below are Speaker Pelosi's opening remarks and selected quotes from each of the other participants:

Speaker Pelosi Opening Remarks:
"Good afternoon. I know you are out there. [Laughter.] Good afternoon.


"And a good afternoon it is when we have the Secretary of Health and Human Services with us at the Capitol--Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a champion in promoting health care for all Americans as a right, not a privilege. I am here with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. A special guest for all of us, Dr. Ben Williamowsky, a retired dentist and local senior. Steny will introduce him, but I want to say that my father gave him his diploma from dental school in 1948. Where is he? There. We go way back. [Laughter.]

"Four decades ago, Congress created Medicare, a bedrock promise to our seniors. This year, we passed health care reform to improve Medicare, to protect seniors and people with disabilities, and to ensure that seniors can count on Medicare now and for generations to come.

"We are here to draw attention to a critical piece of mail our seniors will get this week. This four-page brochure outlines the new benefits in health reform for Medicare recipients. There it is.

"Perhaps most significantly it begins with what stays the same for Medicare. No change in guaranteed benefits and no change in eligibility. During open enrollment this fall, seniors will continue to have a choice between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Medicare will continue to cover health cost the way it always has for seniors. Barbara Kennelly is here, our former colleague, to attest to that.

"Members of Congress will head home to their districts this weekend for Memorial Day. One of our top jobs is to clear up confusion and correct misinformation around health reform. This brochure for seniors is a good place to start.

"We also have to make clear that Congressional Republicans calling for repeal also oppose those benefits and would return us to a system of higher drug cost, shrinking benefits, and insecurity for our seniors. In fact, they have a budget--that's the nature of their budget--that ends Medicare as we know it and turns Social Security over to the whims of Wall Street.

"Republicans in Congress chose the side of the insurance industry and its profits, over the care of what seniors need and deserve. Democrats have been on the side of America's seniors -- securing Medicare for the long-term, ensuring accountability for the insurance industry -- accountability for the insurance industry -- and giving seniors, families, and doctors greater control over their care.

"It is now my honor, as I mentioned earlier, to introduce a great woman who is with us today. And I mention that my father gave Dr. Williamowsky his diploma in 1948. I want to mention that Barbara Kennelly, former Congresswoman, now the head of the Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Kathleen Sebelius and I are all graduates of Trinity College in Washington, D.C. -- a women's college in Washington, D.C. And we all had fathers in politics -- the governor of Ohio, the mayor of Baltimore, and Mr. Bailey, the king of the Democratic Party in Connecticut and nationally, as a matter of fact. We had fathers who encouraged their daughters. I hope that there is a message here.

"Again, now, it's my honor to yield the floor to the distinguished Secretary of Health and Human Services. As governor -- as insurance commissioner in her home state of Kansas, as governor of the state -- she knows the ramifications and the implications of legislative language very well. As a person with a vision for health care for all Americans, she is an inspiration to all of us and a major reason why we were able to pass that important legislation. Welcome, Secretary Sebelius."

***

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:

"There has been a lot of misinformation promoted about what the Affordable Care Act will and won't do, particularly as it regards seniors and their benefits. Unfortunately, some of that has distracted from: What are the real benefits available in the new law to seniors?"

"The Affordable Care Act will finally close the prescription drug donut hole, an issue that has been a hot topic for seniors and disabled Americans. It starts this year with seniors receiving $250 checks and will gradually, over the course of the program, close the donut hole for the 8 million seniors who end up in that category right now where they are paying 100 percent out of pocket for critical prescription drugs..."

"We want to inform America's seniors what the act actually contains, what benefits they have coming their way, how to take advantage of those benefits, and what sort of priorities they will be. And this is the beginning of what will continue to be an aggressive outreach campaign."

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:

"Older Americans faced an enormous amount of misinformation over the course of the health care debate. It was conscious, it was intended to misinform, and it was intended for political reasons, not for policy reasons."

"But now that the health insurance reform is law, the world hasn't ended, older Americans are learning about all the benefits and policies that are working to strengthen Medicare and their peace of mind."

Dr. Ben Williamowsky:

"I am here because I support the Affordable Care Act, and I believe it is important for seniors like myself to understand how the legislation will improve Medicare in the future."

"There are a lot of reasons why I believe the Affordable Care Act will be good for Medicare. And I also believe it will be good for my family, and that's a thought I would like to leave you today. People ask me, people my friends who are one of the anti-groups, who will say: 'What is it going to do for you? Why are you so much in favor of this bill?' I said: 'Well, I will tell you two very important things it is going to do for me. Number one, it is going to allow me to live out my life.

...And the other reason I give them is this, we have a granddaughter--Minna and I, Minna is in the audience--who at the age of three had a malignant brain tumor. She was operated on. She has gone through treatments all of her life. She is now 25 and functioning fairly well, but still under the care and treatment from time to time. She is 25 years old. She has been taken care of on her parents' health insurance. Now without this bill, what was going to happen when she was 26? When they could not find a job for her that has health benefits to pay that? When she could not have it any longer under her parents' insurance? She would be cut off without insurance at the age of 26 and be faced with a terrible, terrible dilemma and challenges to her going on in her life. Now I can say that she can, with this bill, that she can get health insurance and it will not be dependent on any pre-existing conditions"

Barbara Kennelly:

"So now as President of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I watched this bill develop -- I read about this bill, I studied this bill. Our members -- we have 4 million members and supporters. And I went around the country telling my members and mailing to my members that this is a good idea."

"Doing nothing was not an option. Because you know why? Because we could not afford Medicare. The government couldn't afford it and the people on Medicare couldn't afford it."

"Once I tell my members what's in this bill. Once I explain to them about this bill -- they are for it. And therefore I urge all former friends of mine in the Congress: Get out there and sell this bill. Because if we don't have this bill, Medicare will be broke down the line."

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Boehner Statement on Speaker Pelosi’s National Energy Tax

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today strongly opposed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) national energy tax and the impact it would have on middle-class families and small businesses across the country. Boehner earlier spoke on the House floor in a marathon, hour-long speech in which he read portions of the legislation to underscore its real consequences for American jobs and the economy. Following is Boehner’s statement on the legislation:

“Today, in what will be remembered as the defining vote of the 111th Congress, House Democrats passed a 1,500-page national energy tax bill that no one even had the chance to read. The American people have the right to know what is in this legislation and, more importantly, what impact it will have on middle-class families and small businesses. In just an hour, we raised serious questions about the true consequences of this legislation for Americans’ jobs and all of our economy.

“Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is a bureaucratic nightmare that will cost families more than ever for electricity, gasoline, food, and other products, and cost millions of American workers their jobs. This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch. It will drive up energy costs, send millions of jobs overseas to countries like China and India, and place an especially heavy burden on rural America. Republicans believe there is a better way. Our American Energy Act is the fastest route to a cleaner, more reliable energy future. By increasing environmentally-safe energy production, promoting alternatives like nuclear and clean-coal technologies, and encouraging increased efficiency, this alternative legislation will create more jobs, lower energy costs, and clean up our air and water.

“There’s a big difference between the heartland and San Francisco when it comes to Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax. Today, House Democrats made the decision to stand with left-wing special interests rather than with families and small businesses in their districts that will lose so much because of this national energy tax. The American people will not forget this vote.”

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Rural America's Opposition Grows to Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax

As House Democrats scramble for votes for Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch, opposition among family farmers and small businesses in rural America continues to grow stronger. That’s because, as Agriculture Committee Ranking Republican Frank Lucas (R-OK) noted during a hearing earlier this year, rural Americans would be disproportionately impacted by this burdensome, jobs-killing tax. They travel 25 percent further than urban residents to go to work and run errands. They spend 58 percent more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. And electricity is far more costly to deliver to rural households than to urban homes across America. The end result: if Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax becomes law, rural Americans will pay much, much more. Here is just the latest collection of groups that are opposing Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax because of its consequences for family farmers and small businesses:

Agribusiness Association of Iowa
Agricultural Retailers Association
Agrium Inc.
Alabama Farmers Federation
American Agri-Women
American Farm Bureau Association
American Farmers & Ranchers
American Frozen Food Institute
American Meat Institute
American Plant Food Corporation
AmeriFlax
Associated Industries of Florida
Beck’s Superior Hybrids
Brandt Consolidated
CF Industries
Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
CHS Inc.
Corn Producers Association of Texas
D.B. Western, Inc.
Far West Agribusiness Association
Florida Chamber of Commerce
Florida Farm Bureau Federation
Florida Fertilizer & Agrichemical Association
Florida Strawberry Growers Association
Food Industry Environmental Council
GROWMARK
Hardee County Farm Bureau (FL)
Hillsborough County Farm Bureau (FL)
Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association
Indiana Beef Cattle Association
Indiana Farm Bureau
Indiana Grain & Feed Association
Indiana Grain and Feed Association
Indiana Office of Energy Development
Indiana Plant Food & Ag Chemicals Association
Indiana Plant Food & Agricultural Chemicals Association
Indiana Pork Producers Association
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers
Indiana State Department of Agriculture
Indiana State Poultry Association
International Raw Materials, Ltd.
J.R. Simplot Company
Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association
Kansas Grain and Feed Association
Minnesota Agri-Growth Council
Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Minnesota Crop Production Retailers
Missouri Agribusiness Association
Missouri Farm Bureau
Montana Agricultural Business Association
National Chicken Council
National Corn Growers Association
National Grain and Feed Association
National Grange
National Meat Association
National Pork Producers Council
National Turkey Federation
NCRA
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Nebraska Agri-Business Association
Nebraska Farm Bureau
New Mexico Peanut Growers Association
North Carolina Peanut Growers Association
North Dakota Agricultural Association
North Dakota Barley Council
North Dakota Farm Bureau
North Dakota Grain Dealers Association
North Dakota Grain Growers Association
North Dakota Soybean Growers Association
North Dakota Stockmen’s Association
North Dakota Wheat Commission
Northern Canola Growers Association
Northern Pulse Growers Association
Ohio Corn Growers Association
Ohio Farm Bureau
Ohio Poultry Association
Ohio Wheat Growers Association
Oklahoma Ag Retailers Association
Oklahoma Grain & Feed Association
Oklahoma Peanut Commission
Oklahoma Seed Trade Association
Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association
Panhandle Peanut Growers Association
Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association
Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association
Polk County Farm Bureau (FL)
PotashCorp
Rocky Mountain Agribusiness Association
Sarasota County Farm Bureau (FL)
Society of American Florists
South Carolina Fertilizer & Agrichemicals Association
South Carolina Peanut Growers Association
South Dakota Agri-Business Association
South Dakota Farm Bureau
South Dakota Grain & Feed Association
Southern Crop Production Association
Southwest Council of Agribusiness
Terra Industries Inc.
Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council
Texas Farm Bureau
Texas Grain & Feed Association
Texas Peanut Producers Board
Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers Association
Texas Wheat Producers Association
The Andersons, Inc.
The Fertilizer Institute
The McGregor Company
Todd Staples, Commissioner, Texas Department of Agriculture
Tom Farms (Kip Tom, CEO)
United Egg Producers
Virginia Peanut Growers Association
W.B. Johnston Grain Co.
Western Peanut Growers Association
Western Plant Health Association
Wyoming Stock Growers Association


House Republicans believe there is a better way – one that can lower energy costs, create jobs, and clean up the environment in rural America and everywhere else. Led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the House GOP American Energy Solutions Group has crafted the American Energy Act to increase environmentally-safe energy production; promote alternative fuels to reduce carbon emissions; and encourage increased efficiencies and technologies to maximize America’s energy potential. When will Democrats listen to family farmers and small businesses and work with Republicans on real bipartisan solutions to secure a cleaner, more reliable energy future?

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Show Us the Evidence, Ms. Pelosi

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Pelosi Statement Following House Passage of TARP Reform and Accountability Act

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the House passage of Chairman Barney Frank's TARP Reform and Accountability Act, which bolsters transparency, accountability and addresses the foreclosure crisis directly. The House approved the measure late yesterday afternoon by a vote of 260 to 166.

"President Obama and Congress are committed to seeing that funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are used responsibly, with full accountability and transparency, and that help is provided to Americans in danger of losing their homes. Chairman Frank's bill achieves these objectives and ensures that the TARP functions as Congress originally intended.

"The TARP Reform and Accountability Act will help ease the credit crunch for workers and small businesses, provide at least $100 billion to help homeowners avoid foreclosures, and end golden parachutes for executives whose banks receive TARP assistance.

"The American people deserve a government that is a fierce watchdog of their hard-earned tax dollars. Congress and the new Administration will ensure that TARP funds are used for lending to American workers and small businesses -- so we can lift our economy out of recession -- and not for the enrichment of a privileged few."

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Pelosi Statement Following House Introduction of SCHIP Legislation

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after House Members introduced bipartisan legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 11 million children. Similar bipartisan legislation was vetoed twice by President Bush in 2007. For more information about the bill, click here http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0270:

"Today, the House took the first step to achieve one of the top health care priorities for the new Congress: providing health care to 11 million children from working families. This legislation preserves the health coverage of 7 million children and extends it to 4 million uninsured children who are currently eligible for, but not enrolled in, SCHIP and Medicaid.

"At a time of economic crisis, nothing could be more essential than ensuring that the children of hardworking families receive the quality care they deserve. With more than 2.6 million jobs lost last year alone, Americans are seeing the health care they and their children depend on disappear. By helping working families find affordable health care coverage, this bipartisan legislation will ensure that 11 million of America's children grow up healthy, strong, and ready to learn.

"This bipartisan, fully-paid-for children's health insurance bill represents the New Direction many Members fought for in the last Congress, and it is only the beginning of the change we will achieve with our new President. We look forward to this legislation being among the first bills President Obama will sign into law."

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Pelosi Statement on Request for Second $350 Billion in TARP Funds

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on President Bush's expected request of the second $350 billion of funds in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

"Congress will soon receive a formal request from the Bush Administration to release the second half of the financial rescue funds. The request comes the same week the House will vote on Chairman Barney Frank's reform and accountability legislation to address the many shortcomings in the Bush Administration's handling of the first $350 billion in TARP funds, used largely to bolster the balance sheets of banks. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs or face the prospect of foreclosure, and it is past time that we helped these families bolster their balance sheets.

"Chairman Frank's legislation makes significant changes to the financial rescue package - from requiring strengthened oversight and transparency to additional foreclosure relief. At a minimum, the legislation will require $40 billion from the TARP for initiatives to keep families in their homes.

"The legislation will require that financial institutions specify how they will spend taxpayer dollars, ensuring that the second $350 billion in TARP comes with clear and specific strings attached.

"Congress and the incoming Obama Administration will work together to protect taxpayers, address the foreclosure crisis, and to bolster our economy."

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Pelosi and Spratt Statement on New Director of the Congressional Budget Office

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt today announced their support for Dr. Douglas W. Elmendorf to become Director of the Congressional Budget Office. Under the Budget Act, the Director is appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, after considering recommendations from the House and Senate Budget Committees. By custom, the House and Senate alternate in taking the lead role on the CBO Director's selection; this time it is the House's turn. Chairman Spratt stated that he will convene the Budget Committee and ask it to recommend Dr. Elmendorf while Speaker Pelosi announced her intention to name him to the position.

"In consultation with bipartisan Congressional leaders, it is my intention to move forward on the appointment of Dr. Doug Elmendorf as the new Director of the Congressional Budget Office," Speaker Pelosi said. "Dr. Elmendorf possesses a broad base of experience, having worked in all of the critical federal agencies which implement and oversee national economic policy: Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Council of Economic Advisers plus the Congressional Budget Office. He has the intellect, experience and integrity to serve the Congress in this critical position and shares our commitment to controlling deficits."

"We undertook an aggressive search process for this position and interviewed a number of outstanding candidates," said Chairman Spratt. "Doug Elmendorf has a superb macroeconomic background with particular expertise in housing and financial market issues, which will be critically important when he is advising the Congress on proposals to tackle our economic crisis. Given the state of our economy, I hope the House and Senate Budget Committees can move forward quickly in the new year to make our statutory recommendation."

"I am very pleased to join House Budget Committee Chairman Spratt in recommending Douglas Elmendorf to be the next Director of the non-partisan CBO," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Conrad said. "Dr. Elmendorf is one of our nation's leading economists. He will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this post."

Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Byrd said, "The operation of the government - to enforce our laws, to serve our people, to protect our liberties - depends upon the Congress providing the funds necessary to do so. So it is imperative that we have at the helm of our independent Congressional Budget Office an individual who will not only review the budget submitted to the Congress by the President, but will also advise the members of Congress about how to best establish spending parameters as we craft a budgetary framework for the next fiscal year and beyond. In my capacity as a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committees and as President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, I look forward to working with Dr. Elmendorf in these endeavors."

Dr. Douglas W. Elmendorf, an economist with a Ph.D. from Harvard, is currently Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, has taught at Harvard, worked at the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve, and served during the Clinton Administration at the Council of Economic Advisers and at the Treasury Department.

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Pelosi Statement on White House Plan to Aid Domestic Auto Industry

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to the White House plan to give General Motors and Chrysler a bridge loan while they restructure their companies to become viable:

"The President's announcement this morning provides an opportunity for the American automakers to become viable and competitive while securing millions of jobs. The auto companies and all other parties now must engage in comprehensive negotiations that will require all parties to make concessions.

"The White House proposal unfortunately singles out workers and clearly puts them at a disadvantage before negotiations have even begun. It is essential that the development of the restructuring plans proceed in a fair and equitable manner, that the necessary sacrifice be mutual, and all laws governing fuel efficiency, emissions and improvements in automotive technology be preserved.

"The binding conditions contained in today's White House plan largely reflect those negotiated between the White House and the Congress and passed by the House last week. These conditions require strong protections for taxpayers, tough accountability measures for the industry, and a thorough restructuring plan that sets out a roadmap to viability.

"Congress stands ready to work with all parties during this difficult restructuring to restore the domestic auto industry, help revitalize the national economy, and secure millions of U.S. jobs."

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