Ms. CASTOR of Florida. I thank the ranking member very much.

The Republican budget makes something very clear, and that is, Democrats and Republicans have very different visions for our great country. The Republican vision is harsh, and independent commentators have said a few things about their proposed budget. They've called it reverse Robin Hood. They've called it disturbing. And they've called it extreme. And I think one of the primary reasons is that the Republican budget breaks the promise that this country has made to generations of Americans that is Medicare.

The fundamental promise of Medicare is if you work hard and you play by the rules and you pay into Medicare every year, as you are working, that it will be there for you in retirement, and you can live your retirement years in dignity. Even in the face of a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or cancer, you will not go bankrupt, and your children will not go bankrupt.

Medicare makes America great. But unfortunately, through this budget, the Republicans say they don't share that view. Specifically, the Republican budget ends guaranteed coverage that our parents and grandparents have paid for, cuts Medicare benefits. It increases premiums and co-pays, and it scraps all of those important democratic cost saving reforms that strengthen Medicare.

I offered an amendment in the Budget Committee that would retain closing of the doughnut hole, the annual wellness visit, and other benefits, but unfortunately, it was voted down.

[Time: 16:00] It ends Medicare as we know it and forces the average senior to pay twice as much for half the benefit.

Americans need to ask why. Why do they want to cut Medicare while at the same time protecting corporate tax subsidies and loopholes like the ones for Big Oil? Why do they want to cut Medicare while at the same time increasing tax breaks for millionaires? The Republican budget proposes a harsh vision indeed, a vision that is contrary to our values for American families.