Fighting for Seniors

Mr. MURPHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of seniors across upstate New York. Since coming to Washington, I have fought to strengthen Medicare, protect Social Security, and ensure that our seniors can retire with dignity. As a founding member of the Seniors Task Force, I was proud to help introduce the Seniors Bill of Rights to guarantee the dignity and independence of all older Americans. We need to ensure that they have access to quality, affordable health and long-term care. We need to provide protection from scams, abuses, and exploitation. And we need to provide safe and livable communities.

For years, credit card companies have taken advantage of our seniors by doing things like changing the terms of their agreements without telling them or advertising one rate and giving another. Last year, we saw a bipartisan effort with the Credit CARD Act to prevent these kinds of scams. We also worked this year to close the Medicare part D doughnut hole. Last month, our seniors started receiving $250 checks to close that hole. And by 2020, it will be gone entirely. No senior should have to choose between purchasing drugs and medicines they need or putting food on their table. And no senior should be scammed by credit card companies.

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