Federal Quotations | Page 5

Medicare is growing at a rate of 8.5 percent per year, the federal budget at 5.2 percent and the gross domestic product at only 4.8 percent,

Medical research is needed, and I just saw there was a need for help that the government - state or federal - was not spending the taxpayers' money on helping people get through college.

Medicaids a state issue. She doesnt understand the difference between state policy and federal policy,

Medicaid is projected to spend $340 billion in 2006 in combined federal and state dollars. I encourage everyone to think of this program not as a problem, but as an opportunity for real progress, ... A 21st Century Responsible Citizen Medicaid Act would empower those who depend on Medicaid and align incentives so that patients receive markedly better care at lower cost in an environment where physicians, hospitals, pharmacists and nursing homes compete for patients based on the value of their services.

There is no question that there are more restrictions coming down. There is rampant secrecy in both federal and state courtrooms.

Until market forces, assisted by a vigilant Federal Reserve, affect the necessary alignment of aggregate demand with the growth of potential aggregate supply, the full benefits of innovative productivity acceleration are at risk of being undermined by financial and economic instability,

Seniors need coverage now. We all have a special concern for low-income seniors. They will be fully subsidized by the federal government. All seniors will have insurance against high out-of-pocket costs,

Sen. Burns feels that a minority of U.S. senators used a parliamentary trick to keep a bill from going to the Senate floor. This vote does not affect the federal budget.

Senator Kennedy has real environmental and economic concerns, and the federal government continues to lack a national policy and process to guide offshore alternative energy development.

Senator Kennedy and I have talked about this. I think that he has a point when he talks about the importance of having a regulatory framework to review offshore projects in federal waters. Where we differ is that he thinks we should have that regulatory framework in place before any projects proceed. I think that we have, in fact, built that regulatory framework over the course of review of this project.