Today, on the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising, we honor the many brave Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom and the aspirations of the Tibetan people to live in peace.

51 years ago today, the people of Lhasa peacefully assembled and called for an end to harsh Chinese rule in Tibet. The ensuing crackdown was brutal, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama was forced into exile.

For more than five decades, Tibetans have waited for peaceful evolution and democratic reforms that would usher in a brighter future in China and Tibet. The dialogue continues between Tibetan envoys and Chinese officials, but there has not been any substantive progress. A negotiated agreement is essential and it would ensure internal stability in Tibet and bolster China's reputation in the world.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has not won the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people and attempts to drive a wedge between the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have been counterproductive for the Chinese government. Tibetans are as devoted to their beliefs as ever and the bond with His Holiness the Dalai Lama is unbreakable.

It is long past time for Beijing to work toward a solution that respects the human rights of all Tibetans.

President Obama is to be commended for his meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House last month. The meeting marked another chapter in the long friendship and close ties between the United States and the people of Tibet. We will continue to stand with His Holiness to promote, preserve, and protect the rights of all people to live in freedom worldwide.

On the 51st anniversary of the Dalai Lama being forced into exile, we heed his transcendent message of peace, and we remember the people of Tibet in their ongoing struggle.

Health insurance reform opponents continue to spread myths, including the notion that Republicans are fighting to protect seniors from Medicare changes. In fact, the House-passed bill and the President’s plan improve care and benefits under Medicare and extends Medicare solvency.

But in the hypocrisy file, Congressional Republicans have made no effort to hide their attempts to gut Medicare over the years – from then-Speaker Newt Gingrich proudly declaring that Medicare would wither on the vine in 1995 to the top Republican on the House Budget Committee this year proposing that Medicare be completely privatized within 10 years.

MYTH: The President's health insurance reform bill will undermine health care for America's seniors–slashing Medicare by $500 billion.

FACT: Nothing in the Democrats' health insurance reform reduces Medicare benefits for seniors. Reform achieves savings by cracking down on inefficiency, fraud and waste in Medicare – targeted at private insurance companies and providers, not beneficiaries. These savings include cutting large and unnecessary overpayments to private insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans. Rather than undermining Medicare, this bill strengthens Medicare. Much of the cost savings achieved are reinvested into Medicare – improving benefits and extending the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by nine years.

It is estimated that up to 20% of Medicare spending, as well as private health care spending, goes to waste, inefficiency, fraud, and unnecessary procedures. It is this spending that is targeted for elimination in this bill. The Medicare savings in the bill are simply a 5% reduction overall in what Medicare is expected to spend over the next 10 years.

While Republicans are now claiming to be champions of Medicare, it was Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich who said that, under his plan, Medicare “is going to wither on the vine” and it was Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey who said that Medicare was “a program I would have no part of in a free world.” These statements were made when they were trying to enact a bill that would have gutted Medicare—cutting it by hundreds of billions of dollars in order to pay for massive tax cuts for the wealthy. President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill.

Now, once again, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, has put forward a budget plan that would undermine Medicare. The Ryan plan would:

Completely privatize Medicare for those 55 and under – where people are given fixed vouchers and told to buy their own private insurance

Cut Medicare spending by about $650 billion over the next 10 years for those currently covered by Medicare

Democrats are committed to protecting and strengthening the Medicare program for America's seniors. Medicare is a sacred trust with Americans and our health insurance reform plan will ensure that trust is preserved. But currently, billions of dollars are lost each year to waste and inefficiency in the Medicare system. The waste is driving up seniors' health care costs and threatening Medicare's long-term solvency. Some of the ways that our health insurance reform plan targets inefficiency and waste in Medicare include:

Saving over $150 billion by targeting wasteful Medicare payments to private insurers – putting Medicare Advantage plans and traditional Medicare on a level playing field by eliminating overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans.

Reducing over-billing by providers

Cutting out duplicative paperwork

Cracking down on abuse from those who fraudulently bill Medicare

Preventing dangerous hospital readmissions by providing follow-up care that will help individuals safely transition home after a hospital stay

Furthermore, under our plan, much of the Medicare savings are then re-invested into improving Medicare. Our bill protects seniors by improving Medicare benefits and strengthening the fiscal stability of Medicare over the long term:

Lowers prescription drug costs for millions of seniors by gradually completely closing the so-called "donut hole," the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit

Ensures free preventive care under Medicare – eliminating deductibles and copayments for preventive services

Includes numerous delivery system reforms that reward the value of care, not the volume of care, while at the same time improving the quality of care – including such steps as promoting Accountable Care Organizations, patient-centered Medical Homes, and payment bundling for services

Invests in expanding the medical workforce so seniors will have more doctors to choose from and an easier time getting an appointment

Extends the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by nine years

Photo courtesy of Texas Woman’s University

Speaker Pelosi, Leader Reid, Leader Boehner, Leader McConnell, and other Members of Congress hosted a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony today in the Capitol in honor of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II. The Women Airforce Service Pilots were the first women in history to fly American military aircraft–flying 60,000,000 miles of operation flights on every plane the Army Air Corps flew, including the B-29, from 1942-1944.

The Speaker’s remarks:

Transcript:

It is a great honor to join the leadership of the Congress — Leader Reid and Leader McConnell, my colleague in the House, Leader Boehner, representatives of the Administration, the Secretary of the Air Force. We're honored by your presence, Tom Brokaw, the greatest chronicler of "The Greatest Generation' to bear witness to what is happening here today. Colonel Malachowski, how proud we are of her and how eloquent she spoke of the shoulders that she is standing on. I want to pay special tribute also to the four sponsors of the legislation — Congresswoman Susan Davis and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senator Barbara Mikulski and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Thank you.

Another woman, a WASP, Jean Hascall Cole, a WASP from class 44-W-2 once said, ‘Once you have flown an airplane, your world is never the same again.’ Once the WASPs took to the sky, the world was never the same for many of us.

Answering our country's call, the WASPs demonstrated courage and patriotism and excellence and competence. Their bravery inspires and awes us; their success allowed the success of generations since and generations to come.

Today, the accomplishments of the WASPs will be writ large in our nation's history. But as others have said, we know that this day comes too late for some. Let us remember the WASPs who have left us before they could receive this honor.

We acknowledge that for too long the proud service of the WASPs was not recognized — in word, or in deed. As the resolution says today: "There were no honors, no benefits, and very few thank yous.'

Barbara, not to be in a contest or anything, but in California, we have nearly 80 WASPs living there. So we have known over time the great contribution they've made. And I want to acknowledge Margaret Gee from Berkeley, an Asian American WASP, who taught us all so much. For decades, she's been teaching us — just imagine the courage, imagine the courage to leave home, to get the training and go to the air.

Today, we honor you as the heroes that you are. I hope it is some source of satisfaction to you that this is one of the largest crowds ever gathered inside the Capitol of the United States. The leaders and other guests have spoken about the statistics, the distances traveled, the cargo carried, the number of people and all the rest. But I want you to know that we had to turn hundreds of people away because we didn't have a room big enough to contain the admiration that we all have for you. Hopefully, they will see it through the media.

On behalf of the entire Congress of the United States, our leaders have spoken, but many Members of Congress are here and all of us send you our gratitude for your service, for your patriotism, and for your boundless optimism that the sky is not even the limit anymore for the women of our nation.

The patriotism of the WASPs blazed a trail — others have used the term trailblazer — for the women that came after — in flight, in the field of battle, and even in the Congress of the United States.

I've been told that there is a WASP song that was used as an encouragement during training at Sweetwater. Maybe some of you remember it, maybe you'll sing it for us, and part of it says: ‘If you have a daughter, teach her to fly.’

Women Airforce Service Pilots: we are all your daughters. You taught us how to fly. We thank you for that and for what you did in flying to make us the ‘home of the brave and the land of the free.’

Thank you.

This morning, Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland, California was interviewed on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on the topic of the pro-abortion provisions in the Senate health care legislation.  Bishop Cordileone laid out with great clarity why the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is supporting Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) and his fellow pro-life Democrats.

What Bishop Cordielone said is something that all pro-life people can agree on, no matter what their faith.