[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               AMERICA NEEDS A PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT

  (Mr. FORD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge this Congress to take 
steps towards enacting a comprehensive prescription drug benefit. We 
have heard from so many of our colleagues why this is important, not 
only to their constituents, but constituents around the Nation.
  Since the creation of the polio vaccine almost 50 years ago, the 
United States has been the engine of worldwide medical advancement. The 
finest doctors in the world are trained at our medical schools. Our 
government funds cutting-edge research at the National Institutes of 
Health and the Centers for Disease Control.
  American pharmaceutical companies are at the forefront of innovation. 
American innovation in the prescription drug industry is the envy of 
the world. They are producing new drugs that will allow people to lead 
healthier, happier, and longer lives.
  But in America today, those most in need of those life-sustaining and 
life-saving drugs frequently find themselves on buses bound for Canada 
to find affordable prescription drugs.
  Prescription drugs are an integral part of health care, especially 
for seniors. But at least 13 million Medicare beneficiaries have no 
drug coverage at all. Seniors often have to pay three times as much for 
drugs than those under the age of 65. It is unfair and it is wrong.
  This is an issue that is critical to the citizens of my District and 
my State. In 1998, Tennessee led the Nation in prescription drug use, 
with a per capita consumption of 40 percent above the national average.
  It is time for a Medicare prescription drug benefit. I urge my 
colleagues to sign the discharge petition.

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