[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 62 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H3313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PROVIDING AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE FOR ALL AMERICANS

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, Republicans believe that no Medicare 
beneficiary should have to choose between putting food on the table or 
purchasing the prescription drugs they need to live. Yet that is just 
what the poorest of American seniors are forced to do.
  According to a 1996 study, there are 9.6 million Medicare recipients 
who do not have prescription drug coverage. Many of these individuals 
have incomes below $15,000 a year. They are struggling on fixed incomes 
and cannot afford pharmacy bills that can run several hundred dollars a 
month.
  Republicans and Democrats need to set aside partisan politics and do 
the moral thing. We must work together to help the millions of Medicare 
recipients who cannot pay for their medication. By providing affordable 
prescription drug coverage for everyone, we want to make sure that no 
senior citizen or disabled American falls through the cracks.

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