[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 76 (Tuesday, June 5, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H2862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT NEEDED

  (Mr. BACA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, Congress needs to adopt a Medicare 
prescription drug benefit, rather than making false promises to 
American seniors.
  The Republican plan will not guarantee affordable prescription drug 
coverage for our seniors. The Republican plan takes its first step 
toward privatizing Medicare, forcing seniors to deal with private 
insurance companies.
  Those of us can remember what happened in California when they said 
that we would have plenty of energy. We deregulated, and yet we do not 
have the energy, yet the prices continued to go up.
  We do not want prices to go up for a lot of our seniors. More than 
one-third of the 35 million Medicare beneficiaries currently have no 
prescription drug insurance coverage.
  I did a study in my district that shows that seniors are being 
impoverished by drug prices. San Bernardino seniors pay an average of 
90 percent more than seniors in Canada and Mexico.
  Individuals should not be sacrificing their fixed income for the sake 
of protecting themselves instead of spending it on leisure or other 
items. What they have to do now is budget themselves. It becomes very 
difficult, and yet they do not want to continue to suffer.
  I plan to have a press conference on prescription drugs on June 18 at 
the Rancho Cucamonga Senior Citizens Center from 8 a.m. to 12 noon to 
address these needs.
  I ask that we adopt affordable, voluntary, reliable Medicare 
prescription drug coverage for all seniors. It is our responsibility to 
protect them. It is America's responsibility to see that they can all 
afford medical coverage.

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