[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 21, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H2815-H2820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MAJOR CHALLENGES CONFRONTING AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Issa). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. My colleagues, I come here tonight not as a champion or 
a representative of party, but as a Member of the Congress of the 
United States, a constitutional officer, a husband, a father, a 
brother, a son and a grandson to discuss issues of great importance in 
what is quite literally, Mr. Speaker, our national health.
  I champion the fact that in this Chamber people of goodwill can from 
time to time disagree, and there are those who would come to champion 
one specific philosophy or approach of a political party or even an 
approach within a political party; but I think, Mr. Speaker, when we 
confront major challenges, we do so much better and much more 
effectively not as Republicans or as Democrats but as Americans first; 
and it is in that spirit that I come to the well of the House tonight.
  We confront many challenges, Mr. Speaker. Mention was made earlier by 
my colleagues from Texas of the fact that we are a Nation at war, and 
yet we are also a Nation blessed with unparalleled prosperity, and with 
what some would bill as problems, others view as unique opportunities.
  Why do I say that at this time in this place? Well, Mr. Speaker, one 
need only look so far as the prevalent statistics for the United States 
of America a century ago, 100 ago, 1902.

                              {time}  2215

  Mr. Speaker, in 1902, the average life expectancy in the United 
States of America was 47. The average lifespan, 47 years of age. More 
than 95 percent of all births in the United States took

[[Page H2816]]

place at home. Ninety percent of all U.S. physicians had no college 
education. Instead, Mr. Speaker, they attended so-called medical 
schools, many of which were condemned in the press and condemned by the 
government as substandard.
  Mr. Speaker, I mentioned just a moment ago the shocking statistic 
that the average life expectancy a century ago was only 47 years. Mr. 
Speaker, it might interest my colleagues to know what the 5 leading 
causes of death were in the United States 100 years ago. Mr. Speaker, 
leading the list at number 1 among the causes of death in the United 
States in the year 1902 was pneumonia and influenza; number 2, 
tuberculosis; number 3, diarrhea; number 4, heart disease; and the 
fifth leading killer among Americans one century ago was stroke.
  What is also interesting is not only the lack of a formal college 
education for more than 90 percent of our physicians a century ago but 
also an incredible change of pace and different outlook and attitude 
among those running the corner drugstores. One century ago in the 
United States of America, heroin and morphine were available over the 
counter at corner drugstores. Mr. Speaker, according to one pharmacist, 
``Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates 
the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of 
health.'' So said a neighborhood druggist one century ago in the United 
States of America when the average life expectancy was only 47 years 
and when the leading killer of Americans was pneumonia and influenza.
  Mr. Speaker, we are blessed indeed with the passage of time and the 
progress in medical science that we stand here in the year 2002 and we 
see the life expectancy close to doubling. It is commonplace to see men 
and women in the United States live at least until their 70s, and much 
longer in my household. I am blessed with a grandfather who is 98 years 
young. He has doubled what was his life expectancy.
  At the dawn of the 20th century, Americans by and large are living 
healthier, happier, longer lives. That is not a problem, Mr. Speaker, 
that is a challenge. Almost 40 years ago, the United States of America 
introduced Medicare to help seniors, to help those over the age of 65 
deal with the challenges confronted by those of advancing age in terms 
of health care. But health care in 1965 and, indeed, the Medicare 
program introduced that year, reflects a medical science that even 40 
years ago was substantially different.
  At that point in time, medical doctors were dealing primarily with 
what we call acute care; with responding to symptoms and outbreak of 
acute disease. Indeed, at that time, Mr. Speaker, gone was that 
nonsense about morphine and heroin, long regulated, and relegated, I 
should say, if not to the dustbin of history, at least, quite properly, 
to the dustbin of abuse. New prescription drugs were on the market.
  But, Mr. Speaker, compared with the decade of the 1990s, or now in 
the 21st century, those pharmaceuticals were relatively few and far 
between. The course of action pursued by medical science in 1965 quite 
often involved invasive or exploratory surgery, or a medical procedure 
involving a long stay in a hospital. But as medical science has 
changed, as improvements have come to our way of life, so too has there 
been a change in treatment.
  And, indeed, nowhere is that more clearly reflected than in the 
actual treatment received by today's seniors, and indeed, Mr. Speaker, 
by all Americans in terms of health care. Because now, Mr. Speaker, as 
we know, the emphasis is on prevention, on taking prudent preventive 
steps to delay or perhaps eliminate the need for acute care; the 
establishment of long-term conditions, changes in diet, improvement in 
exercise and, oh, yes, as the first line of defense in medical science, 
an exponential increase in the reliance on prescription drugs, or 
prescription medications.

  The reason? Well, it flows out of the whole notion of preventive 
medicine and the admonition and observation that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure.
  The changes we have seen brought about by research, the miracle drugs 
that now exist to deal with so many different conditions, have risen 
exponentially. And, indeed, through the decade of the 1990s and now 
into the 21st century, it is safe to say, Mr. Speaker, that 
prescription drug coverage, that medications prescribed by physicians, 
have, in fact, conjoined with preventive steps to be our first line of 
defense and our first line of treatment in modern medical science.
  Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, even as we confront the challenge of a new 
type of war, of the very real challenges to our society externally by 
the threat of foreign enemies, we also face a challenge within our 
borders borne by our very prosperity and the change in the type of 
health care treatment we now receive. For, Mr. Speaker, we must 
strengthen and reform Medicare to bring it into the 21st century to 
reflect the changes and the advances in medical science. And nowhere is 
that more prevalent, for my parents, who are now in their 70s, for my 
granddad, who is now 98 years young, than in the realm of prescription 
drug coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be the first Arizonan to serve on the 
House Committee on Ways and Means. It is the committee with 
jurisdiction quite literally over those matters that become the 
crossroads of American life here in the early 21st century, the tax 
code. Because it has been written, Mr. Speaker, the power to tax is the 
power to destroy. I believe, conversely, that the power to reduce 
taxation is the power to employ.
  And in stark contrast to those who preceded me in the well of the 
House tonight, I believe that we can fire the economic engines of 
America, that we can lead to growth by reducing taxation, and by so 
doing we can grow and build and prosper, but also we deal with topics 
of trade and human resources, and especially the issue of health, along 
with the issue of Social Security and fulfilling America's commitment 
to its seniors.
  And so the House Committee on Ways and Means is working now to 
fashion changes in Medicare to offer a prescription medication benefit 
as a part of Medicare, to usher Medicare into the 21st century and to 
reflect the changes we have seen in the realm of medical science and 
recognizing the reality of prescription drugs and their necessity.
  Mr. Speaker, there are 4 principles which guide us. Yesterday, Mr. 
Speaker, in addition to innumerable conversations with my parents, I 
was pleased yesterday at noontime to visit the senior center in Mesa, 
Arizona, to sit down for a town hall meeting, a dialogue, if you will, 
Mr. Speaker, on the whole notion of prescription medication coverage 
through the eyes of those who today rely and depend on the Medicare 
system. I was pleased to see so many seniors, indeed hundreds of 
seniors, a living embodiment of what some have referred to as our 
greatest generation, those who experienced the Great Depression, those 
who led us through a world war, those who built a powerful postwar 
economy and ushered in an era of freedom and prosperity unlike any the 
world has seen.
  Mr. Speaker, I know you find this to be true when you visit your 
district. You understand what deTouqueville pointed out early in our 
history, that America is great because America is good. And the quality 
of our citizens continues to show through regardless of their age, but 
with a lifetime of experience. Our honored seniors have a perspective 
and a common sense philosophy that those of us who are honored to 
represent them should keep in mind always in fashioning decisions for 
the future.
  Mr. Speaker, those of us on the Committee on Ways and Means, moving 
forward with a common-sense plan to strengthen Medicare with 
prescription drug coverage, have come to rely on 4 bedrock principles 
that will be embodied in the plan that we will introduce. Number 1, and 
I heard this yesterday loudly and clearly from the senior citizens in 
the Sixth Congressional District from Arizona, Mr. Speaker, when they 
said to me unequivocally, lower the cost of prescription drugs now.
  You see, in this land of prosperity, it just will not do. As the 
seniors told me yesterday, as we asked for a show of hands, they knew 
of some, indeed some of them gathered in that lunchroom in Mesa, 
Arizona, knew of friends who

[[Page H2817]]

would cut their medication in two, actually reducing the dosage their 
doctors had prescribed to make the medicines go further. Others would 
make a choice between paying a utility bill or paying for their 
prescription drug coverage.

                              {time}  2230

  Mr. Speaker, as hard as it may be for some to perceive, there are 
those yesterday who even told me they had friends who were forced to 
make a stark choice to determine whether to purchase the prescription 
medications they need or to purchase their groceries. A choice between 
food and medicine for our most vulnerable is something that no one in 
this country can or should countenance. And so the message came through 
loudly and clearly, principle number 1, lower the cost of prescription 
drugs now.
  Principle number 2, to update Medicare for the 21st century to 
reflect the changes we have seen. Mr. Speaker, there is a call and 
there is a recognition of our second principle and, that is, that we 
should guarantee all senior citizens prescription drug coverage. A fair 
and responsible Medicare plan for the 21st century must guarantee a 
prescription drug benefit under Medicare for all seniors and provide 
additional assistance for low-income seniors and those facing runaway 
drug costs because of long-term severe illness. It only makes sense, 
Mr. Speaker. It is the key to retirement security and peace of mind.
  But understand, many seniors with whom I met yesterday are pleased 
with the current insurance plan they enjoy under their current Medicare 
coverage. And while there should be a guarantee for all seniors who 
want it to seek out this new form of coverage, there should not be the 
heavy hand of government or a specific mandate requiring all seniors to 
take it if they choose another course of action or want to keep what 
they have right now.
  Mr. Speaker, the Medicare+Choice plans so prevalent in Arizona and in 
other parts of our Nation, as I mentioned earlier, many with whom I met 
yesterday have embraced those plans, they appreciate those plans, they 
want to maintain them, which leads me to principle number 3. We can 
improve Medicare, Mr. Speaker, with more choices and more savings. The 
right to choose the prescription drug plan that is best for you, Mr. or 
Mrs. Senior, Mr. Speaker, that is what we are dealing with, not to 
invite confusion or a plethora of paperwork or being snowed under by 
regulations but simply to give seniors the peace of mind and the 
freedom of choice to select what is best for them.
  I mentioned earlier the Medicare+Choice programs which so many 
seniors in Arizona have come to embrace and depend on. They should be 
allowed to keep that. But something else that we should note as part 
and parcel of these principles. We need to understand this. Seniors 
understand true compassion. They believe those below the poverty line, 
those who have to make that stark choice between food or medicine or 
paying other bills or cutting their dosage in half to make the medicine 
go further, they believe those people should be cared for first, that 
should be the priority, but there should be a program open to all and 
all should have the right and the option to choose it.
  Our fourth principle really undergirds all which I have spoken of 
earlier, and that is the realization that in updating Medicare for the 
21st century, that in making the recognition that prescription 
medication coverage is a key, that we can strengthen Medicare for the 
future by offering this benefit as part of Medicare by utilizing this 
new front line assault on disease and on sickness and in so doing lower 
the long-term costs, eliminate in many cases the need for major 
surgery, see an improvement in lifestyle, and overall not only improve 
public health but be good stewards of the public purse because in the 
long term we actually hold down costs, and in so doing, that 
undergirding fourth principle, strengthening Medicare for the future, 
will be accomplished because we will ensure that the program can 
deliver necessary health care services, including this all-important 
addition of an affordable and voluntary prescription drug benefit under 
Medicare.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the great honors of serving in this Congress and 
especially in the House Committee on Ways and Means is to work with 
talented men and women across the width and breadth of America. I am 
honored tonight to welcome to the floor for this discussion of the 
prescription drug benefit a lady who has toiled long and hard on this 
issue and other issues involving public health and the common good, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson). I welcome her to the 
floor, Mr. Speaker.
  I yield to my friend from Connecticut.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. I thank the gentleman from Arizona very 
much. As members of the Committee on Ways and Means, we work together 
on many, many issues, but no issue more important than prescription 
drugs for seniors. I am proud to say that our bill is an entitlement. 
It is going to be available to all seniors. It is going to be in my 
estimation, I think this is something that is rarely remembered, that 
the prescription drug benefit is going to be the greatest leap forward 
in women's health since the founding of Medicare. We all know that our 
grandmothers have lived longer than our grandfathers, that in general 
women tend to live quite a lot longer than men. What we are less aware 
of is that older women tend to have a lot less income than older men. 
The mean annual income of men over 65 is about $30,000 nationwide. The 
mean annual income of women over 65 is about $15,000 nationwide, 
exactly half. So women live longer but have much less disposable 
income. In fact, in the under-85 and the over-85 senior population, 
women are almost twice as likely as men to have incomes below $10,000 a 
year. What this tells you is that our retired women in America are very 
unlikely to be able to afford expensive prescription drugs, and they 
are very unlikely to be able to afford MediGap policies and those other 
supplementary insurance plans that are available but cost money and 
that fill that gap between what Medicare covers and what seniors have 
to pay. It is particularly a problem in prescription drugs, because in 
today's medicine, you cannot recover from most diseases without taking 
a prescription drug. So for us to pay for our seniors to be able to go 
to the doctor and get a diagnosis, which is increasingly expensive with 
the sophisticated tests and diagnostic technologies that are now 
available, wonderful medicine, wonderful world, but what is the good of 
being diagnosed if you cannot get the treatment?

  But it is not just about medicines to cure illness that makes 
prescription drugs in Medicare so important, it is the need to have 
prescription drugs to manage chronic illness. And there the statistics 
are incredible. Of the seniors over 85, 72 percent are women and most 
have multiple chronic illnesses. So they need drugs more than any other 
single group of our population and that is women with multiple chronic 
illnesses. So it is important to remember that, frankly, prescription 
drugs in Medicare is the number one women's issue in America today.
  I am determined to work with the gentleman from Arizona and to work 
with the rest of those on our committee to bring prescription drugs in 
Medicare to the floor of this House. I thank you for going through the 
principles that must underlie this bill. We are going to have a bill 
that is a more generous benefit than we were able to bring to the floor 
2 years ago, that is more thoroughly thought out than any bill that has 
been introduced in this body or the other to this point, and that will 
be practical, workable, and because it involves a discount card that 
will be out there right away, it will help seniors from day one till 
the time the program is thoroughly established in 2 years and that is a 
unique aspect of our bill.
  I would be happy to go into any aspect of this really important 
subject that you have not already explored. I am sorry I had to be 
late, but it is a pleasure to be with you tonight to talk about really 
the most important legislative initiative that this body will consider 
this session of Congress. If we do it by the end of June, I hope the 
other body will have the courage to move in July so that we can have a 
bill on the President's desk in the fall.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. I thank my friend from Connecticut for pointing out why 
she is properly regarded as one of the

[[Page H2818]]

foremost authorities and legislators in the field of public health and 
especially seniors' health care in the way in which we strengthen 
Medicare through a prescription drug benefit.
  Mr. Speaker, as I share this information with my colleague from 
Connecticut, I know that she has conducted innumerable town hall 
meetings and chances just to sit down with the honored citizens, the 
seniors of her district in Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I think it is 
a safe assumption that she has heard, as I heard yesterday at the 
seniors' center in Mesa, Arizona, not only do seniors want to see the 
neediest cared for first, not only do seniors want to see a voluntary 
program available to all, but seniors first and foremost want to see 
the cost of prescription medications lowered right now, today.

  The gentlewoman quite properly, Mr. Speaker, referenced without 
characterizing the action of the other body sharing this magnificent 
citadel of our constitutional republic with us in the legislative 
branch, but we want to make sure that as a House, as the people's 
house, we move in a practical, no-nonsense fashion to craft this bill, 
including our principles, so that, as my friend from Connecticut points 
out, the other body will have time to work on this and not become 
slaves to a political calendar. Because we are all mindful it is a 
strength, not a weakness, of our constitutional republic that all 435 
of us must stand at the bar of public opinion on the first Tuesday 
following the first Monday in November. The danger comes when 
temptation so overtakes others not to respond to the needs of the 
people but instead to twist and turn and attempt to leverage or 
mischaracterize what can be done for the public good.
  Mr. Speaker, in more straightforward language, the American people 
welcome a chance to put politics aside and move forward on this common-
sense policy. I mentioned earlier, my colleague from Connecticut, the 
times we sit down with seniors. I think, Mr. Speaker, you have seen 
this. I just asked the question yesterday among the 300 seniors 
gathered for lunch in Mesa, Arizona, ``How many of you spend at least 
$100 a month on prescription drugs?'' Every hand in the auditorium went 
up. I said, ``How many of you spend $200 a month for prescription 
drugs?'' Most of the hands stayed up. I said, ``How many spend $300?'' 
A lady's voice said, ``Try $400 a month.'' Hands still remained aloft. 
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the average 
Medicare recipient spends about $2,150 per year on their prescription 
drugs.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. I visited a seniors' center in Oakville, 
which is a part of Watertown in my district. A couple got up and said, 
``Our income now is $18,000 a year. Our drug bills are $16,000 a 
year.'' This couple has used their IRA savings, they are working on 
everything else, and their drug costs will force them into poverty and 
into dependence on Medicaid. What good will that do us? Then the 
taxpayers will be picking up not only the cost of their medications but 
also the cost of their support. It was really sad to see the sorrow in 
their eyes of this sort of inevitable march toward poverty, just 
because they needed prescription drugs.

                              {time}  2245

  This bill that we are addressing, the gentleman is right, it is 
voluntary; and it does help the neediest the most, because the neediest 
get their premiums paid and their copayments paid as well, and for that 
first $1,000 people will get an 80 percent subsidy and only have to pay 
20 percent, and that is off a discounted price.
  This bill will drive costs down for seniors right off the bat almost 
30 percent, and it will do it by just simply bringing the power of all 
the seniors of America to the bargaining table to bargain down those 
prices. They are the only group in the whole country that are not at 
the bargaining table. Every employer and employee is at the bargaining 
table, and they get a cut rate price. Only the seniors in our great 
country get no discounts on drugs, and this bill will put that discount 
in place right away while we are working on getting the subsidy in 
place in addition, which will take a little bit longer.
  So I will tell the gentleman, when you ask those questions of 
seniors, there is no doubt, there can be no doubt in your mind, that 
this is not a burden that seniors can bear; and it is particularly not 
a burden that elderly, the widowed, divorced, single elderly can bear, 
because their incomes are really on average $15,000 or less.
  So I thank the gentleman for bringing this to the attention of the 
American people tonight. It is such an important issue, it is the most 
important thing we could accomplish in this Congress, and I believe we 
are going to have an excellent bill that will keep doctors out there 
serving our seniors, that will give seniors the help they need to buy 
prescription drugs and manage chronic illness, and in general will make 
advances on every front in offering seniors higher-quality health care, 
prescription drug coverage, more choices of plans that are better 
suited to their needs. And because it is going to be such a good bill, 
I think the other body is going to have to move and the President will 
be able to sign a bill before we adjourn this session of Congress. That 
is my fondest hope. That is the only thing I am going to work for. If 
we all put as much effort in as the gentleman and I will, I know we are 
going to be able to accomplish this.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Connecticut for 
offering her unique perspective and the experience that she brings to 
this issue and the heartfelt personal stories of real folks from the 
State of Connecticut, just like the real folks I sat down with 
yesterday in Mesa, Arizona, and just like my parents, now in their 
seventies, and my granddad, blessed with a long and healthy and 
accomplished life, to be just 2 years short of a century, of becoming a 
centurion.
  Certainly it is unfair to categorize what is before us as a 
``problem.'' It is a tremendous challenge, as we live longer, 
healthier, more productive lives. And the key, as my friend pointed 
out, this is not a time to be pennywise and pound foolish, but to take 
reasonable steps, as we have done within our budget plan, to 
accommodate this prescription drug benefit in dealing with a variety of 
priorities.
  My colleague from Connecticut mentioned this, and via videotape the 
President of the United States joined us yesterday in Mesa with 
introductory remarks embracing the principles that we have espoused 
here on the floor of the Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, it is so wonderful to work with a President who, yes, as 
commander in chief is dealing with a stark threat to freedom and 
survival, but yet at the same time a President who is forward thinking, 
to understand what he calls truly compassionate conservatism, a 
commonsense approach that says not only must we survive, we must thrive 
in this new century, and that the most vulnerable among us, just as my 
friend from Connecticut pointed out, the seniors who earn $18,000 a 
year but find in the current situation $16,000 of that income taken up 
with prescription drugs, we cannot let that happen.
  The mandate for change is clear. The executive branch in the person 
of the President of the United States understands this. The people's 
House understands this. Now we will look to the other body to join with 
us to get this change made.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, my colleague pointed out something else that is 
important, and, indeed, one is tempted almost to lapse into a parody of 
one of the old ads I would hear on top 40 radio in the 1970s talking 
about discounts at certain merchants: ``How do we do it? Volume.''
  Mr. Speaker, it may be a parody; but it is absolutely correct. My 
friend from Connecticut, who has been both an accomplished legislator 
and a proud housewife, sitting around the kitchen table, making ends 
meet, I know at my house in Arizona one of our favorite places to visit 
is one of the big warehouse discount centers where we purchase items in 
bulk, in volume. As groups purchase these items, the prices are held 
down. We are able to do it with volume.

  At the risk of a poor impersonation of a parody of an antiquated 
radio ad, the principle still holds true, ``How do we do it? Volume.'' 
As more and more Americans are living longer lives, they form a 
tremendous resource for group buying power.
  I would invite my friend from Connecticut to expound on that notion.

[[Page H2819]]

  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Well, it is very, very important, and it 
is ironic that all the seniors of America, 40 million, have not been at 
the bargaining table to use their volume power to drive prices down on 
something as expensive and as critical to their lives as prescription 
drugs.
  But there is another question I get asked a lot by my seniors, 
because a lot of seniors have some drug coverage provided by their 
former employers. They say to me, Will this drive my employer to drop 
his plan? I say to them that this is the only hope that your employer 
will keep his plan, because as prescription drugs get more and more 
expensive, the burden of retiree health plans on employers grows 
rapidly. Ultimately they begin to say, well, you will have to do a 
copayment, we will cut coverage here and there. That is a real threat 
to senior health.
  But if we do this prescription drug bill, then those employers will 
know that if your drug costs get over a certain amount, then the 
government will take the whole amount, and in fact below that will 
provide a generous subsidy for $2,000 worth. Then they will know they 
just have a small, what we call a ``donut hole'' to insure, and even in 
that hole seniors will get that deep discount of 25 to 30 percent. So 
employers will be encouraged to stay in the business of providing 
employee health plans for retired employees, rather than to leave it. 
Without this prescription drug bill, I fear employers will begin 
dropping their retiree health plans rapidly.
  So this is a real big plus for those who have employer-provided 
retiree health plans; and, boy, I will tell you, we cannot get this 
done soon enough.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Connecticut points this 
out, and we should make this clear to those who join us this evening, 
to those, like my parents, looking with interest at what may be 
available to them, now in their seventies. It is simply this 
realization: if we are able to pass a plan this year, if the House, 
with all due deliberation and sense of purpose, is able to move this 
forward in the coming weeks and months in a very defined period of 
time, and the other body takes action, it can be on the President's 
desk and the President signs it into law. Simply stated, if we pass a 
plan this year, seniors can reap the benefits this year.
  It is what we hear again, prescription drug coverage now. Lower the 
cost of prescription drugs now.
  My colleague from Connecticut, Mr. Speaker, offered another real 
point. To lower those costs, imagine what a 25 percent discount up 
front in a prescription drug bill would mean to a senior? I spoke 
earlier of the average Medicare beneficiary, the average senior, 
spending $2,150. Imagine an instant benefit of over $500, of $540. 
Think about that, in terms of purchasing groceries, in terms of paying 
utility bills and other commitments, or money that can be saved so that 
seniors have the peace of mind to pay their bills on time, to continue 
to be responsible, productive, honored individuals. In the great 
tapestry that is America, that is what we seek to do.
  Again, we need to stress that under the plan we contemplate, we will 
guarantee prescription coverage as an entitlement under Medicare; 
strengthening, sustaining, reflecting the changes in health care; 
bringing Medicare into the 21st century with a prescription drug 
benefit that cannot be taken away. That is so important to so many 
senior Americans.
  We want to make sure we are doing something now to make a positive 
difference in the lives of seniors and their families today, right now, 
because we understand that sets the framework for the future.
  As that great demographic group nicknamed the baby boomers moves into 
retirement, we understand that we have to make changes to reflect the 
changes in medical science and in medical treatment and bringing 
Medicare into the 21st century. Our plan will help all seniors facing 
runaway drug costs because of a long-term serious illness.
  It is a simple precept that we cannot repeat often enough, Mr. 
Speaker: no senior should lose their life savings simply to pay for 
their prescription medications.
  Now, there will be some who offer plans that are under strict time 
limits, ``now you see it, now you don't.'' It is our goal to introduce 
something with no catches, no gimmicks, no expiration dates, allowing 
senior Americans to choose the plan they believe to be right for them, 
voluntary, but a plan that can help all seniors, but especially the 
neediest among our seniors. Under our plan, it is our goal to guarantee 
a drug benefit under Medicare, no ifs, ands or buts.

  Mr. Speaker, it is a challenge and a great honor to serve in the 
Congress of the United States. Indeed, as many reflect to me, sometimes 
in conversation, I guess the first time it really happened was one 
morning one weekend back in Arizona out for breakfast with my wife and 
children, and the young woman was of high school age behind the 
counter.
  She said, ``J.D. Hayworth, you were on my history test last week. I 
got extra credit because I know you are my Congressman.'' And I say 
that not out of some form of megalomania, though goodness knows those 
of us that get involved in public life do so for a variety of reasons, 
and for purposes of full disclosure we all have a healthy, strike that, 
perhaps many of us have an excessive dose of self-esteem, to be candid 
about that. But also whatever temporal pomposities must come along with 
it, it is a tremendously humbling experience to serve in the capacity 
of a constitutional officer; to be one of 435 charged with making laws; 
with making decisions that affect the lives of every American.
  As we think about life's lessons learned, we think about those who 
imparted those lessons to us. Yes, teachers in classrooms across the 
years; but our first teachers came in our family, our parents, our 
grandparents, those who look to us now to be custodians of our future; 
to make the right decisions; to reflect the changes that need to come 
based on the remarkable advances we have seen in terms of health care 
to update and strengthen and bring Medicare into the 21st century; to 
renew the promise and the principle behind it, that to truly be 
compassionate we can hold down health care costs in the long term by 
adding this prescription drug coverage, and that we should not succumb 
to the temptation of being pennywise and yet pound foolish.

                              {time}  2300

  One of the great gifts of our forefathers, and what Catherine Drinker 
Bowen called ``the miracle at Philadelphia,'' was not only giving us a 
remarkable document, the Constitution, and what Dr. Franklin charged 
was ``a Republic, if you can keep it,'' but also the means through the 
amendment process, through the legislative process, to make changes 
based on the priorities and the changes in lifestyle that Americans 
would undoubtedly encounter as we have encountered some 200 years 
later.
  Indeed, in these last few minutes, Mr. Speaker, I would point out 
that when we got together at the outset of this time, we spoke of the 
world as it existed in 1902, a very different America, still embodying 
the principles of constitutional governance, but a very different time 
in our history, not only in terms of the march of technology, but 
likewise in health care.
  It bears repeating, Mr. Speaker, for those who may have just joined 
us, and Mr. Speaker, I hope those folks have found a seat, because some 
of this information is shocking, in 1902, let me repeat what I began 
our time together with, Mr. Speaker, in 1902 the average life 
expectancy in the United States was 47 years of age. The average life 
expectancy was 47 years of age. More than 95 percent of all births in 
the U.S. took place at home, not in a hospital, but at home. Ninety 
percent, 90 percent of all U.S. physicians had no college education. 
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were 
condemned by the press and by our government as substandard.
  The five leading causes of death were, No. 1, pneumonia and 
influenza; No. 2, tuberculosis; No. 3, diarrhea; No. 4, heart disease; 
No. 5, stroke.
  We have a new set of challenges and opportunities. In this imperfect 
human existence, illness will be with us. We cannot completely conquer 
illness, but we can continue to improve the lifestyle conditions in 
terms of public health for all Americans, especially our honored 
seniors.

[[Page H2820]]

  It is not a political gimmick or a short-term, cynical fix we seek; 
instead, it is a change that should be reflected in Medicare, to bring 
Medicare into the 21st century. This is the challenge we confront, Mr. 
Speaker, working together, men and women of good will across the 
panorama of political philosophies, across the partisan divide, to heed 
the message of our seniors who say they need and want prescription drug 
coverage now; that the cost of medicines can be lowered, that we can 
usher in a new age of Medicare for the 21st century reflecting the 
changes in medical technology, utilizing some of the commonsense 
proposals and principles our parents taught us about the value of a 
dollar, weaning out waste, fraud and abuse, making the effort to 
continue to improve lives, to continue to improve the quality of life, 
and set a prudent public policy based on true compassion that is not 
only more effective, more responsive, but in the long term, more 
economical for all Americans.
  That is the challenge we confront, and we do not shrink from that 
challenge. Daunting though it may be, we welcome it; we embrace it. It 
is our intent to move this people's House forward to work with our 
President to get this done, to see action taken in the other body, and 
leaving plenty of time for the other body to get the work done on this 
legislation, as well.
  If we move forward this year, seniors can reap the benefit this year. 
Mr. Speaker, our parents, our grandparents, our Nation's seniors 
deserve nothing less.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer a word of thanks for my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), who joined me for this 
time of dialogue on prescription drug coverage as part of Medicare, a 
new, stronger Medicare for the 21st century.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss 
the importance of prescrition drugs to seniors. I have talked to the 
seniors in my district about this, and I can tell you from my 
experience that this is of utmost importance to them. And it should be 
of utmost importance to us too. I am honored to be a part of the 
Speaker's Prescription Drug Action Team, working to achieve the best 
benefit possible for our seniors.
  It is important that we provide prescription drug coverage for 
today's seniors while shoring up Medicare at the same time. The two go 
hand in hand. Unfortunately, Medicare is built around formulas that are 
outdated. We have a big job ahead of us, but it is one of the most 
important pieces of legislation to come before this body. We have to 
update Medicare at the same time we provide prescription drug coverage, 
so that both remain sound now and into the future.
  But let's be clear about the prescription drug benefit: our seniors 
need coverage and they need it now, not later. We must act immediately 
to give them coverage such as 25% off the top of the first $1000 they 
spend. Their monthly premium and yearly deductible have got to be as 
low as we can get them, so that those living on a fixed income can 
afford their medications without worrying about whether or not they can 
afford food. And they have to be able to count on catastrophic 
coverage.
  No senior should have to decide between prescription drugs and food, 
or prescription drugs and turning on the air conditioner in the middle 
of a brutal Oklahoma summer. That's just not fair. Our parents, and 
grandparents, deserve better than that. That's why I'm so excited to be 
on the Speaker's team, to help advise him on the concerns facing 
today's seniors. We have to be realistic about how we structure the 
plan, but the bottom line is that: seniors must be able to afford their 
prescriptions. I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
would agree. This is our goal, and one we should reach across the aisle 
on, to help seniors. We must create policy, not politics. We must 
provide worthwhile prescription drug coverage for our parents and 
grandparents, and we must do it immediately.

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