[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               IT'S TIME

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                             HON. KEN LUCAS

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 11, 2002

  Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to my 
colleagues about prescription drugs and Medicare. Specifically, I feel 
it is an outrage that our senior citizens are being forced to drive to 
Canada to get prescription drugs at reasonable prices, or even worse 
having to choose between buying food or medication.
  This has gone on for far too long. As a couple in Maysville, KY, 
avowed, ``It is past time! And way overdue! Older people need help, 
perhaps not all of us, but many of us do.'' This is just one of the 
many comments that I received in the mail from Kentucky seniors. 
However, as I read their comments, I realize these are not just the 
voices of Kentucky's senior citizens, they are the voices of America's 
senior citizens. These senior citizens are veterans, they are mothers 
and fathers, they are grandparents, and they are men and women that 
have worked their entire life to make America a better place.
  As representatives of the American people, we must work together to 
pass a meaningful drug benefit for our senior citizens. We need a 
bipartisan prescription drug plan that helps seniors afford the drugs 
their doctors are telling them they need. This is not a political 
issue. This is a quality of life issue. We need to get this done and 
get this done now. I would like to share with you some of the stories 
from Kentucky's senior citizens. However, when you listen to these 
stories from across the Fourth District of Kentucky, remember they are 
representative of the problems seniors are facing all across America.
  From Crittenden, KY, ``It is getting so bad we are thinking about 
driving to Canada to stock up on our prescriptions.'' From Rush, KY, 
``Seniors have worked all their lives and now can't enjoy pleasures 
because medicine is too high.'' From Pleasureville, KY, ``When is it 
going to end? Something surely needs to be done, people like myself are 
not going to be able to make it. Sometimes, I wonder do I pay my bills 
or buy my medicine.'' From Dry Ridge, KY, ``We are both 68 years old. 
My husband's prescription drug bills were about $600 a month after 
heart surgery. So we started getting prescription drugs from Canada. My 
cholesterol medicine is $80 a month from Wal-Mart. From Canada it is 
$31 a month and is exactly the same prescription drug.'' From Ashland, 
KY, ``I am 90 years old and it is a choice between food and Medicine.'' 
From Williamstown, KY, ``We need the medicine but we need to eat too. 
Sometimes we do not know which comes first. We need help with our 
prescription drugs.''
  Mr. Speaker, it's time for us all to work together to enact a 
meaningful Medicare prescription drug benefit.

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