[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5908-H5909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Loretta Sanchez) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I come before you 
tonight to talk about the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization 
Act of 2003 and to place it in context with the overall goals and 
beliefs of the President and the Republican party.
  The Republican bill, H.R. 1, is quite simply a first step toward the 
Republicans' goal to privatize Medicare. My colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle want to do this for a couple of reasons.
  The first is that they firmly believe that the private sector and the 
free market are always right and that government is always wrong. I am 
afraid that they have a very narrow-minded and simplistic view of how 
our economy, our government and our country are supposed to function.
  There has been a shift in the rhetoric used during political debate 
in this country since the election of this President. There has been a 
conscious effort by his office and the Republican leadership of the 
House to use language that paints critical issues in simplistic black 
and white, us versus them, good versus evil, terms, ultimately 
simplifying the debate into a three word sound byte.
  I view this as a very unfortunate occurrence because it allows a 
certain mental laziness to take over this body. When it is really our 
duty, it is our duty to debate, to discuss and to think very carefully 
and critically about very complex and important work that we do in this 
Chamber.
  No one here has more respect for the power, the creativity and 
problem solving ability of the free market as I do. I am a hard-nosed, 
show-me-the-bottom-line businesswoman through and through, but my 
admiration of the market is based on years of deep study of its 
function and a real understanding of how it works.
  My Republican colleagues, on the other hand, seem to feel that the 
invisible hand of Adam Smith and the hand of God are the same thing but 
our free market is not an all powerful system without limitations.
  The free market is an incredible tool that has advanced many areas of 
human endeavor, but in order for it to work, it must include one very 
important ingredient, profit, and without this critical component, the 
free market system is useless.
  Medicare was created in 1965 precisely to address the failure in this 
market. It was not profitable to treat our seniors with a free market 
health insurance industry so they found a solution to insuring the 
elderly. They just decided that they would not cover them. After all, 
old people get sick too much and insurance companies would have to pay. 
They figured that if you want to make money in the medical insurance 
game, insure young, healthy people, not old sick people.
  Luckily for America, during the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s Democrats 
controlled this Congress and they were not satisfied with the solution 
that would push our mothers and our fathers, our grandmothers, our 
grandfathers out into the cold. So Democrats set up the government 
entitlement called Medicare.

[[Page H5909]]

                              {time}  2115

  We said, we value our elders. Even though the market says leave them 
behind, we will not. We will protect you and treat you with compassion 
and the dignity that you deserve in your old age.
  So why do the Republicans want to privatize Medicare so badly? Maybe 
they have amnesia. Maybe they do not remember what happened when we 
left the health care of aging parents and grandparents to the free 
markets. Or maybe they are so swept up in their blind faith in the 
market that they believe that somehow the market will just take care of 
things. But we have already tried them and it did not work. Remember?
  Taking care of the elderly is not profitable, nor should it be. 
Profit is not always the most important thing. These are the people 
that reared us. They are the people that took care of us when we were 
sick. They are the people that taught us right from wrong. I will not 
be a party to this slap in the face to my parents and to the seniors in 
my community being offered by the Republican majority of this body. 
Their bill purports to offer a prescription drug benefit for Medicare 
beneficiaries, but it fails to offer any guarantee that seniors will 
actually receive it.
  The prescription drug plan is only available through private 
insurance companies or HMOs.
  And besides all this, it does not ensure that all seniors will get 
this coverage. The eligibility of all seniors has been a hallmark of 
the Medicare program.
  If that was not bad enough, in a provision of the bill completely 
unrelated to creating a prescription drug benefit, the House GOP bill 
would increase seniors' costs for doctor visits by raising the Part B 
premium and indexing it to inflation.
  This provision is included for no other reason than to raise the cost 
of traditional Medicare and force seniors into Managed Care Plans.
  And who does this benefit? Seniors? I think not. It benefits 
Insurance Companies and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers--the real 
constituents of the Republican Party.
  Republicans are doing in this bill what they have consistently done 
this whole Congress: Advantaged the wealthy and the powerful and put 
the screws to the little guy.
  Just last night, David Obey stood on this floor and asked the 
Republicans to cut back, from $88,000 to $83,000, the tax cut for those 
whose annual income is over 1 million dollars in order to pay for 
desperately needed homeland security projects.
  The Republicans said ``no.'' Cutting taxes for the wealthy and 
powerful is more important.
  Just a few weeks ago, I tried to offer an amendment to the tax bill 
that would have pushed back the start date of the dividend portion of 
the tax cut for 1 year--just seven-tenths of one percent of the tax 
cut--to fund homeland security projects to make our country safer.
  The Republicans said ``no.'' Cutting taxes when we are in 
astronomical debt is more important.
  How about the Child Tax credit? ``No,'' say the Republicans, we are 
not going to help out poor children or the children of veterans of a 
war in Iraq where Marines and Soldiers are still dying.
  Today, I offered an amendment to the Medicare Bill, in order to offer 
a real prescription drug benefit to all seniors, and to do it through 
Medicare.
  I hope that the committee will allow this amendment to be considered 
on the floor of this House. It is an important amendment because it is 
not designed to protect the profits of the insurance companies or the 
pharmaceutical industry. It is designed to help our seniors.
  It is clear to me and to my Democratic colleagues where the 
Majority's loyalties lie. From homeland security to education, from 
veterans benefits to the Child Tax credit, and now finally to the 
health and well being of our parents and grandparents, the Republican 
message is clear: We do not care about you.

                          ____________________