[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5911-H5912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  BETTER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN NEEDED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I wish to join my colleagues 
tonight. Many of the women of the United States Congress have made a 
commitment to their constituents to represent them in a very fair 
manner, but they also recognize the importance of not leaving the 
sensitivity and the understanding of the needs of the women of America 
at the door as they take their oath to be Members of Congress.
  So today I rise to join my colleagues to emphasize the importance of 
the Medicare prescription drug debate on the women of America. This is 
one of the most important debates; and unfortunately, as we rallied 
today with many of the senior citizens from all over the country, many 
of them were women. We were not able to say to them that this House had 
come to a reasonable conclusion and a reasonable proposal that responds 
to their needs.
  The Republican prescription drug plan ignores the needs of our 
sisters, mothers and grandmothers; and we oppose the passage of such 
legislation. It ignores the reality that women often outlive their male 
counterparts, making Medicare beneficiaries disproportionately female. 
It ignores the points that if these females outlive their spouses, in 
many instances their income is lower. Many might say does that not give 
them a double benefit? No it does not. In many instances they may be 
living on Social Security. That is not enough. They may also be living 
on a small pension; sometimes one is diminished because of the other. 
Social Security is lowered because you may have a small pension. Many 
of them are elderly, and many of them are sick. Some of them face 
catastrophic illnesses.
  In the course of trying to live their life, provide housing, food, 
they have to make choices. I have seen constituents, particularly in 
the elderly population, who have had to choose prescription drugs over 
food and nutrition, who have had to choose prescription drugs over a 
place to live or the right kind of place to live.
  It is very important tomorrow when we debate this issue, if we do, 
that we concentrate on this enormous deficit as relates to the 
Republican plan, the doughnut, the hole, if you will, that our dear 
friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), has so eloquently 
articulated, the very large gap between the monies you receive and the 
amount of monies you will ultimately get at a point when you max out, 
if you will. $2,000 maybe, and then for a long period of time our 
senior citizens, those who will be under Medicare, will get no money 
whatsoever until they reach a certain amount.
  Mr. Speaker, this is intolerable. It makes it very difficult for 
someone on a fixed budget. This makes any decision regarding the future 
of Medicare critically important to millions of women, and that is 
because they live in many instances a longer period of time. And many 
women spend time out of the workforce caring for their children and 
sometimes for their own parents. Let me add another component. Many 
women sometimes go into a second generation of raising their 
grandchildren, and so they have the expenses of their grandchildren; 
but yet they have the needs of their own health needs. While in the 
workforce, they often earn less than their male counterparts, and for 
these reasons women earn less then men over their lifetime and their 
Social Security monthly benefits are smaller.
  As a result, an older woman is more likely to face serious financial 
pressures, and she needs Medicare to be meaningful. She needs us to 
close the doughnut. We need a guaranteed prescription drug benefit that 
provides an even, unending source of guaranteed prescription drug 
benefit to provide the support that these women need. This is not done 
by the Republican plan. In fact, what the Republican plan does is it 
unravels the safety net that has been provided for older women.

[[Page H5912]]

  The proposal replaces a real safety net with a false sense of 
security by promising a prescription drug benefit, but allowing women 
to slip through the doughnut hole, the coverage gap. Imagine a 
beneficiary's surprise when she discovers that Medicare will not help 
her cover her prescription drug costs after $2,000. She must wait until 
she qualifies for catastrophic coverage with a drug cost of over 
$4,900.
  Mr. Speaker, we must work closely with colleagues to craft a bill 
that answers the question of a guaranteed prescription drug benefit. As 
I close, this issue is crucial to the American psyche, to the American 
needs of our elderly citizens.
  Finally, I want to add just a moment about affirmative action, the 
decision that was rendered just a couple of days ago by the Supreme 
Court. Let me congratulate the interpretation which we felt would have 
always been the right interpretation, that is, that race can be a 
factor in equalizing the playing field and that the positions held by 
the University of Michigan were not quotas.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say we need to do a better job in serving the 
American people with a better prescription drug plan that will deal and 
address the needs of women of America; and thank goodness for the 
Supreme Court decision on affirmative action.

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