[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 36 (Monday, March 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2833-S2835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   GOVERNMENT WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, we spend a lot of time here in the 
Capitol talking about the abstract effects of policy. But when we go 
home, we see firsthand the challenges and pain so many of our 
constituents are facing.
  I spent the last week in South Dakota. We have a higher percentage of 
our National Guard and Reserve units activated than almost any other 
State. South Dakotans are united in our support for all the men and 
women who are risking their lives to defend our freedom. We are proud 
that America looks out for other nations.
  But we need to look out for people here at home, too. We need 
leadership that fights for American workers and families, not against 
them. That is what I heard, over and over again, from people in South 
Dakota.
  Last Tuesday, I held a town hall meeting in Spearfish, in the Black 
Hills. Among the people who came were a couple I have known for years.
  Donna Smith is a newspaper reporter for the Black Hills Pioneer. She 
is one of the best journalists in my State; I have tremendous respect 
for her skill and fairness.
  Over the years, I have seen Donna at many meetings. But this time was 
different. This time she was there not as a reporter but as an American 
who needs help.
  Donna and Larry Smith have been married for 29 years. They have six 
children.
  Larry Smith is tall and athletic. He takes good care of his health. 
Unfortunately, he inherited some bad genes; his arteries clog. He had 
his first heart bypass surgery when he was 47 years old and his second 
one a year later.
  Everything was fine for almost 11 years. Then, about a year ago, 
Larry started feeling constant, debilitating pain in his legs and hips.
  Larry works at a casino in the Black Hills. He was a machinist all 
his working life, but he switched to cashier because he couldn't take 
the walking involved in his old job; it hurt too much.
  Last February, he had a stent placed in his heart. His doctors 
determined that the pain was being caused by a build-up of plaque in 
Larry's arteries. They said the only place he could find a vascular 
surgeon skilled enough to clear the blockages was at the Mayo Clinic in 
Rochester, MN.

[[Page S2834]]

  Larry had that surgery. He was at the Mayo Clinic nearly a month. 
Donna was with him the whole time. Their insurance company paid most of 
the hospital bills.
  But there were lots of out-of-pocket costs insurance didn't cover:
  The lost income from the time both Larry and Donna had to take off 
from their jobs; the cost of getting to and from the Mayo Clinic; the 
cost of Donna's motel; the $2,000 annual deductible the Smiths had to 
pay before their insurance coverage kicked in; the $200 they spend 
every month on the prescription drugs Larry takes to control his blood 
pressure and other health conditions.
  In addition, Donna is a diabetic and a cancer survivor. They spend 
another $150 a month on her prescriptions.
  Then there are the health insurance premiums: $270 a month for Larry 
and $180 a month for Donna.
  Add it all up and, suddenly, a couple who had worked hard all their 
lives and put six children through college is drowning in a sea of 
medical debt--$18,000 in debt.
  Larry and Donna Smith have done everything they can to honor their 
debts. They sold their home. They now live in a smaller, rented house. 
They have borrowed money from friends.
  They have even borrowed money from their children. Talking about that 
is one of the few times Donna cries. ``How demeaning,'' she says, ``to 
have to ask your children for money. We're at a time in our lives when 
we ought to be showering our grandchildren with gifts, but we can't. We 
can't even pay our bills.''
  Creditors started threatening lawsuits. Bill collectors called at 
home and work. They garnished Donna's wages.
  In January--less than a year after Larry's surgery at Mayo--the pain 
in his legs came back. It's worse than ever now. It hurts him to lift 
the bags of coins at the casino. It hurts him just to walk.
  But he still works five nights a week; he can't afford to take time 
off.
  Two weeks ago, Donna decided there was nothing else they could do, no 
one else they could borrow money from. So they filed for bankruptcy.
  On April 6, Larry Smith is scheduled to go back to the Mayo Clinic to 
see if there is anything else that can be done. Donna says they have no 
choice. Without medical help, Larry is at increased risk of a heart 
attack or stroke or amputation.
  The people at Mayo have generously offered to ``work with'' the 
Smiths to meet the $2,000 deductible.
  Donna doesn't know where she'll stay this time. She says maybe she'll 
sleep in the car.
  There's something else Donna Smith doesn't know. As she puts it, ``I 
don't know how to give up. This is my husband. This is the man I've 
spent my whole life with, the man who fathered my children, and who 
worked hard all his life to support us.
  She said, ``We know that there are hundreds of thousands of other 
people going through this, too. You pay for health insurance and you 
always believe that everything will be covered, but it is not. The 
safety net is not there and suddenly you have nothing.
  ``If people are just supposed to give up, how do you do that?'' Donna 
asks. ``How do you just give up on the life of someone you love?''
  Larry Smith and I talked for quite a while last week. I found out 
later that he spent 48 hours thinking about exactly what he would say 
so that I would understand how fragile economic security has become for 
so many middle-class families. All over this country, people who have 
done everything right--people who have worked for decades, bought their 
own homes, put their children through college, saved for their 
retirements--are finding they are just one medical emergency, one pink 
slip, one bad break away from serious economic trouble. The social and 
economic safety net that used to protect families is being shredded. 
Health care costs that used to be manageable are bankrupting families 
and businesses.

  Last Thursday, I had another townhall meeting in Aberdeen, my 
hometown. That afternoon I got a fax from a general manager of a 
farmers' cooperative grain elevator in the nearby town of Florence. His 
name is Steve Schlenner. He said 3 years ago the health care premiums 
for the co-op's employees went up 38 percent. The next year they went 
up another 28 percent. Last year they increased another 24 percent. 
This year they had to lay off one of their workers so they could afford 
health insurance for the other workers.
  He asks:

       How are we ever going to get people back to work if the 
     insurance companies are taking more and more of our profits 
     every year? At this rate, only the rich will be able to 
     afford insurance in the future. . . . The average hard-
     working, tax-paying, middle-class American needs to be put on 
     the endangered species list if we sit back and do not address 
     these insurance issues and high unemployment [rates].

  He ends his fax by saying:

       Thank you for taking my comments seriously. They represent 
     the thoughts and feelings of quite a few people in this area.

  All of us, Democrats and Republicans, need to take the comments of 
people like Donna and Larry Smith and Steve Schlenner seriously. Donna 
and Larry are luckier than many Americans. They have insurance. More 
than 43 million Americans have no health insurance. We must work 
together to make health insurance affordable again and health care 
accessible to all Americans.
  We need to fix what is wrong with the new Medicare prescription drug 
program. At a minimum, we need to end the prohibition that prevents the 
Government from negotiating better prices for seniors. We need to allow 
the safe reimportation of drugs from Canada and other countries where 
they are less expensive. We need new policies that create good jobs in 
America.
  There are 8.2 million Americans out of work. Two million have been 
out of work for the last 6 months or longer. It is not their fault they 
cannot find jobs. Last month, the economy created only 21,000 new 
jobs--all of them Government jobs, none in the private sector. Mr. 
President, 21,000 jobs; that is one new job for every 389 unemployed 
workers.
  The administration and some of our Republican colleagues say the 
economy is getting stronger. I guess I would ask, whose economy? Not 
the 8.2 million Americans who want to work but cannot find jobs; not 
the 43 million Americans without health insurance; not the millions of 
Americans who are working harder than ever and taking on more debt than 
ever.
  We need trade and tax policies that reward companies for creating 
jobs in America--not for shipping American jobs overseas. We need to 
help workers who are hurt by outsourcing, and make sure they get access 
to health care and job training while they get back on their feet.

  Unless we act to prevent it, 9 days from today, on March 31, the 
Government will stop paying unemployment insurance benefits to workers 
who have already exhausted their State benefits. We cannot let that 
happen. We need to extend Federal unemployment insurance benefits now.
  Also, at the end of this month, the Federal Government and the 
Department of Labor will issue new regulations effectively ending 
overtime pay for 8 million American workers. The Senate voted on a 
bipartisan basis to reject that change when the White House proposed 
it, but the House rejected it. Somehow, behind closed doors, someone 
slipped it into a conference report that had to pass or most of the 
Federal Government would have been shut down.
  That is wrong. The Senate should reject this bad idea and the 
underhanded way it was handled. We should vote to protect the 40-hour 
workweek and overtime pay. Working families cannot afford a cut in pay.
  A week ago today, Lead-Deadwood High School held its annual 
Government Day. Students at the school spent the day shadowing local 
government officials, observing firsthand how democracy in America 
works. In a story about the program, on the front page of the Black 
Hills Pioneer, the students talked about how interesting it was to see 
Government work for people. That story was written by Donna Smith. 
Despite all of their struggles, she and her husband still believe 
Government can be a force for good. They, and millions of other 
Americans, are looking to us for help. As we begin this next work 
period, let's vow not to disappoint them.
  I yield the floor.

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