[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H3234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        BE HONEST TO OUR SENIORS

  (Mr. BEAUPREZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BEAUPREZ. Mr. Speaker, it has been 6 months since President Bush 
signed the historic Medicare prescription drug bill into law, and 
although the ink is hardly dry, there has been a steady campaign of 
misinformation by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
  They say that these cards will not work, that they are too confusing, 
that they will not actually save seniors money. Mr. Speaker, the 
verdict is in. Medicare's new drug discount cards will save seniors 
money. In many instances, seniors will save hundreds, if not thousands 
of dollars.
  For example, a senior living in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, my district, 
who takes three commonly prescribed drugs for seniors, Zocor, Nexium, 
and Fosamax, can save $1,365 per year on their prescription drugs. I 
have done the math. That is money you can take to the bank, pay the 
rent or give to the grandkids.
  The false accusations and scare tactics used by the political 
opponents of the prescription drug cards reminds me of something my 
mother used to say, ``If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we would all 
have a merry Christmas.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, these seniors do not deserve to be lied to. They 
deserve the truth and they deserve a prescription drug card that will 
save them money.

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