[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 17, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H2647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HOUSE REPUBLICANS NEED TO STAND UP TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND HELP 
                           AMERICA'S SENIORS

  (Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have 
failed millions of American seniors by choosing once again to rubber-
stamp the harmful policy of the Bush administration. Despite the fact 
that recent polls show only 55 percent of seniors knew about the May 15 
sign-up deadline for a private prescription drug plan, House 
Republicans refused to join us in extending the deadline until the end 
of the year.
  Now, millions of seniors who have yet to sign up cannot until the end 
of the year. House Republicans and the Bush administration will also 
penalize them when they sign up with at least a 7 percent tax on their 
premium, a tax that they will be forced to pay every month for the rest 
of their lives.
  Our seniors are not to blame for this complicated and confusing 
prescription drug law. It is so confusing that the people who are 
attempting to answer the seniors' questions about the different plans 
are giving out wrong information more than half of the time.
  Once again, the House Republicans have failed American seniors.

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