[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    IT IS TIME TO PROVIDE RELIEF FOR SENIORS FROM THE HIGH COST OF 
                           PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, from Maine to California, seniors cannot 
afford to buy the medicines that their doctors tell them they have to 
take. Why? Because the pharmaceutical industry engages in widespread 
price discrimination against seniors. Seniors pay twice as much as the 
drug companies' best customers. They pay 70 percent more than Canadians 
and 100 percent more than Mexicans. They are discriminated against. In 
short, the most profitable industry in the country is charging the 
highest prices in the world to people who can least afford it.
  Today, we Democrats are signing a discharge petition to bring two 
bills to the floor, one bill to give all seniors a discount and the 
second bill to provide universal prescription drug coverage on 
Medicare. It is time to act. We should act now, sign the discharge 
petition and give our seniors some relief.

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