[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          PROVIDE A PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT FOR SENIORS NOW

  (Mr. DOGGETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, when two people walk into the same pharmacy 
and one, who has no insurance, is forced to pay 136 percent more than 
the other, who is one of the pharmaceutical industry's most favored 
customers, something is very wrong. That something wrong is price 
discrimination against seniors for whom these pharmaceuticals are vital 
to sustain their health.
  That is exactly what I found when I surveyed our local pharmacies in 
Austin, Texas. This occurs, not as a result of any fault on the part of 
the local business, but because the pharmaceutical industry 
discriminates against the uninsured.
  Last September, I secured the first vote in this Congress to outlaw 
that type of price discrimination. Unfortunately, the Republican 
members of the Committee on Ways and Means joined with the 
pharmaceutical industry to block that initiative. But with today's 
discharge petition, we are renewing the struggle, the struggle to see 
that America's seniors are dealt with fairly and that they have access 
to prescription drugs. We must put a stop to this wrongful price 
discrimination.
  Join us, renew the effort by signing this petition to end the 
discrimination against seniors.

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