[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                AMERICANS WANT REAL QUALITY HEALTH CARE

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the one thing that Americans 
are now crying out for is real quality health care, restore the 
relationship between patient and physician, and have this Congress pass 
a real Patient's Bill of Rights.
  And then if we listen to their cry for the seniors, we have one needy 
senior, one needed prescription drug, and a cost of $400 for one dose.
  It is absolutely imperative when we begin to multiply the cost of 
$400 times thousands and thousands of seniors that we provide the 
opportunity for equal assess to lower price prescription drugs for our 
seniors, get a real importation bill to allow prescription drugs to 
come in so that seniors can be taken care of and, yes, have a real 
prescription drug benefit, a guaranteed Medicare benefit.
  This is what the Democrats have been advocating. Why can our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle not join us to support our 
seniors to ensure, one, a real Patient's Bill of Rights and, two, real 
importation as it is in the agriculture conference on the Senate side 
to provide for lower-cost access to prescription drugs?

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