[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 25512-25513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         GETTING THE WORK DONE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, today on the floor and last night I have 
heard a lot of creative rhetoric and whining from the Republican side 
of the aisle. They are whining that highly paid Members of Congress, 
themselves, are here in Washington actually having to work, to be a bit 
inconvenienced, to even work on a weekend.
  Well, why do they have to work? They say the president is guilty. 
Well, in fact, the President is a little bit guilty in this matter. He 
is guilty, as is any lenient parent in dealing with spoiled children.
  The budget is due October 1. It is set by law. We all know that. The 
budget was due on October 1. Were the appropriation bills done on 
October 1? Heck no. And what did Congress do right around October 1? It 
went home for a 5 day weekend, and then it went home the next week for 
a 5 day weekend, and then the next week.
  How did they get away with that? Well, the president, as I said, 
being, unfortunately, a little too lenient with the other side of the 
aisle, allowed them to go home with their work undone by giving them 
longer term continuing resolutions.
  I voted against every one of them. I felt they should have been held 
to a one day standard at the beginning, I think they should be held to 
a one hour standard now. If Congress has to stay in session 24 hours a 
day to get the work done, get it done.
  Now, they say, well, it is the President's fault. Well, gee, how can 
it be his fault, when you have not even sent two of the largest 
spending bills downtown yet? He has not seen them. The Senate has not 
passed them. He has not even had an opportunity to veto them, if he is 
going to.
  No, that is awfully strange creative rhetoric. It reminds me a lot of 
teaching a class, and the kids come in, and they knew all along there 
was a term paper due, June 1. Well, excuse me teacher, we just did not 
get it done.
  Well, gee, I am sorry, someone sick in the family, you sick, death in 
the family or something?
  No, we just did not get it done. We would like another week.
  If the teacher gives them another week, what are they going to say 
the next week?
  Hey, Teach, it was really nice; it was early June, the weather was 
great, we did not get it done. Give us another week.
  You cannot do that, and that is finally what the President is doing 
here. He is telling the Republicans, get your work done, one day at a 
time. You are going to stay here until the work gets done.
  It is inexcusable to be almost on the first of November. I mean, if 
they want to score their political points, they can send down defective 
bills that the president will veto, but they will not even do that. 
They will not even allow him to veto the bills with the concerns he 
has. They are just holding them here.
  So if anybody is holding them hostage, the Republican majority in 
Congress is holding itself hostage and whining about it. That is kind 
of pathetic.
  I heard some awfully interesting things about prescription drugs. Let 
us get one thing clear: The Republican plan that passed this House 
gives a subsidy to insurance companies in the hope that they might, 
might, offer a prescription drug only benefit plan to seniors. However, 
the head of the Health Insurance Industry Association has already said 
they are not interested in that. They cannot make enough money on 
something like that, and, if they did, besides that, the drugs would be 
really expensive.
  So the Republican plan not only provides subsidies to the insurance 
industry, it provides subsidies to the pharmaceutical companies. This 
is a great plan. But, guess what? If does not put any cap or set any 
conditions on the

[[Page 25513]]

premiums that might be offered to seniors if plans were offered under 
their grand plan.
  It is a way to shovel more billions into the insurance industry and 
more billions into the obscenely profitable pharmaceutical industry at 
the expense of America's seniors, while pretending to address a real 
concern of America's seniors.
  That is outrageous. We take a program that is successful, which the 
Republicans opposed, Medicare, and add an optional, optional, 
prescription drug benefit. And then, God forbid, they do not like this 
part at all, we use the market power of Medicare, with 33 million 
seniors in it, to bargain down the price of drugs. We use the market. 
The Democrats use the market.
  That is not price controls. The VA is doing that take today. Blue 
Cross-Blue Shield is using that today. They use their market clout. 
They drive down the cost of prescription drugs by saying, hey, we have 
millions of people in our plan. We want a discount.
  But they are saying we should not do that. In fact, they are saying 
we should give subsidies to the pharmaceutical companies. God forbid we 
should bring down the prices in this country.
  The prices on pharmaceuticals are more expensive in the United States 
than any other country on Earth. That is why Americans go across the 
border to Canada to buy American manufactured drugs for half the price, 
why they go across the border to Mexico to buy American manufacturered 
drugs for half the price.
  What do they want to do? They want to give a subsidy to the 
pharmaceutical industry and a subsidy to the insurance industry. That 
solution is outrageous.

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