[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       PRESCRIPTION DRUGS NEEDED

  (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we witnessed one of the 
biggest legislative shams of the 106th Congress. This Congress did not 
pass a prescription drug benefit to help our seniors; we passed an 
insurance policy.
  From the Patient's Bill of Rights to education funding, my colleagues 
have used Democratic rhetoric to masquerade their bad ideas. They are 
using the same old strategy, watered-down legislation to ultimately 
secure its failure.
  We did not even get a vote on an alternative. The Republican bill 
costs seniors more each year, but it gives them less. It was either 
their way or the highway. Well, our seniors see through this sham, and 
maybe in November they will give them the highway.
  Today, I have seniors from my own district, from my home, visiting 
D.C. They are from the Magnolia Multipurpose Center in Houston. And I 
have to tell them that, yes, they now have a benefit; but only if their 
insurance policy decides to give it to them. And who knows how much it 
will cost.
  Mr. Speaker, we should be providing lifesaving pharmaceuticals to 
seniors, not an insurance policy. We should be providing a secure, 
stable and reliable benefit instead of creating a bureaucratic 
nightmare. And we should be building up Medicare, not tearing it down. 
Our seniors deserve more than a voucher.

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