[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10701]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICANS NEED PRESCRIPTION DRUG RELIEF

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, this morning in The Washington Post, I read 
with alarm: ``Drug Firms Among Big Donors at GOP Event Tonight.'' 
Thirty million dollars is going to be raised.
  In lieu of trying to provide a prescription drug benefit for seniors, 
why can we not do the right thing today and stay as long as it is going 
to take to make sure that we do the right thing for our seniors?
  Every weekend that I go home and speak to my seniors, most of them 
say, Congresswoman Solis, what is it going to take for the Congress to 
listen to the needs of senior citizens? And I tell them that right now 
our House is not working in the democratic mode. We are not allowing 
for discussion and debate so that we can provide assistance and 
benefits that are much needed by our senior citizens.
  This is a sham that is occurring here today, and it is unfortunate 
that we cannot come together and work in a bipartisan manner to see 
that our seniors and those that are on fixed incomes receive the kind 
of relief that is due them.
  Many people save their money for their retirement. Right now they are 
faced with some major hardships. I would ask that Republicans meet with 
us until after 5 o'clock today, before they go to their fundraiser, and 
let us get the work done for our seniors on prescription drug relief.

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