[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MEDICARE BILL

  (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, 
we now learn that the efforts to provide a prescription drug benefit to 
the seniors of this Nation, which they so desperately need, that 
legislative process has now become a scandal.
  We learned in the papers this morning that administration officials 
were threatened to be fired if they told the Congress the true cost of 
that legislation. We learned that the Medicare administrator was 
negotiating to set up a consulting business with the very people who 
would benefit from this legislation.
  We learned that the legislative chairman of the committee was 
negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry for a contract to a job 
after leaving Congress. We learned in the New York Times that there is 
an inquiry now about the offering of a bribe to a Republican Member of 
Congress to support that legislation.
  No wonder the senior citizens do not like this bill. It was never 
about them. It was only about the special interest and special money 
and campaign contributions and employment contracts for the Republican 
administrators and the Republican Members of the House.

                          ____________________