    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [May 9, 2006]
    [Pages 894-908]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and a Question-and-
    Answer Session in Sun City Center, Florida
    May 9, 2006

        The President. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. Thanks for the
    warm welcome. It's great to be here in Sun City Center. Brother
    Jeb said, ``If you want to come to a really good
    place, come here.'' First of all, I think it's a pretty neat deal when
    you get introduced by your brother, particularly since he's such a good
    Governor. We both share the same political adviser--Mom. [Laughter] I don't know if Mother is still telling
    you what to do, Jeb, but she's certainly telling me what to do all the
    time. [Laughter]

    [[Page 895]]

        And both of us married well. The first lady of Florida is a fantastic woman, and so is the First Lady of the
    United States. Laura sends her very best. She
    sends her love. Yesterday she represented us in Costa Rica. They
    inaugurated a new President, and they
    sent the word back--please send the best in your family. [Laughter] So
    we sent Laura.
        I'm also proud to be joined by Congressman Adam Putnam. Where's Adam? There he is. Thank you. He's a smart guy.
    He's a smart person, and he's a good guy to work with, and I appreciate
    you being here, Adam.
        I want to thank the WCI Communities' leadership and staff for having
    me here.
        What I thought I would do is spend a little time talking about the
    new Medicare program. The reason I'm doing this, because I want people
    to sign up. And then I'll answer some questions, if you have some. And
    then I'm going to go over to Orlando and do the same thing tomorrow
    morning--just like I did earlier in south Florida. And the reason why
    I'm doing this is because we have changed Medicare for the better, but
    sometimes change creates anxieties. In other words, people say, ``Well,
    maybe I don't want to change. I kind of like it the way things are.''
    And--but we have a duty to educate people and give them a chance to see
    what's available, and that's what I'm doing. That's what you want your
    President to do.
        First thing, let me give you a little history. As you know, Medicare
    was signed by one of my predecessors--happened to be from the State of
    Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson. And it's a vital program. It's a program
    that has worked. It's a necessary program. Medicare is a commitment of
    the Federal Government. And once you make a commitment, it seems like to
    me, it makes sense to make the commitment a good commitment. In other
    words, you want it to work. You want it to be a modern, excellent
    program.
        Medicare had done a--provided a lot of comfort for a lot of people,
    but it was getting old and stale; it needed to be reformed. And one
    reason it needed to be reformed is because it did not provide
    prescription drug coverage. And you know that. In other words, Medicare
    would pay for a surgery, say, like ulcer surgery, for $28,000 but
    wouldn't pay $500 for the prescription drugs that would have prevented
    the ulcer in the first place. See, medicine had changed with the advent
    of prescription drugs, but Medicare hadn't.
        So I thought it made sense to make Medicare work better, to keep our
    commitment to our seniors. And we passed legislation that modernized
    Medicare, and we are now explaining to people what the modernized system
    means. Nobody is going to say, ``You've got to sign up for this,'' but I
    think we have a duty to say to people, ``Please take a look at it. Take
    a look and see what's available.''
        The first thing that's in the new system I think is important is
    that every senior now entering Medicare is eligible for a ``Welcome to
    Medicare'' physical exam. That wasn't the case prior to the reform. Now
    it is. And that makes a lot of sense, it seems like to me, to say,
    ``Here's a physical for you.'' The best way to cure disease is to
    anticipate it and prevent it from happening in the first place, is to be
    able to catch illnesses early through screenings. Part of a modern,
    effective health care says that we'll encourage prevention. Helping to
    prevent disease is going to be a really important part of a modern
    system, whether you're on Medicare or not on Medicare; whether you're a
    guy like me, or whether you're a person who's eligible for Medicare.
        There is a new prescription drug coverage in Medicare. And that's
    important for people to understand. The prescription drug coverage,
    first of all, helps all seniors pay for prescription drugs, no matter
    how they've paid before. In other words, everybody should take a look at
    the prescription drug coverage.

    [[Page 896]]

        Secondly, what's interesting about the new program is it provides
    choices for seniors. You know, I knew that when we put--laid out the
    idea of giving seniors choices, it would create a little confusion for
    some. I mean, after all, up to now there hadn't been much--many choices
    in the system. And all of a sudden, a senior who feels pretty good about
    things says, ``Here's old George W. or Mike Leavitt or Jeb or somebody say, `Take a
    look.' '' And all of a sudden, 40 choices pop up.
        The reason why we felt it was necessary to provide choices is
    because we want the system to meet the needs of the consumer. The more
    choices you have, the more likely it is you'll be able to find a program
    that suits your specific needs. In other words, one size fits all is not
    a consumer-friendly program. And I believe in consumers. I believe in
    trusting people. I did know that there would be some worries about
    having to choose from 40 different plans, but I thought it was worth it
    because I know that 40 different plans here in Florida will mean that
    each individual can tailor a plan to meet his or her needs. And I
    thought that was important.
        So how do we handle the 40 different programs? Well, we encouraged
    all kinds of people to help. AARP is helping, NAACP is helping, sons and
    daughters are helping, faith-based programs are helping people sort
    through the programs to design a program that meets their needs. I
    readily concede some seniors have said, ``There are so many choices, I
    don't think I want to participate.'' My advice is, there is plenty of
    help for you.
        Thirdly, seniors with the highest drug costs are going to get extra
    help in this modernized Medicare. We have catastrophic protection for
    the first time. And that's important. Drug costs over $3,600 a year will
    be--any costs over that will be picked up by 95 percent for the Federal
    Government. It's called catastrophic care. Part of the reason you
    modernize medicine this way is to give people peace of mind. You know
    that if you sign up for the program and something goes terribly wrong
    and your prescription drug bills skyrocket, the Government is there to
    help, after $3,600. And that's important for families and its important
    for our seniors, to have that notion that there's stopgap insurance,
    that there's help beyond a certain level of costs.
        And third--and fourthly, there's extra help for low-income seniors.
    If you qualify as a low-income senior--this is about a third of our
    seniors here in America--the prescription drug coverage includes little
    or no premiums, low deductibles, no gaps in insurance. On average, the
    Government will pay more than 95 percent of the cost for prescription
    drugs for low-income seniors.
        It's really important for people to take a look and see whether or
    not there's a program that meets your needs. A lot of people are signing
    up. There's about 42 million folks eligible for Medicare in the United
    States, a little more than that. More than 31 million thus far have
    signed up. That's a lot. In other words, since January, people have
    said, ``I think I'm going to take a look and get involved in this new
    program.''
        There's 6 million more who have an alternative source of coverage.
    In other words, they're plenty happy with the plans they have. And this
    program--by the way, nobody forces anybody to do anything. You know,
    this is our country; you're free to choose. So there's 37 million of the
    little more than 42 million people that have got coverage, and we're
    working hard to sign up the remaining eligible seniors. And they're
    signing up--a lot of people signing up, as we head toward a May 15th
    deadline.
        I want to make this very clear. If you are eligible for extra help,
    if you're a low-income senior, the May 15th deadline does not apply to
    you. In other words, you can apply after May 15th without penalty. And
    that's important for low-income seniors to understand. We want everybody
    to sign up.

    [[Page 897]]

    We want people to understand that there are really good benefits for--
    the average senior is going to save one-half on his or her cost--one-
    half on the cost of prescription drugs.
        We were meeting, as I said, in south Florida earlier, and some of
    the stories down there for people who signed up were really strong
    stories--people saving money, people got a little extra money in their
    pocket. The system is modernized, and it saves you money. And that's
    what we want. Now, some say, ``It's too good to be true.'' If you
    haven't looked at the program, take a look. Take a look. I think you're
    going to find what I said is true.
        The other interesting thing that's happened is--just so the people
    out there who are wondering whether or not this is cost-effective,
    whether or not this makes sense to do--first of all, I think it makes a
    lot of sense to do. We don't want seniors choosing between food and
    medicine. We're a compassionate society. Secondly, because there's
    competition for you--in other words, somebody said, here's some
    different options for you, the average premium seniors pay for the
    prescription drug benefit is $25 a month on average. And that's down
    from an anticipated cost of $37 a month. In other words, when somebody
    bids for your business, it tends to be--it helps on price.
        In Florida, the lowest cost option is about $10 a month. There are
    many zero-dollar premium Medicare advantage plans available for our
    seniors to choose from. The program is saving seniors a lot of money.
    And as a result of people competing for your business, it's saving the
    taxpayers money. In other words, people said, ``Well, it's going to cost
    X.'' Well, it's costing 20 percent less. This is a good deal for
    America's seniors.
        And so over the next week, Secretary Leavitt and myself and others in the administration are reminding
    people that there's a good opportunity for you. And so I would suggest,
    if you haven't signed up yet, if you're living in Florida and watching
    this TV program--or anywhere in the country watching the TV program, I'd
    call 1-800-MEDICARE, and there's somebody there who'll help you. Or if
    you've got some--if you're computer-literate or have a friend who's
    computer-literate, get on the web page, medicare.gov, and take a look--
    take a look at what's available.
        Seniors all across the country are saving money because of this
    plan. It's--if you're a son or a daughter and your mom or dad is
    eligible for Medicare and he or she hasn't signed up, I believe the son
    or a daughter has a duty to help the mom or dad understand what's
    available. That's what sons and daughters are supposed to do. That's
    called love. And a loving son or daughter should take a look and help
    their folks realize what's possible, help design a drug benefit program
    that meets your mom or dad's needs.
        Churches all across the country are reaching out--synagogues, people
    from different faiths understand that it makes sense to help their
    parishioners realize the benefits of this plan. I mentioned earlier
    AARP, NAACP, groups all across the country are out trying to find the
    folks who haven't signed up yet and encourage them to do so. And so
    that's why I'm here. I'm here doing my duty as Educator in Chief.
    [Laughter] It's to say to people from around this part of the world and
    those who may be watching over the airwaves, this is a good deal for the
    American seniors. And it's the right thing to do for the Government. If
    the Government makes a promise, we want to make sure that promise lives
    up to what we've told you. We've said, we're going to get you a modern
    health care system, and we have.
        And that's what I've come to talk about. I'll be glad to answer any
    questions anybody has on any subject that may be on your mind. But in
    the meantime, thanks for letting me come by, and God bless.

    [[Page 898]]

        All righty--[applause]--no, no--thank you. I'll be over--we'll get a
    little picture-taking in a minute. Yes, sir.

    Availability of Literature on Medicare Benefits

        Q. I find there's a dearth of literature about the new program. I
    just don't see any pamphlets or books around, which there should be.
        The President. True.
        Q. Secondly, I want to ask, if you do sign up, and I don't know what
    it's all about--I'm, truthfully, computer-fearful and so I'm not--I'm
    computer-illiterate. And I'd like to know, when--if I do sign up, can I
    quit, can I get out of it?
        The President. Yes, you can. [Laughter] I think if you sign--first
    of all, that's a great question. Literature--there's all kind of
    literature. I can't answer the question as to why----
        Q. I haven't seen it.
        The President. No, I know, there's not any--you haven't seen it yet,
    I know. But I will try to find out why you haven't seen any here.
    Secondly, you're not alone when it comes to saying, ``I'm a little
    frightened about getting on the computer.'' You're not the only person
    I've heard say that. And therefore, one of the things that centers such
    as this do is provide help with people who are computer-illiterate. And
    it's--with somebody explaining how it works and what you're watching, I
    think you'll find it to be a lot less intimidating than you think.
        And thirdly, I wouldn't sign up, if I were you, unless you were
    comfortable that it saves you money. This is an add-on to Medicare. It
    is a part of Medicare. It's called Medicare Part D. In other words, the
    rest of Medicare exists, but what this does is it provides an additional
    benefit. And as I said, across the country, people are saving half on
    their prescription drug bills. People say to me, ``Well, I'm feeling
    pretty healthy, and I'm not taking a lot of prescription drugs; I'm not
    going to sign up.'' My advice is, sign up, because you don't know when
    you're going to have to start taking prescription drugs.
        But at the very minimum, take a look. You seem like an inquisitive
    person, somebody who wants to know the facts, and there should be people
    here at this center that will help you find the facts out front. And
    there's going to be some literature, I hope--there is? Brother said there's literature. Now, there had better be
    literature, because the man--[laughter]--the man in the hat is going to
    walk out there, and if he doesn't see any literature, I'm cooked.
    [Laughter] Good looking hat too.
        Yes, sir. Thank you for your question.

    Iran

        Q. Mr. President, my question concerns the Iranian situation.
        The President. Yes.
        Q. I'm very worried about it, and I don't think I'm alone. I know
    that you and Secretary Rice and Ambassador Bolten are doing everything
    humanly possible to unite the global community in persuading the
    Iranians that getting the bomb is not in their own interest. And even if
    you get the Chinese and the Russians to come around eventually on
    meaningful sanctions, my fear is it's liable to take so long it will be
    too little and too late. So I assume there's a good possibility, given
    their attitude, they're going to get the bomb. And my question is, if
    they do, what next?
        The President. Yes. First of all, it's a great question, because he
    is bringing to the front here a question of international significance.
    Our objective is not to let them get the bomb, first of all. And I am an
    optimistic person and, therefore, believe--I'm going to rephrase your
    question a different way: How are you going to stop them from getting it
    in the first place--not what are you going to do if they get one.
        And the first goal--first of all, all options--the first option and
    the most important option is diplomacy. As you know, I've

    [[Page 899]]

    made the tough decision to commit American troops into harm's way. It's
    the toughest decision a President can ever make, but I want you to know
    that I tried diplomacy. In other words, a President has got to be able
    to say to the American people, diplomacy didn't work. And therefore, the
    first choice, and a choice that I think will work with the Iranians, is
    diplomacy. And I believe we can accomplish this through diplomacy.
        Any diplomatic effort must have a common goal. And the common goal
    here is precisely what you said, sir, which is the Iranians should not
    have a nuclear weapon or the capacity to make a nuclear weapon.
        Now, that wasn't always the case during my Presidency. In other
    words, people have come together around that goal. And the countries
    that have come around that goal are not only our allies in Europe but
    China and Russia agree. So the first step toward good diplomacy is to
    have different countries agree to a common goal, which is that the
    Iranians should not have the capacity and/or a nuclear weapon. So that's
    positive.
        Secondly, we're now working on the tactics as to how to convince the
    Iranians through--to get rid of their ambitions through a united front.
    And so what you're watching play out--by the way, because we live in a
    transparent society, everything, of course, is in the newspapers--which
    is fine; that's healthy. But that's not the case when you're dealing
    with a nontransparent society.
        And so we got six countries--Condi was
    up there dealing with them last night, sitting around the table saying,
    how are we going to achieve our common goal? So what you're watching is,
    of course, all the guessing and speculating about the different
    positions of the six countries sitting around the table. But I believe
    that through hard work, we will continue to keep people bound together
    because there is a common interest to prevent the Iranians from getting
    that weapon. They understand--the countries understand the danger
    inherent with the Iranians having a weapon. They understand the
    consequences of a nuclear Iran, particularly when you have a
    President who's threatening people.
        And so we're at an early stage of diplomacy at this point in time.
    And one of the options, of course, is to go to the United Nations
    Security Council. And once in the United Nations Security Council, we're
    trying to reach--what does the resolution say. My objective--and thank
    you for your kinds words about Condi and
    myself working hard to keep the common front. It's very important for
    the Iranians to know they will be isolated in the world; that the rest
    of the world, much of the world, shares the same demands that those of
    us who are heading the--involved in the negotiations say.
        But you're right; this is a very difficult issue. And we will
    continue to work through diplomatic channels to make it clear that we
    mean what we say. And obviously, part of making the diplomacy work is,
    what will be the consequences if the Iranians decide maybe not to listen
    to the rational demands of the world? And you mentioned one, economic
    sanctions. But we're--and I'm not going to comment on that, because I
    think it's very important for good negotiators to keep their cards close
    to the vest, and then at the appropriate time, make it clear what our
    intentions are.
        This is a serious issue; it's taking a lot of our time, as it
    should. Ultimately, of course, I would hope that an American President
    is able to say to the Iranian people, ``You're free, and we look forward
    to having good relations with you.'' Liberty has got an amazing way of
    changing the world. I speak to a group of people who know that better
    than most. You have seen liberty transform the world during your
    lifetime. You've seen--and one of my favorite ways of explaining the
    effects of liberty and my belief in what liberty can do is to explain
    the relationship I have with the Japanese Prime Minister.

    [[Page 900]]

        I bet I've got some World War II vets here. I'll bet there's some
    people who know World War II vets, who are here. I bet people are here
    who know somebody who was called into action to fight the Japanese in
    World War II. And today I can--I report to you that the Japanese Prime
    Minister is my friend in keeping the
    peace. And there's a reason why--is because after World War II, one of
    my predecessors, Harry S. Truman, had the belief that the United States
    should help that country, our enemy, become a democracy, not styled--an
    American-style democracy but a Japanese-style democracy. And because of
    the faith in the capacity to freedom to change people's way of thinking,
    because he felt strong to that conviction, today, a Japanese-style
    democracy is a friend of America.
        Freedom has the capacity to change enemies into friends. And so in
    the long run, the best way to deal with problems such as the Iranian
    problem is to encourage people to be free. And the fundamental question
    is, do people want to be free? And the cornerstone of my foreign policy
    is my strong belief that freedom is universal. People desire to be free.
        One of the lessons that your generation has taught our generation is
    that staying strong to the values that America subscribes to--human
    rights, human dignity, the universality of freedom--has changed parts of
    the world in incredible ways. Just look at Europe--this is a long
    answer--[laughter]--to an important question. And the reason I'm framing
    it this way is I want you to understand how I think about laying the
    foundation of peace so we can deal with not only the issue that you
    asked about, sir, but other issues that will inevitably come up during
    the course of the 21st century.
        But freedom has the capacity to lay the foundations for peace, and
    we must not lose sight of the historical examples. Take Europe, for
    example--there was two major conflicts in Europe, World War I and World
    War II. Today, Europe is whole, free, and at peace because democracies
    don't war. It's one of the historical lessons.
        And so in the short term, on the issue you described, we will keep
    our diplomacy going. We'll be knitted up as best as we possibly can with
    different--with as many nations as possible--six of them at the table
    last night in New York, by the way. And in the meantime, it is--we will
    continue to advance the freedom agenda.
        Good question. Yes, sir.

    Health Care Reform

        Q. Thank you. First, let me say, I think a lot of people will be
    helped by this program.
        The President. They will----
        Q. A lot of people will be helped by the Medicare Part D program.
        The President. Oh, thank you.
        Q. But I think there's major deficiencies in it that I think we'd
    like to hear some comments from you on. The first major issue--I think
    the program is going to be a lot more expensive both to the user and to
    the taxpayer than it needs to be, because we don't allow Medicare to
    negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies. This could wind up
    costing the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10
    years.
        Another thing, the insurance companies are allowed to change their
    formulary once a person is in the program; a person is not allowed to
    get out until the end of the year. This is a legalized bait and switch
    operation by the insurance companies. How many of them are doing it, I
    don't know, but it's a danger for our seniors.
        Third, I have a report here from Families USA indicating that the
    poorest people that are affected by this program are not being helped.
        The President. Well, I just----
        Q. Not helped--either they're not signed up, they're not being
    helped compared to the benefits they were getting under a combination of
    Medicare and Medicaid.

    [[Page 901]]

        So, finally, I think there are several major changes that should be
    made in the program. Number one, let Medicare negotiate with the
    pharmaceutical companies. Number two, stop the formulary switch. If we
    do that, by reducing the costs, I think we can possibly reduce the size
    or even eliminate the doughnut hole that people are exposed to.
        The President. Okay, thanks.
        Q. And I think--[laughter]. One last thing--okay. If we don't bring
    our costs down this way, we're never going to control health care costs
    in the U.S. And we're subsidizing the pharmaceutical companies, and
    we're subsidizing health costs in every other country around the world,
    because every other country negotiates directly with the pharmaceutical
    companies.
        The President. Yes, I'll be glad to give you some comments. First of
    all, if a senior takes a look at the program and doesn't think it saves
    his or her money, they shouldn't sign up.
        Secondly, in terms of the low-income seniors, I don't know what the
    report is that you cite--people cite reports all the time. I will tell
    you this, that a lot of people are working hard to find the low-income
    seniors, to give them the chance to sign up for an incredibly beneficial
    program--including AARP, the NAACP, as I mentioned. I've met with their
    representatives. They realize this is a good deal for low-income
    seniors. But if you're premise is right, that the low-income senior
    won't benefit from the program, they shouldn't sign up to it. I just
    strongly disagree that this isn't good for low-income seniors.
        Thirdly, one of the reasons why--we're trying to make individual
    choice available for seniors, as opposed to having the Federal
    Government making the decisions on behalf of seniors. And so the idea of
    having the Federal Government negotiate price keeps the Federal
    Government squarely in the middle of the program. There's a
    philosophical difference, evidently, between me and you. All I can tell
    you is, is that the program is costing less than anticipated, and this
    program is going to benefit a lot of seniors because there is more
    choice for seniors.
        Now, the idea of, ``This won't help us control health care costs,''
    one, I disagree with that. I think more choices for consumers, the
    better off we are.
        Secondly, health care costs are on the rise. A lot of it has to do
    with these lawsuits that are driving good doctors out of practice, that
    are causing people to practice defensive medicine, and running up the
    premiums for consumers. We need to modernize health care, as well, by
    introducing information technology so that, kind of, the system of
    writing files by hand, which leads to errors and inefficiency, is
    replaced by a modern system of information technology.
        Thirdly, we need transparency in pricing. People need to know that
    which they're purchasing and the quality of that which they purchase so
    that consumers are able to make more rational decisions.
        Fourthly, at the center of the health care needs to be the doctor-
    patient relationship--not bureaucracy, either government or private
    bureaucracy. And that's why I'm such a strong believer in health savings
    account, which are now being--now available for a lot of folks in
    America.
        So I think you and I may have a different vision of health care. I
    thank you for bringing it up, but, look, if people don't like it, they
    don't have to sign up for it. People have got the right to pick what
    they want to pick. And therefore, I know you would agree with me in
    saying that seniors ought to take a look and see whether or not it meets
    their needs.
        Thank you, sir, very much. I appreciate that.
        Yes, ma'am.

    Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit May 15th Deadline

        Q. Mr. President--[inaudible]--to live in this country, and I'm very
    proud of it.

    [[Page 902]]

        The President. Good. Where were you from initially?
        Q. East Germany.
        The President. Very good.
        Q. I've been through a lot, and I appreciate this country. And also
    I just signed up--I belong to AARP supplement, and I just signed up for
    Medicare Complete Choice Rx United Healthcare with zero monthly premium,
    and I'm saving 140 some dollars a month.
        The President. Good.
        Q. Thank you.
        The President. How long have you been in the country?
        Q. I've been in this country longer than I lived in Germany because
    I was in East Germany, and we had a lot of problems. You couldn't speak
    up for anything. My brother was arrested. My sister almost was, for
    saying something. So I got out pretending I'm performing at the opera
    house in Nuremberg, and I broke my contract interest, and I stayed in
    West Germany. And I've been here since 1959. And I'm an American
    citizen. I'm very proud of it.
        The President. Great. Welcome.
        Q. Thank you.
        The President. Yes, ma'am. By the way, I met with Chancellor Angela
    Merkel the other day, and she was--she, too,
    was raised in East Germany. It's interesting to be dealing with a world
    leader who was raised in a Communist country. She brings an interesting
    perspective to the idea of people being free. I mean, she understands
    freedom as well as anybody understands freedom. And she's going to be
    a--she's a good ally and a good person. When I see her, I'll tell her I
    saw you. [Laughter]
        Q. Welcome, Mr. President. Thank you for coming here. One of my
    questions is, May 15th, I believe, is the sign-up date.
        The President. Yes.
        Q. If people cannot make a decision by May 15th, will they be
    penalized, or will there be another time period where they can sign up?
        The President. It depends upon whether you're a--eligible for extra
    benefits, a low-income senior or not. If you're a low-income senior,
    there will be no penalties. If you're not a low-income senior, sign up
    before May 15th.
        Q. Oh, okay. So then there will be--there will not be another sign-
    up date?
        The President. You can continue to sign up, but there won't be sign-
    up at the same rates at which you could--the same rates at which you'll
    get your prescription drug benefits prior to May 15th. Deadlines are
    important. Deadlines help people understand there's finality, and people
    need to get after it, you know? And so the idea is, there's the
    deadline. Now, low-income seniors, as I mentioned to you, will be able
    to sign up after May 15th without penalty.
        Let's see--yes, ma'am.
        Q. I appreciate everything you've said. I think you're great.
        The President. Thank you. Well, we'll leave it at that. [Laughter]
        Q. No, I'm just like your mother. I do want to suggest--this is a
    community. Our motto is ``Neighbors Helping Neighbors.'' We're
    volunteers. There are many, many seniors here who need help. We
    procrastinated and finally made the decision to sign up through AARP,
    because you can always change. And if they start increasing costs, we'll
    change to another one. You can have influence on people you buy from
    more than if the Government is handling it. And so I appreciate your
    approach.
        However, I would beg, not for myself--because there were logjams;
    they were shuffling the phone calls directly to Medicare. I got an ID
    number; my husband got, in the afternoon, a confirmation number. No one
    knows whether they're actually recorded. The Internet was so bogged
    down, you couldn't get information, because everyone is doing it at the
    last minute. Now, when we pay our taxes, there's a deadline. But we can
    apply for a 6-months reprieve. I think--[laughter]----

    [[Page 903]]

        The President. I think I know where you're headed. [Laughter]
        Q. All right, I don't have to continue it. We could go out and help
    our neighbors. There's a Medicare bus--we just found out this week--
    going to a Catholic church in Tampa to help people sign up. There's a
    Medicare bus going to a hospital in Sarasota, but we didn't think about
    getting one to come here for our people, and we need some time to give
    them some help. Thank you.
        The President. Yes, I appreciate that, thanks. In other words, what
    you're saying is, there's a lot of people beginning to come in at the
    last minute, and you're afraid they're not going to be able to access
    the system and/or have their numbers and names filed properly before May
    15th. I'll check with the local people to make sure that--see what the
    strategy is in dealing with that.
        Yes, ma'am. There you go.

    Medicare Benefits for Individuals With Disabilities

        Q. Is this the same Medicare plan----
        The President. You're doing fine, just keep cranking it up.
        Q. Is this the same Medicare plan for people that are on
    disabilities?
        The President. Disabilities, yes. It applies to people with
    disabilities as well.
        Q. So if you're under 65--then I would have to still go and apply
    under this?
        The President. For the additional help, yes, ma'am.
        Q. For additional help on this. And also, I just want to say, thank
    you very much for the way that you run the Government with the beliefs
    of--your Christian beliefs and not letting others bring you down when
    you're standing behind on your beliefs. It's very important. All the
    Christians stand behind you.
        The President. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

    Trade/Energy

        Q. ----be able to tell you from the same point of view that I'm very
    concerned about the growing fields, the products that are now being sent
    and brought back from other countries, that we've eroded our own
    economics in America, that we're too trusting of other countries,
    instead of being able to build up from within. And it's a very great
    concern, because we live in this area--being Ruskin--a tomato growing
    area for the State of Florida--going into other countries, other States
    than Florida. We've lost our fields. We're losing the orange groves.
    We're losing so much that this whole country was built on, and we're now
    relying on beef from Australia. We're relying on produce from South
    America. We're now looking at China to come in and supplement Hewlett
    Packard and all these other companies that have now said, ``We can't
    afford to keep the Americans employed.'' This is a very big concern for
    me, at my age, let alone for the kids who are coming up behind me.
        The President. You know, it's an interesting--that's a very
    interesting question. She--or statement--there's a lot of people that
    are concerned about a global world in which there is fierce competition.
    My attitude about this is that I don't think we ought to fear the
    competition; I think competition is good and healthy. But I think we
    ought to be smart about how we deal with it. In other words, one of the
    options to deal with that global fear is to wall ourselves off; is to
    say, we're not going to accept products; is to go through protectionism;
    is to say, we'll put high tariffs on products because we don't want
    other people selling their product in the American market. That's one
    way to deal with your concern. And it's--I, frankly, think that would
    lead to economic problems for the country.
        I am, as you know, a person who believes in free trade. I also
    believe in making sure companies treat us fairly--in other words,

    [[Page 904]]

    so that we can compete on a level playing field. And so here's some
    ideas as to how to deal with it. And by the way, yours is not an
    isolated concern. It's a legitimate question for policymakers--is, how
    do you deal--how can you assure us that we can continue to be the
    economic leader of the world with such competition?
        Wait, let me finish. Let me finish my answer. And here's some
    practical things to do. One, make sure our children have got the job
    skills necessary--the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st
    century. One of the things that Brother Jeb has
    done is he's brought strong accountability in the public schools to make
    sure that there's high standards and people are measured. And when we
    find failure, you do something about it, so that we're just not
    shuffling kids through the system.
        And I want to extend those high standards and extra help for Title I
    students who may not be measuring up to standards in math and science.
    Because I'm going to tell you what's going to happen in a global world,
    that if we do not educate our children with the skills necessary to fill
    the jobs of the 21st century--math, science, engineering--jobs that will
    help lead this country forward--if we don't do that, the jobs are going
    to go to other countries. The good, high-paying jobs are going to go to
    other parts of the world.
        So step one is education. Step two is to make sure we're always the
    leader in innovation and research and development. And the way to do
    that is to spend Federal money, which we're going to do, in the basic
    sciences, as well as make sure the research and development tax credit
    which encourages the private sector to invest in research and
    technology, make sure that's a permanent part of the Tax Code. In other
    words, make sure America is the leader in innovation. If we're not the
    leader in innovation, other countries will be the leader of innovation.
    So there's competition. We can try to wall ourselves off, but it will
    still be a competitive world.
        Thirdly, we got to do something about energy. The gas prices, as you
    know, are affecting you; they're high. Part of the reason why they're
    high is because the price of crude oil is high, and part of the reason
    the price of crude oil is high is because the demand for crude oil has
    been outstripping supply. And I'm not sure supply will ever catch up
    with demand in the short term, so one of the things we need to do is to
    figure out how to drive our cars differently--different fuels like
    ethanol grown right here in--the core product of which can be grown
    right here in Florida.
        Hybrid automobiles is the second. And we've got incentives in
    Federal law that provides incentives for people to buy hybrids. Hybrids
    mean you're running on a combination of electricity and gasoline. And
    I'll tell you an interesting breakthrough that's about to come, though,
    because of research as a result of the Federal Government and private
    sector, is that we're going to have batteries that will be able to last
    for the first 40 miles when somebody drives. That's good for urban
    America, for example. A lot of people don't drive 40 miles in a day. It
    would be pretty good if they could drive those first 40 without using
    gasoline.
        We got to be wise about our energy policy. I happen to believe in
    nuclear power. I believe in nuclear power--I know nuclear power is
    renewable, and it protects the environment. We got to make sure we
    continue to develop technologies that allow us to burn coal in
    environmentally friendly ways. Solar technology is becoming more
    advanced, and the Government is helping with the research there.
        My point to you is that on the energy front, we've got to be wise if
    we're going to compete. We got to do something about junk lawsuits that
    are making it hard here in America not only for the medical profession
    but for the business sector, if we want to compete. We got to keep taxes
    low if we want to compete. If we want to compete in the future, we got
    to do something

    [[Page 905]]

    about Social Security. Social Security is fine for you. You all are in
    good shape. It's fine for my generation, but it's not so fine for the
    people who are going to be trying to pay for my generation. And it's
    time to put aside all that business--the political business in
    Washington, DC--and come up with a solution so younger generations of
    Americans--[applause]. My answer to the country is, we shouldn't fear
    the future; we ought to shape it.
        And the alternative is to shut ourselves off, and I think that would
    be a huge mistake. It's really interesting when you look at the 1920s.
    During that period of time, the American people became isolated with
    high protective tariffs, and it eventually was part of the reasons why
    we had a Great Depression. And I think we always must be mindful of the
    lessons of history.
        Anyway, excellent question. Thanks for giving me a chance--you're
    not through yet, I take it. [Laughter] You want to debate?

    Alternative Fuel Sources/Energy

        Q. Forty years ago----
        The President. Go ahead.
        Q. Forty years ago, we had the red flag flying about the oil
    shortage. We were all told, let's do something. That was 40 years ago.
    Solar power was supposed to be the future for us. The Government was
    participating and literally supplying people with the money to put solar
    power into their homes. It all stopped. Why don't we continue to look at
    these resources instead of now stopping people because they can't get to
    their jobs----
        The President. No, no, say that again. Look at what now?
        Q. Why don't we continue to look at these sources of solar power----
        The President. We are.
        Q. ----these houses around here, literally, if you put up a solar
    power panel, somebody is coming up to say, ``Hey, wait a minute. It's
    not okay.'' Down in Fort Myers, they did it 20 years ago, so it has been
    accepted, and it's fine. But 40 years ago, we had these red flags
    flying----
        The President. Yes.
        Q. ----why did we waste 40 years? Now we're scared.
        The President. No, I appreciate--I actually am not--I don't think
    ``scared'' is the right word to describe how I feel. I feel that we need
    to rise to the challenge. I'll remind you, in 2001, the price of crude
    oil was like $17 a barrel, is one reason why. In other words, it--the
    low price of crude oil kind of lulled people into a sense that maybe
    things we're going to--the supply would be greater than demand. But it
    also made it more difficult for alternatives to compete.
        And I'm not sure what you mean, people aren't encouraged to put up
    solar panels. I think people can put up solar panels if they want to.
    But the interesting thing about--and we're spending research money on
    advanced solar technology. In other words, there's not going to be ``a''
    answer for diversifying away from foreign sources of oil. There's going
    to be a series of answers on a series of fronts that will enable this
    country to diversify away from oil, and we need to. I completely agree
    we need to. And the question is, are we spending money at the Federal
    level to do so? And the answer is, absolutely. Since I've been
    President, we've spent about $10 billion on ways to help us diversify
    away from oil, through research and development.
        Yes, sir.

    Hurricanes

        Q. We put out a patent to control hurricanes, and we sent it to--
    [laughter]--Senator Burr, and he thought it was great, and he----
        The President. Give him a mike that works, please. [Laughter]
        Q. We sent it to Senator Burr, and he thought it was great, and he
    gave it, I understand, to Karl Rove.
        The President. What now? I missed your question, sir.

    [[Page 906]]

        Q. A patent to control hurricanes.
        The President. To control hurricanes?
        Q. Right.
        The President. Where were you last year? [Laughter]
        Q. I'm here this year, okay. And Senator Burr thought it was good
    enough, from North Carolina, and he gave it--I understand it was given
    to Karl Rove, okay. We want--we tried to get in touch with you, and we
    hope you get the description of this patent, because we feel sure it's
    the one thing that can stop hurricanes when they're young and
    vulnerable, okay. We can get at them, and we're using the coldest thing
    in the universe to do it. And planes--it's all planned on just how to do
    it, from MacDill or anywhere. And so we hope you get to read this. I
    gave it to a guy named Ryan here, that's an associate of yours, and I
    hope he gives it to you.
        The President. Okay, good. What's his name?
        Q. My name is Luther Hoffman. We sent you a letter, but I guess it
    may not have gotten through.
        The President. Well, you know--[laughter].
        Yes, sir.

    Gasoline

        Q. Yes, sir, can you hear me okay?
        The President. Yes, sir.
        Q. You mentioned gas prices, and I think everybody understands that
    this is being driven by economic imperatives. What I don't understand--
    what seems to violate common sense--is why the oil companies are also
    reporting record profits. It doesn't seem like people should get rich on
    somebody else's misery.
        The President. Well, my attitude is, is that I believe in the
    markets; I believe in private enterprise; but I also believe people
    ought to reinvest. You know, we haven't built a refinery in this country
    since the early 1970s, not one refinery. And guess what? When you have
    shortage of supply and demand stays strong, price goes up. So part of
    the reasons why we've got high gasoline prices is because the price of
    crude oil has gone up.
        Part of it also is because we're not increasing the supplies of
    gasoline for the consumers. And so my call to the energy companies is:
    Reinvest in America; expand refinery capacity; build new ones. Part of
    the problem, though, is our own fault. We've got a lot of rules and
    regulations that prevent there to be--that stop people from investing
    capital in refinery expansion. So one of the things I'm working with
    Congress is to relax these regulations.
        I mean, if we've got a problem, let's address it square on and
    figure out where the problem is. And there is a bottleneck when it comes
    to this paperwork. And we've got to be less regulatory in America to
    increase the supply of gasoline for our people.
        We've got another problem, in that in a lot of States, they require
    different kind of fuel blends, which means that it's hard. When you have
    to change your gasoline supply on a seasonal basis to have specialized
    blends, it causes supply disruptions. And disruption in supply causes
    prices to go up.
        And so I don't believe the Federal Government ought to be taking
    over businesses; I don't believe that. But I do believe that the Federal
    Government ought to be encouraging people to spend profits here in
    America, to build pipeline and expand capacity for the sake of
    consumers.
        Yes, ma'am. We're kind of running out of air time, here, because
    I've got to go to Orlando. Brother, you need to get
    back to work. They're paying you a lot of money, and you're just sitting
    there. [Laughter]

    Arctic National Wildlife Refuge/Oil

        Q. First of all, Mr. President, I want you to know that you are in
    our prayers on a daily basis.
        The President. Thank you.
        Q. We pray for you and your Cabinet. Secondly of all, I would like
    to ask one

    [[Page 907]]

    question about the Alaskan pipeline. My understanding is that most of
    that supply does not come to the United States, and I would like to know
    why that goes to other countries rather than to where it's needed here,
    so that we can----
        The President. You mean the crude oil coming down the pipeline?
        Q. Yes, sir.
        The President. I don't know where it goes, to be honest with you.
    Sorry. I can find out. [Laughter]
        Q. Okay. Could we just divert a little bit of that our direction,
    please? [Laughter]
        The President. I thought you were going to ask, how come we don't
    have the gas pipeline coming down yet, because there's a lot of untapped
    oil and gas up there that can be explored in environmentally friendly
    ways. And I think we ought to be drilling in ANWR--it's called ANWR. I
    know we can do it and protect the environment at the same time. And I
    know there's a lot of untapped gas up there that we ought to get down
    through pipeline as well. I don't know where all the oil goes coming out
    of the pipeline now. I'll try to find out for you.
        Okay, final question. Yes, sir.

    Social Security Reform

        Q. Morning, Mr. President.
        The President. How are you?
        Q. I'm a retired New York City fireman.
        The President. Yes, sir.
        Q. I appreciate the love and affection that you showed New York City
    after 9/11 on behalf of all them people that passed away at that time--
    --
        The President. Yes, thanks.
        Q. ----and the 343 firemen, my brother firemen that died there that
    day. I think you're doing a fantastic job, and we'll always love and
    respect you.
        You said before you'd like a solution for Social Security. I have it
    right here in my hand, Mr. President.
        The President. I'll meet you right there at the corner, and you can
    hand it to me.
        Q. I'd love to. [Laughter]
        The President. The hurricane guy can show up here with his answer
    too. [Laughter]
        Q. I wrote a solution to the Social Security reform a year ago. I
    sent it to every Congressmen, every Senator, every newscaster, every
    station throughout this country. I sent 794 letters out, and I got about
    5 replies. I think what's happening with Social Security is a disgrace.
    It's not going to affect us, like you say, but it's going to affect us
    because we're the parents of the baby boomers.
        The President. That's right.
        Q. And we're also the grandparents of the boomers' babies.
    [Laughter] And we're worried about them.
        The President. Yes. I tell you what. I'm fixing to thank everybody
    and you stand right there.
        Q. Thank you, Mr. President.
        The President. And I'm--I tell you what I'm----
        Q. Please give me two minutes with this letter.
        The President. I'm going to get the photographer to take a picture
    of you handing me that letter.
        Q. Thank you, sir.
        The President. And that way I'll remember who you were when you
    handed it to me. [Laughter]
        Q. I'll always remember you, Mr. President.
        The President. Thanks for being a firefighter.
        God bless, everybody. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:09 a.m. at the Kings Point Clubhouse. In
    his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, and his wife,
    Columba; President Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica; Prime Minister
    Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.

    [[Page 908]]