[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 24 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Pages 1362-1365]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage and an Exchange With 
Reporters

June 14, 2000

    The President.  Good afternoon. Senator Daschle, Representative 
Gephardt, Secretary Shalala, and I have just met with these leaders of 
organizations representing America's seniors, people with disabilities, 
and community pharmacists. We spoke about the great need for Congress to 
give all Medicare beneficiaries an affordable prescription drug option. 
We spoke about the merits and the shortfalls of new legislative 
proposals on prescription drugs now emerging in the House.

Funding for Enforcement of Gun Laws

    Before I go into the details of the discussions this morning, I want 
to briefly touch on another pressing priority before the House, funding 
for enforcement of our gun laws.
    For years, the Republican leadership has emphasized the importance 
of enforcing our gun laws as a reason for opposing other commonsense gun 
safety measures. Yet they have failed so far to put their money where 
their words are. Today a House appropriations committee appears to be on 
the verge of approving a bill that absolutely guts our administration's 
proposal for the largest gun enforcement initiative in history.
     Incomprehensible though it may be, their bill fails to provide any 
funding at all to hire 1,000 new State and local gun prosecutors to help 
take gun criminals out of our communities and put them behind bars. It 
undermines our efforts to replicate the success of Richmond's Project 
Exile, another key initiative the Republicans have always said they 
support. And it fails to provide funding to expand research and 
development of smart gun technology.
    I ask the Republican leadership to reverse the current course, to 
live up to the rhetoric, to fully fund the national gun enforcement 
initiative.
    Of course, no society can prevent every tragedy or outrage, but we 
can save lives with a combination of new commonsense gun laws and 
enhanced enforcement of the laws already on the books. We're going to 
have to do this in a bipartisan manner, if it's going to get done, and 
to recognize the American people want both strong enforcement and strong 
prevention.

Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage

    Now, back to prescription drugs. The American people here have also 
made their intentions clear. Our seniors want affordable, dependable 
coverage for the prescription medications that lengthen their lives and 
improve its quality. That's the message we heard yesterday from Ruth 
Westfall, a retired teacher from rural Idaho, the message I heard from 
leaders I met with a few moments ago. That's certainly what Senator 
Daschle and Republican Gephardt are hearing from their constituents and 
what they're fighting hard for up on the Hill.
    All the leaders here today recognize that adding a voluntary 
prescription drug benefit is not just the right thing to do; medically 
speaking, it's the smart thing to do. No one creating the Medicare 
program today would think of doing so without prescription drug 
coverage. Prescription drugs now can accomplish what once could be done 
only with surgery.
    That's why we have proposed the comprehensive plan to provide a 
prescription drug benefit that is optional and accessible to all our 
seniors; a plan that ensures that all older Americans, no matter where 
they live or how sick they are, will pay the same affordable premiums; a 
plan that uses price competition, not price controls, to guarantee that 
seniors will get the best prices; a plan that would cover catastrophic 
drug costs, as well as regular drug bills; a plan that is part of an 
overall effort to strengthen and modernize Medicare, so we won't have to 
ask our children to shoulder the burden when the baby boomers retire.
    There is growing bipartisan support for prescription drug action 
this year, and that's good. But the leaders and advocates here

[[Page 1363]]

today are still concerned that the proposals the House Republicans are 
putting forward later this week will not ensure that all seniors have an 
affordable prescription drug option.
    We have grave concerns because the Republican plan builds on the 
already flawed private Medigap insurance market. As recently as 
yesterday, the insurance industry reiterated its belief that a Medigap 
insurance model simply will not work for prescription drug coverage--the 
insurance industry, itself, has said this repeatedly--and that private 
insurers will not willingly participate in such a program. Even if some 
private insurers do participate, the premiums inevitably will be higher 
than those under a Medicare drug plan. Yesterday you heard Ruth Westfall 
say what I have heard countless seniors say, that they can't afford the 
Medigap coverage that presently is offered.
    We have grave concerns because the Republican plan relies on a 
trickle-down scheme that would provide a subsidy for insurers and not a 
single dollar of direct premium assistance for middle class seniors. We 
have grave concerns because the so-called choice model offered by the 
Republicans breaks up the pooled power of seniors to purchase drugs at 
the most affordable prices, forcing insurers to constrain costs by 
restricting seniors' choice of drugs and choice of pharmacies.
    Republicans and Democrats alike say they support an affordable drug 
benefit for our seniors. But let's be clear. A private insurance model 
simply cannot guarantee affordable coverage for all. To make the promise 
of affordable coverage real for all older Americans, there must be a 
true Medicare drug option.
    If the proposal the Republicans release later this week gives all 
seniors the ability to choose an affordable, defined, fee-for-service 
drug benefit under Medicare, even if it's just one of several options, 
that could certainly serve as a foundation for a bipartisan agreement on 
this issue. But anything less would be an empty promise.
    Working together, reaching across the aisle, we can use this time of 
unparalleled prosperity to do the right thing by our seniors. We should 
do it this year for their sake and for the sake of the future of 
Medicare.
    Now, I would like to introduce Martha McStein, the incoming chair of 
the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, the president of the 
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Ms. McStein 
was Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration during the 
Reagan administration, after a very distinguished 39-year career with 
the agency. In 1965 she served as one of the first regional 
administrators of the Nation's then new Medicare program. Today she's 
here to speak about why it is so important that we modernize Medicare 
with an affordable prescription drug benefit for all.
    Martha.

[At this point, Ms. McStein, Representative Richard A. Gephardt, and 
Senator Tom Daschle made brief remarks.]

Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Q.  Mr. President, let me ask you about Los Alamos, sir. Are you 
satisfied with the explanations you've had to date about the missing 
computer disks?
    The President.  First of all, this is a very serious issue, and I 
think what we have to do is to get an answer. I'm gratified that Senator 
Baker and former House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Hamilton are 
going to look into this. The FBI is looking into it. And I think it's 
very important that it be treated as a serious matter and that the 
investigation continue.

Trofimoff Espionage Case

    Q.  Mr. President, what have you been told about this arrest in 
Florida today in this new espionage case and the extent of the damage 
alleged to U.S. national security interests?
    The President.  Nothing yet.

Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage

    Q.  Mr. President, on prescription drugs, you announced a couple 
weeks ago, with Mr. Hastert, an urban renewal bill, that you said had 
worked out in a very bipartisan manner. Have you made any effort to 
address prescription drugs in a bipartisan manner to bring to the table?
    The President.  Sure. Sure. And I've talked to them, and I still 
have some hope we can do it. But so far, their philosophically

[[Page 1364]]

opposed, apparently, to a program that's run through Medicare, number 
one, and number two, that is made available to all seniors. And the 
problem is, if you only make it available to seniors below a certain 
income ceiling, like 150 percent of poverty, you leave about half the 
seniors out who really need it, number one. And number two, as I said, 
the Medigap programs that are out there now are not particularly 
affected. There are lots of Americans that cannot afford the private 
Medigap insurance that's offered now.
    So if you go back and look at my statement carefully, I tried to 
offer another olive branch. I said, if we would have--if they want to 
offer a number of options to people, and one of those options is a true 
Medicare program that is available at the same price to all seniors, 
then we could talk and we could do some business. And I still hope we 
can have a compromise. I don't want to be uncompromising but neither do 
I want to hold down a false hope to the seniors. I don't want to tell 
them we're doing something when we're not doing it.
    So part of this is perhaps a philosophical difference, but what I 
suggested in my remarks is that maybe we could come up with an agreement 
where they let our plan be available, and we let some other plans be 
available, and we just see which one worked better.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q.  Mr. President, you're meeting tomorrow with Chairman Arafat. Has 
anything in the talks this week led you to believe that the Israelis and 
Palestinians may be closer to a Camp-David-style summit, and will that 
be on the agenda tomorrow?
    The President.  Well, obviously, I've never ruled that out, but I 
think we need to get the parties a little closer before we can go there. 
We don't have a lot of time. We're down to all the hard issues now, and 
we're working on it. I'm hopeful, but I don't want to hold out false 
hopes. I don't know that I can tell you anything other than that I think 
we are making steady progress. We've seen the narrowing of some of the 
gaps, but I don't know that we're ready to have the final meeting yet.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Q.  One more on Los Alamos. Are you still confident in Secretary 
Richardson's leadership in the Energy Department?
    The President.  Yes. I think since the review was done before the 
general security problems, that the Energy Department has done a lot to 
improve the overall procedures. But we don't have the answers we need on 
this issue. This is a very serious issue, and that's why the FBI's 
looking into it and why I have asked Senator Baker and Representative 
Hamilton to look into it, as well. I think they're both widely respected 
as experts in the area and also as being fair-minded.
    So I think we'll get some more indications there. We've just got to 
see this through. It's a serious matter, and I don't think any of us 
need to be characterizing anything until we know what happened.

Korean Summit

    Q.  What did you think of the Korean summit, sir?
    The President.  I'm very, very pleased. You know, for years--as long 
as I've been here, anyway--I've tried to get the North Koreans to speak 
with the South Koreans, without an intermediary, including the United 
States. So I'm very pleased by this, and I think the communique is 
hopeful.
    Now, they've got a lot of work to do, and it's just a first step, 
but it's clearly a move in the right direction. And everyone else in the 
world should be encouraged by this. This is a good thing.
    Q.  [Inaudible]--think it's significant that the two heads ----
    Q.  Does this arrest in Moscow, sir, raise questions about Mr. Putin 
and his commitment to press freedom?
    The President.  Excuse me, I'm sorry. On that, I think we can't know 
yet. They talked about family reunifications. That's a huge first step. 
That's a good thing.
    Now, go ahead.

Freedom of the Press in Russia

    Q.  The arrest in Moscow, sir, of the media critic of Mr. Putin--
does that raise questions in your mind about his commitment to press 
freedoms?

[[Page 1365]]

    The President.  Well, I made a very strong statement when I was in 
Moscow about this, and I think, in a way, if anybody ought to have 
credibility to defend the freedom of the press, I should. [Laughter] So 
I did, and I will continue to.
    If there is some other reason for the arrest--I don't know what the 
facts are, I don't think we necessarily know all the facts, but I do not 
believe people should be arrested solely because of what they say in 
exercising their role as members of the press. I don't believe that. And 
I think the United States has to take a very firm position on that. I do 
not believe democracy is weakened by dissent, even if it is unfair and 
sometimes even if it's false, because I think in the end, if the debate 
is open, the people usually get it right. That's why our democracy is 
still around here after over 200 years.
    Thank you.

 Note:  The President spoke at 2:55 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Medicare recipient Ruth 
Westfall; former Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr., and former Representative 
Lee H. Hamilton, appointed to lead a Presidential Commission to 
investigate possible security breaches at the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory; and Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority. A 
reporter referred to Col. George Trofimoff, USA (Ret.), who was arrested 
in Florida on June 14 and charged with espionage.