[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 27 (Monday, July 7, 2003)]
[Pages 837-841]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to Senior Citizens
in Miami, Florida

June 30, 2003

    Thank you very much. Thanks for coming. Sientese, por favor. Muchas 
gracias. I'm honored to be here. Thank you for letting me come by to 
talk about a subject that is, I know, important to many, and that is the 
opportunities and the chances of modernizing Medicare. I am really glad 
to have the invitation to come to the Little Havana Activities and 
Nutrition Centers. After all, it gives me a chance to check up on El 
Gobernador--[laughter]--mi hermanito, mi grande hermanito. [Laughter]
    I'm really proud of Jeb. He's--as you know, we've got a very close 
family, and any chance we have to get together to visit and compare 
notes about the latest thing Mother has told us to do, it gives us--it's 
a great opportunity. So--but thanks for letting me come.
    I--as Tommy mentioned, that we're making historic progress in 
Washington. It's really a matter of will. It's a matter of putting aside 
politics and focusing on what we're supposed to be focusing on, that is, 
the people. And so today I want to spend some time talking about the 
historic opportunity we have to modernize Medicare on behalf of 
America's seniors.
    There's some differences between the two bills. The Senate had one 
version. The House of Representatives had another. But there's a lot of 
commonality between them. And I'm confident that the Members, when they 
get back from their Fourth of July breaks, will

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get to work, iron out the differences in a constructive way, and get a 
good bill to my desk so that I can then say, and all of us can say, 
we've done our jobs on behalf of America's seniors.
    Tommy has--Tommy Thompson has been the point person for the 
administration on Capitol Hill, working this issue hard. He has done a 
really good job. He was my friend when he was the Governor of Wisconsin, 
so I saw that he was a good, hard worker and a productive person as the 
Governor of Wisconsin. He was a reformer, and he was on the leading edge 
of change in a lot of areas. And I was really happy to be able to 
convince him to serve in the incredibly important position of Secretary 
of HHS. And he hasn't let me down, and he's not letting the American 
people down, Tommy, and I want to thank you for your service.
    And I'm glad that Josefina came. I understand she used to be the 
president and CEO of this--of the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition 
Centers. She is--she did such a good job here that we spirited her up to 
Washington, DC, to serve our country. I want to thank Josefina, and I 
also want to wish her a happy birthday.
    Toni Jennings, the Lieutenant Governor, is with us today, and I'm 
honored that the Lieutenant Governor would be here. Thank you, Toni.
    I see that the Diaz-Balart boys are with us today. Keep your remarks 
short. [Laughter] No, I'm looking forward to visit--to spend a little 
quality time with them. They're a good friend, strong allies. They know 
what I know, that under the current leadership in Cuba, there will never 
be freedom. They know that, and I know that as well.
    And one thing we believe in in America is freedom for everybody. We 
believe freedom is the desire of every human heart. We believe freedom 
is the future of every country. We believe in a free Cuba.
    I also want to thank Congressman Mark Foley for joining us today. 
Congressman, thank you for being here. I'm honored you're here. I 
appreciate your time. Terry White is here, the secretary of the Florida 
Department of Elder Affairs. Terry, thank you for coming, Senor Blanco. 
I--Dr. Rhonda Medows is with us today. I'm honored that the doc is here.
    We've got el alcalde de Miami. Thank you, Senor. Thank you very 
much, Alex, for coming, and as well--I mean, Manny, for coming. And Alex 
Penelas is here as well, the mayor of--donde? Okay. [Laughter] At least 
he got his name mentioned; that's a smart move. I appreciate Rene 
Rodriguez, the director of the Miami-Dade Housing Authority, for being 
here. Berta, donde esta Berta? Berta Ruano, thank you very much, Berta, 
for letting us come.
    And finally, when I landed at the airport on Air Force One, I was 
honored to walk off, and after I saw Brother and others that were there, 
I met a lady named Ana Cooper. Ana is right here. Thank you for coming, 
Ana. Let me tell you about Ana. Stand up, please. So you're wondering 
who Ana is. You're wondering who Ana Cooper is; she is a volunteer. She 
volunteers to help seniors have a better life. She spends time 
comforting seniors. She takes time out of her day to help somebody in 
need. And that's an important part of America. It's a really important 
part of our system. It's a part of a compassionate tomorrow when a 
fellow citizen is willing to dedicate time to help somebody who needs 
help.
    And I want to thank Ana. She's a--what I call a USA Freedom Corps 
greeter. Everywhere I go in America, I try to recognize an individual 
who is serving something greater than themselves in life. If you're such 
an individual, I want to thank you for that.
    If you're interested in helping, you can get on the Internet and 
look up usafreedomcorps.gov. It's an opportunity for young and old alike 
to serve your community. The strength of our country is more than just 
military might. The strength of our country is the heart and soul of our 
fellow citizens, people like Ana who are willing to help somebody in 
need. Ana, thank you for the example you've set, and I appreciate you 
coming.
    I mentioned our love for freedom in America. We love it. We love it 
for people of Cuba. We love it for the people of Iraq. We love it for 
the people of Afghanistan. We also know that a free society is more 
likely to be a peaceful society. And so when you hear me talk about 
freedom, you must also know that I talk about peace, that our deep

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desire in America is for the world to be more free and more peaceful. 
And we'll stay the course.
    We have made great progress at freeing people from barbaric regimes, 
which also means that America is more secure. We will stay on guard in 
America because we understand there are still enemies of freedom, 
enemies for what we stand for. And I want to thank the local authorities 
and the State authorities and our Federal authorities, who are all 
working closely together to keep the homeland more secure. But in order 
to make sure the homeland is more secure, we must hunt down enemies 
wherever they hide. The best way to make America secure is to find the 
enemy before the enemy comes to us. And that's what we will do.
    We must also worry about the economic security of our fellow 
citizens. And I want to thank the Members of Congress who have worked 
closely with the administration to create the environment for additional 
job growth. Your Governor and the good people down here have led the 
Nation in new job creation. And I want to thank the people of Florida 
for setting the pace for job recovery. But so long as anybody is looking 
for work and who wants to work and can't find a job, we will worry about 
it. And we will create the conditions necessary for economic vitality, 
including, most importantly, to make sure our small businesses are 
strong and vibrant all across the United States of America.
    And then we're worried in Washington, DC, and we're doing something 
about it, about the health security of the American people. And one of 
the things we finally recognized in Washington, well, we recognized it--
actually get something done about it--is that medicine is becoming more 
modern, yet the systems dealing with medicine, like Medicare, aren't. In 
other words, there have been great advancement in medicine, and yet the 
Medicare system is stuck in the past. And so we decided to do something 
about it.
    We decided to make sure that prescription medicines, which 
oftentimes replace surgeries and long hospital stays, become an integral 
part of a modern medical system available for our seniors and everybody 
else; in other words, that we now focus on prevention as opposed to 
reaction as an integral part of a modern medical system.
    One of the things that we've got to always worry about and work on 
in Washington is to make sure that pharmaceutical drugs are more 
affordable and more available. And I took some strong action to help 
that be the case by making sure that generic drugs are not delayed in 
making it to the marketplace.
    In our system today, if a pharmaceutical company invents a new kind 
of medicine, they're given patent protection for a period of time. And 
that's okay. It makes sense. After all, we want a--we want new medicines 
coming on the market, and patents provide incentives for people to 
reinvest and to take research and development risks. But what we can't 
afford is to have generic drugs delayed because of loopholes in the laws 
and regulations. We cannot allow drug companies to block generics, which 
are cheaper at the counter for our citizens--``less expensive'' is a 
better way to put that, still of high quality but of less expense--
because of arguments over minor features.
    In other words, the generic gets ready to come on the market, and 
the initial company will say, ``Wait a minute. You're--you know, you've 
got the pill bottle--the color of the pill bottle looks like that you're 
infringing on the patent,'' and delays take place. And we can't allow 
these excuse-making delays to take place. So the Federal Drug 
Administration has taken strong action which will get generics quicker 
to the markets, which will save our seniors and all people relying upon 
pharmaceuticals savings.
    We anticipate the savings will be up to $35 billion over a 10-year 
period. And that's a good, positive step on behalf of making sure our 
drugs are more affordable.
    But the other thing we've done is we made sure that Medicare is 
heading toward reform. And a reform in Medicare means a couple of 
things. It means seniors get to have choices, and all choices will 
include prescription drug benefits. The Medicare system of today does 
not have prescription drug benefits, as you know. We've got to change 
that. If medicine is changing, we want Medicare to change with it, on 
behalf of the senior citizens all across the country.

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    And so, as Tommy mentioned, we've had a debate up in Washington, and 
that is how best to provide a modern system to our seniors. One of the 
things I reminded people of and will continue to do so until I get a 
bill on my desk, that Members of the United States Congress and their 
staffs get a choice about what kind of plan--health care plan best suits 
their needs. In other words, Congress said, ``Let us have a consumer-
friendly system.'' A consumer-friendly system is one that says we trust 
the consumers to make the best choice. Senior citizens are consumers, 
and therefore, the plan ought to match your needs, not the needs 
designed by a bureaucrat--not your needs as decided by a bureaucrat in 
Washington, DC. If choice is good enough for Congress, it ought to be 
good enough for the seniors in America, was my point.
    I appreciate these men--I appreciate their consistency. They 
understood that, and that's a vital part of the bill which came out of 
the House of Representatives and the Senate. And basically is says this: 
It says that if you like your current Medicare system, you like the way 
the Medicare system is today, you should have the option of staying in 
that system, plus an additional benefit, and that would be prescription 
drugs. In other words, if you're happy where you are, we're going to add 
a prescription drug benefit.
    Now, as well, if you enhanced benefits or--such as more coverage for 
preventative care or other services, you ought to have that choice as 
well. In other words, you take what the Government provides, and if you 
want to make it better, you ought to have that choice--your choice to 
make. That ought to be available part of the program. As well, if you 
like the affordability of managed care plans--Medicare + Choice--if you 
like that and you're in the plan, that ought to be a part of your 
option. In other words, there's three opportunities. The plans ought to 
be tailored to your demands.
    Low-income seniors will receive extra help. We want to help those 
who are--who need help. So that ought to be a part of our Government 
policy so that seniors will have the ability to choose a Medicare plan 
which best fits their needs. And all the plans will mean there is a 
prescription drug benefit available. So we're modernizing Medicare, and 
it's important that we do.
    I talked to Myrtle Ball today--I had the honor of meeting with some 
of your fellow citizens prior to coming out here to talk, and I heard 
their stories. It's a good opportunity for Jeb and me and Tommy to 
listen to what people--what's on their mind. And pretty much common 
story--Myrtle is diabetic. She takes eight medications, and those cost 
her at least $700 a month, which is nearly half her income. And that 
bothers her, and it worries her. So she's cutting down, cutting the 
pills in half in some cases, to try to make those--stretch those 
dollars. The bill we passed--both bills we passed, and the combined bill 
we passed, Tommy and I concluded, will help somebody like Myrtle, help 
her meet the needs so that she doesn't feel stressed in later years of 
life.
    Teresa Tibble is here, and she takes care of her mom, Betty, at 
home. And Teresa, I want to thank you very much for doing that. She is a 
dutiful daughter. Her mom has got Alzheimer's. And Teresa wants to live 
with her mom so her mom feels comfortable. I think Jeb and I were 
touched by what it means to be sitting at a table with a daughter who 
has said, ``I've got a responsibility to my mom.'' And I want to 
appreciate Teresa for doing that. The extra money that will come from 
the benefit that's going to end up in the bill will help Teresa take 
care of her mom at home.
    I also met the Gensels. They're here, Judy and Jerry. And they--now, 
they're typical of a lot--because of Jerry's previous job, he was--had 
some benefits, some benefits as a retiree, but in his case, they run out 
in a couple of years. And so in the--from a private-sector plan--so he's 
concerned, obviously. When the benefits expire as a result of the 
retirement package he had earlier, what's going to happen to Judy and 
Jerry? And this bill will help. This bill will make a difference.
    In other words, this bill is more important for people to realize, 
instead of the rhetoric, that it actually is going to affect people's 
lives in a positive way. And here are some people's lives that will be 
affected, and I'm sure a lot of your lives will be affected as well. 
We've just got to get the job done now. We've got

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to make sure that the bills are reconciled and get them to my desk. And 
I look forward to signing a good Medicare bill.
    Finally, there's one other issue I want to talk about. I mean, if 
we're concerned about health care which is accessible and affordable, we 
better be concerned about the number of lawsuits that are taking place 
all across America. You see, it's one thing for somebody to be able to 
sue a bad doctor. We're for that. But the problem is, we've got a lot of 
lawyers filing suits against any doctor. And let me tell you the effect 
of frivolous lawsuits, the effect it's having all across America.
    It means that doctors are practicing what they call preventative 
medicine. In other words, if you think somebody's going to sue you, if 
you're in a litigious society, then you'll take extra care by 
prescribing more and more either procedures or whatever it may be. And 
that runs the cost of medicine up. It makes it more likely your bill is 
going to go up.
    And secondly, lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit that oftentimes--
you know, that people just settle in order to get it off the docket 
cause premiums to go up, which also makes medicine more costly. In a lot 
of cases around the country, docs have just had it. They said their 
premiums have gone up so high that they can't practice medicine anymore. 
So you know what they do? They take the shingle down, which makes it--
there's less doctors available. We've got a problem.
    I met with docs all across our country. The premiums are just going 
out of sight because of frivolous lawsuits are running up the cost of 
doing business, and it costs you more money. It just does. And people 
say, ``Well, you know, that's not a Federal issue. It's a State issue.'' 
And I want to applaud my brother, working hard on this issue. And I hope 
the legislature responds positively so that people all across this State 
are going to have affordable and accessible health care. But it also 
runs up the cost of the Federal bills.
    I mean, if somebody is practicing preventative medicine, it's going 
to mean Medicare costs go up. Medicaid costs will go up. Veterans health 
benefits go up. I've looked at the cost of all these frivolous lawsuits 
to the Federal Government and have come to the conclusion we have a 
Federal problem as well, which requires a Federal solution. In order to 
make sure health care is vibrant and viable, we need medical liability 
reform all across America, and we need a Federal medical liability 
reform.
    I want to thank you all for--I want to thank you for giving me a 
chance to come by and visit with you. Let me conclude by telling you 
something that I know is true. We are fortunate to be Americans. We live 
in a great country. We live in a great country that has got the best 
health care system in the world, and we need to keep it that way. We 
live in a great country because we believe in serving concepts greater 
than ourselves. We live in a great country because we believe in values 
and ideals from which we will not vary. We believe strongly in freedom. 
We believe in peace. We believe in human dignity. We believe in the 
worth of each individual. We are a great country, and I'm proud to be 
the President of this great country.
    Thank you all for coming. May God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 11:19 a.m. at the Metropolitan Senior 
Center, Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers. In his remarks, 
he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings of Florida; 
Josefina Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging, Department of Health 
and Human Services; Representatives Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart of 
Florida; Dr. Rhonda Medows, secretary, Florida Agency for Health Care 
Administration; Mayor Manuel A. Diaz of Miami; Mayor Alex Penelas of 
Miami-Dade County; and Berta Ruano, assistant to Ramon Perez-Dorrbecker, 
president, Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these 
remarks.