[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2006)]
[Pages 686-693]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits in 
Jefferson City, Missouri

April 11, 2006

    The President. Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Please be seated. 
Thank you. Cindy, thanks for the kind introduction. I want to thank the 
chamber for inviting me here, to what I think you'll find to be an 
interesting educational event; at least I hope so. As you can see, I 
mean, there's several ways to have an educational event. One is to put a 
podium out there and let me blow away for an hour, kind of, talk and 
talk and talk. Another way is to have fellow citizens sit up here and 
discuss important policy issues. And that's what we're here to do today. 
We're here to discuss health care, particularly for our seniors. And so 
I want to thank you all for joining me.
    Most important, thank you all for a warm welcome. It's good to be 
back here in Missouri. My only regret is that Laura is not with me. 
She's actually in Midland, Texas. That's where I was raised and she was 
born and raised. She's doing a little event there, picking up her mom, 
bringing her up to Washington. Mother and Dad are coming too, so we're 
going to have Easter at Camp David. A little family affair which is--
[applause]. And I'm looking forward to it.
    But I've also been looking forward to coming here as well. We just 
came from the Lutheran Senior Service Center. Carl Rausch--[applause]--
yes, there you go. Thank you all. And we're about to have one of your 
fellow workers up here, as you'll note. The reason we were there is, we 
were watching seniors sign up for the new Medicare drug benefit. In 
other words, we were at a facility where seniors had--where seniors 
were, and there were good souls from this part of the world saying to 
people, ``Here's what's available for you if you want to sign up.''
    What we're here today is to talk about health care for seniors. But 
before we get there, I do want to recognize Members of the United States 
Senate who have joined us: first, your senior Senator Kitt Bond. Funny 
thing happened when we were crossing the river. [Laughter] He reminded 
me of how important that Missouri River is for getting farm product to 
market. I see the hat back there--thank you. Yes, sir. Kind of reminds 
me of home. [Laughter]
    And also traveling with us is a fellow who I've come to admire a lot 
as a straight shooter, Senator Jim Talent--and the Congressman from this 
district, Kenny Hulshof. Kenny, I appreciate you. Thank you. Peter 
Kinder, Lieutenant Governor, has joined us; Governor, thanks for being 
here. Proud you're here. It's good to see you again.
    Most of all, thanks for coming. Health care is a vital issue for 
this country. In my judgment, the best health care plan is one that 
says, ``We'll help the poor; we'll help the elderly; and we'll make sure 
the doctor-patient relationship is solid for the rest of us.'' In other 
words, we don't want the Federal Government--we really don't want the 
Federal Government telling folks who--what to buy and how to buy it and 
what price to pay.

[[Page 687]]

We want there to be a relationship between doctors and patients. That's 
what we want.
    But our Government made a commitment to our seniors, and it's a 
commitment that I intended to keep when I went to Washington, DC. In 
other words, our commitment is, our seniors should have first-class 
health care. That commitment, interestingly enough, was first signed by 
a fellow citizen from Texas named Lyndon Baines Johnson. And so I came 
to Washington, DC, and said, ``Are we doing as good a job as possible to 
provide modern medicine for our seniors?'' You see, once the Government 
makes a commitment, it ought to be a solid commitment; it ought to be a 
good commitment. There's no need to have a health care system for our 
seniors that doesn't meet needs. And one of the things I noticed in the 
analyzation of the health care system for seniors, analyzation of 
Medicare, was that medicine had changed but Medicare hadn't.
    I'll give you an example. Medicare would pay thousands and thousands 
and thousands of dollars for ulcer surgery but not a dime for the 
prescription drugs to help prevent the ulcer from occurring in the first 
place. That didn't make sense. It certainly didn't make sense for the 
seniors, did it? In other words, if you're going to have a modern 
system, you ought to have a system that says, pharmaceuticals have 
helped change medicine. And it certainly didn't make sense for the 
taxpayers. After all, if you would spend $50 a month to prevent ulcer 
surgery, and the surgery costs thousands to begin with, it saves money.
    And so I said to the people in Washington, DC, ``Let's modernize the 
system. Let's figure out how to make it work better for our seniors.'' A 
commitment made is a commitment we've got to keep. And we finally got a 
deal done, finally put aside needless politics. I must confess to you, 
Washington is full of needless politics. We can do a better job.
    We need to focus on big problems, and a big problem was that 
Medicare wasn't living up to its expectations. And I signed the bill, 
and I proudly signed it. And so this bill helps all seniors afford 
prescription drugs. It really helps a lot. It gives seniors choices.
    I knew this would be a problem at first. Some people just simply 
don't want to be confronted with choice. You kind of get settled in and 
everything seems to be going fine, and all of a sudden, up pops a new 
Medicare plan, and you've got 42 choices to choose from here in 
Missouri. And that can be a little confusing. I knew that would be the 
case.
    On the other hand, I also knew there were thousands of fellow 
citizens who would be willing to go out and help people determine what 
choice suited their needs. See, I believe that people ought to be 
trusted. I don't think the Government ought to be making every decision 
on behalf of the citizens. I think the more that people--citizens are 
given choice in life, the better off it is to meet their needs. See, 
when you have the Government say, ``This is for you,'' sometimes it 
doesn't meet a person's needs. When you have a person say, ``Here's some 
options for you to choose from,'' it means you could design a program to 
meet your health care needs. And that's what we did in this new Medicare 
plan.
    And thirdly, one of the things the Medicare plan didn't have was 
catastrophic coverage. One of the things this drug plan says is that 
something may happen, out of your control, and therefore, you may have a 
big expenditure. And therefore, it seems to make sense that there would 
be catastrophic, kind of, stop-gap coverage. And so over $3,600, the 
Government will pay 90 percent in this new plan. To me that makes sense. 
It gives somebody peace of mind. People say, everything seems to be 
going okay right now, but if something goes bad, the Government will 
help you. And so the new drug benefit that we're describing today has 
got a catastrophic component. And when people sign up, it should give 
you peace of mind, give your family peace of mind.
    Fourthly, it's--I recognize that certain people need help in our 
society. And therefore, if you're a low-income senior--about a third of 
the seniors qualify--the Government is going to pay over 90-something 
percent of your--95 percent of the bill. In other words, we recognize 
people need help in this society; we're a compassionate society. And so 
the drug benefit, if you're a low-income senior, is really going to 
help. It's going to

[[Page 688]]

help all seniors. Matter of fact, it's estimated that all seniors' drug 
bills are cut in half under this program. And if you're a low-income 
senior, it's especially beneficial. And that's the way it should be.
    I remember the debate in Washington, DC--the language gets a little 
rugged up there. We had people say, ``The prescription drug plan is just 
simply a hollow promise,'' or, ``The bill will leave millions of seniors 
worse off.'' That's not the facts. See, when you cut through all the 
rhetoric and look at the results, I think people are going to be amazed 
at what's available.
    One the reasons I'm here is that even though 29 million people have 
signed up, there's still about 7 million people who are qualifying for 
this program, and they ought to take a look. One way to convince people 
to take a look is to have others talk about the benefits of the program. 
They've probably got a little more credibility than I do. [Laughter] You 
don't have to agree with that. [Laughter] I'm just telling you, it's a 
good deal.
    As a matter of fact, we estimated the premiums to be $37 a month. 
They're down to $25 a month for the seniors--for most seniors. When 
people have choice, the 42 plans helps bring cost-effectiveness into 
medicine. You got one choice, you don't get cost-effective. You got 42 
programs to choose from--it's amazing what happens when somebody kind of 
competes for your business, that says, ``I'm going to try to make the 
plan attractive for you.'' And that's the difference between a 
government-dictated program and a program that trusts seniors to make 
choice.
    We've got up until May 15th for folks to get the best benefits. If 
you haven't signed up--if you're listening on TV and haven't signed up, 
please take a look, call 1-800-MEDICARE or go to medicare.gov if you 
want to find out what's available.
    If you're a son--or if you've got a mom or a dad who is eligible for 
Medicare, a son or a daughter has a duty, in my judgment, to the parent 
to find out what's available for your mom or dad. That's your duty. This 
is a good deal. It costs nothing to look at it. I think you're going to 
find it's an amazing opportunity to really help your mom or dad with 
prescription drugs, make sure they get modern medicine. Isn't that what 
a son or a daughter wants, to make sure the mom or dad gets the best 
possible medicine? Well, here's the plan that will make sure you get the 
best possible medicine.
    If you're a church, in a part of a church or community center, find 
somebody who's eligible for Medicare and help them. It's not all that 
hard. It's a pretty simple program. It may be hard for the senior who's 
not necessarily computer-literate, but if you're computer-literate, it's 
pretty easy. The steps are easy to follow. And you'll be doing somebody 
a favor.
    If you're a senior wondering whether or not this makes sense, you 
ought to take a look. It doesn't cost a dime to look, and you're going 
to save money. Seniors are saving about half on the prescription drug 
charges already. If you're a poor senior, the Government is going to pay 
over 95 percent of the deal.
    I'm here to, kind of, cut through all the politics and cut through 
all the rhetoric and help people understand what's available. No better 
place to come than the State of Missouri, kind of the ``Show-Me'' State. 
So we're about to show you. And I'm going to start with Dr. Mark 
McClellan, fellow Texan. McClellan is an unusual fellow; he's got a lot 
of degrees.
    What are your degrees, McClellan?
    Dr. Mark B. McClellan. Mr. President, I have a medical degree, also 
a Ph.D.
    The President. Yes. One of the things I like to remind people of is 
this fact: He's a Ph.D., and I was an okay student. [Laughter] Look who 
the adviser is, and look who the President is. [Laughter] I've used it 
before with him. He's a good sport. His job is--what?
    Dr. McClellan. I'm the head of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, 
and we are working with groups all over the country to help people find 
out about the most important new benefit in Medicare in 40 years--that's 
the drug coverage that you're talking about, sir.
    The President. See, we have got a duty at the Federal level to help 
people find out what's available. That's our duty. Mark is in charge of 
it. He works with Mike Leavitt, who's the Secretary of Health and Human

[[Page 689]]

Services, and they've done a fine job. By the way, when you put 29 
million people, right off the bat, into a system, you're going to have 
glitches, but they've handled the glitches. They're working with your 
Governor. They're working with the State government to work on dual 
eligibles. I know you read initially about the issues related to the 
signups--we're dealing with them. His job is to run them down, find 
those problems, and solve them.
    His job is also to help rally the country, others to help explain 
the program. And how are we doing? Give us----
    Dr. McClellan. Well, now over 29 million people are already 
participating, hundreds of thousands more seniors and people with a 
disability are signing up every week. But we want to make sure, Mr. 
President, that everybody gets the support they need to make a competent 
decision. Some of the things that we do in that include our Medicare 
help line. People can call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-MEDICARE, 
and get personalized help, finding out about what the drug benefit means 
for you. If you like to go online, or you've got a son or daughter or 
grandchildren who do, you can go to medicare.gov and get personalized 
help as well.
    But what we've really found is that events all over the country help 
us connect with beneficiaries, make sure we're reaching them where they 
live and work and play and pray, so that they can find out, face to 
face, what the new drug benefit means for them. We've been working with 
pharmacists and other health professionals--like at the event that you 
visited earlier today here in Jefferson City--many advocacy groups that 
advocate on behalf of seniors, people with a disability----
    The President. AARP.
    Dr. McClellan. ----AARP, church groups, the NAACP--very diverse 
range of groups that don't agree on everything, don't agree sometimes on 
much of anything, but they all agree that seniors and people with a 
disability should find out about the most important new benefit in 
Medicare in 40 years.
    The President. One thing that's important, that people with 
disability also qualify--some people do--and they need to make sure that 
they take a look at what's available.
    Give me some of the day--we got a timeframe here we're working in.
    Dr. McClellan. That's right. We've got until May 15th--that's the 
end of the enrollment period. And we're urging people to take a look now 
so they avoid the rush that's probably going to come as we get very 
close to that May 15th deadline. This week, there are going to be more 
than a thousand events all over the country that include many senior 
officials from your administration, that include health professionals, 
that include all of these groups that we're collaborating with all over 
the country to help people find out about the program. We're doing it 
here in Jefferson City and at events all over the State of Missouri. 
We're doing it all over the country.
    The President. Yes, change isn't easy. It's hard to change, 
particularly a system that's been in place since the 1960s. And yet we 
felt it was necessary to encourage change for the sake of our seniors. 
But we also understand that it requires a massive effort to show 
people--get it, ``show me''--to show people--[laughter]--what's 
available. And old Mark is in charge of it. But it requires an army of 
compassion to help.
    And one thing before we go to Linda, who's a soldier in the army of 
compassion, by the way--is, tell me about the low-income benefit. 
Describe that to the folks who are listening.
    Dr. McClellan. Well, as you said, Mr. President, everybody in 
Medicare can take advantage of this new drug coverage, whether they've 
got a retiree plan now--we can help with that--whether they like to get 
their care through a Medicare Advantage Plan--that's the HMOs or PPOs in 
Medicare. Lots of people like to get help in different ways. But there 
is extra help available for people with limited incomes.
    And so if you're living month to month on a Social Security check or 
some other limited fixed income, or if you know someone who is, very 
important to look into the extra help. You apply for this extra 
assistance. As you said, you can get 95 percent of your drug costs paid 
for, on average. That's a benefit worth about $3,700 a year on average.

[[Page 690]]

    Now, for a typical senior, you're getting about $1,100 worth of help 
with drug costs on average. So that's important right there. But there's 
extra help available for people of limited means, and we're making some 
extra efforts to reach out to people who may not be able to find out 
about this program otherwise. Here in rural parts of the States, we're 
working with the Grange; we're working with the USDA to get out into the 
community and, at a grassroots level, help people find out----
    The President. We're working with Heisinger Bluffs Senior Living 
Center, as well.
    Dr. McClellan. That's right.
    The President. Weren't we?
    Dr. McClellan. That's right; we sure are.
    The President. Linda Detring, welcome.
    Linda Detring. Good morning, Mr. President.
    The President. Thanks for coming. Lutheran Senior Services.

[At this point, Ms. Detring, vice president of operations, Lutheran 
Senior Services, made brief remarks, concluding as follows.]

    Ms. Detring. During that time, I also became a Reserve officer in 
the United States Navy Reserves, as a Nurse Corps officer.
    The President. Fantastic, thanks.
    Ms. Detring. I retired 2 years ago as a captain.

[Ms. Detring made further remarks.]

    The President. See, it's interesting, when you listen to what Linda 
said, she said ``educate'' about three or four times. And that's what 
we're doing. That's why I've asked these people to come sit up here with 
me, which isn't easy, by the way, is it? [Laughter] Wait until she 
speaks, you're not going to believe it. [Laughter] Anyway, we want 
people to know what's available. And I bet you people, when they take a 
look at the 40-plus choices here in Missouri, get a little nervous at 
first.
    Ms. Detring. This is a little overwhelming at first. But if you help 
them through it--and I went on the Internet to choose my mother's plan, 
and it was very simple once I got on there and understood it.
    The President. Well, I appreciate you. Thanks.
    Ms. Detring. Welcome.
    The President. Thanks for serving as a good example two times: one, 
as a loving daughter, and two, as a person who is involved with the 
faith community, all extending a helping hand to somebody who needs a 
little help. Thanks for doing it.
    Another person who is involved with senior citizens happens to be 
Jodie Baker. Isn't that right?
    Jodie Baker. Yes, it is.
    The President. And what do you do?
    Ms. Baker. Thank you, Mr. President. I am a pharmacist. I work here 
in Jefferson City at Kmart Pharmacy, so I get to see a lot of seniors.
    The President. You see people coming to buy--yes, exactly. That's 
good. So tell us about--tell me about your involvement with the Medicare 
Part D program.
    Ms. Baker. Well, I was very excited to be involved at my place of 
work in trying to get the word out. And I like to talk. I think most of 
my customers would agree with that.
    The President. We're about to find out, aren't we?

[Ms. Baker made brief remarks, concluding as follows.]

    Ms. Baker. That's one thing; as a pharmacist, it's heartbreaking to 
me because I see people come in, and I know their conditions, and I know 
maybe not all their finances, but the medications are so expensive. I 
have people ask me, ``Can you help me pick which prescription I can get 
this month?'' And that's very hard----
    The President. Yes, it's got to be. Listen, there were people 
literally choosing between the electricity bill and pharmaceuticals.
    Ms. Baker. Yes, or food.
    The President. And that's not right in this country. And this 
program fixed it. And one of the things you told me earlier--this, by 
the way, isn't the first time we've seen each other. Well, it's the 
first day we've seen each other but not the first time, on the stage. 
Tell me about what you find with the low-income seniors. And give people 
a sense--if you're a low-income senior, you need to listen.

[Ms. Baker made further remarks.]

[[Page 691]]

    The President. Isn't that neat? I appreciate it. There's pharmacists 
all over the country who, obviously, interface with seniors. And I want 
to thank those in the pharmaceutical--I mean, in the pharmacist industry 
who are explaining what's available. And it's an interesting example, 
isn't it, of somebody who is combining her work with her care for 
seniors and helping people see what's available.
    I appreciate you coming and explaining that.
    Ms. Baker. Thank you very much.
    The President. Jerry, welcome. Jerry Sooter, thanks for coming.
    Gerald ``Jerry'' Sooter. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Appreciate you.
    Mr. Sooter. We appreciate you being here very much, and thank you. I 
retired as a funeral director in June of 2003. I was born and raised in 
north Missouri, northwest Missouri. And, by the way, my wife and 
daughter and son-in-law and grandson are here.
    The President. Yes. Looking forward to meeting them afterwards.
    Mr. Sooter. I'm sure they're looking forward to that too. [Laughter]
    The President. It would be kind of rough if you said they weren't 
looking forward--[laughter].

[Mr. Sooter made brief remarks.]

    The President. That's great advice. Isn't it interesting, the 
society in which we live, word gets out; Jerry gets on the computer and 
taps into the system which, for some, can be complicated--obviously 
wasn't for you.
    Mr. Sooter. I found it extremely easy, and it's perplexing to me to 
hear people say it's difficult.
    The President. Well, some people are computer-literate, and some 
aren't, for starters. But I like the self-starter--you're a self-
starter. You said, ``I'm going to look.'' People need to take a look. 
That's what you need to do. Jerry is saving 65 percent on his drugs. 
That's pretty healthy savings. I bet you could use the savings.
    Mr. Sooter. Well, that's correct, because last week, when the 
computer went out on my automobile, it came in handy. [Laughter]
    The President. That's good. Well, we appreciate you joining us. 
Thank you for being willing to tell people your story. You're a lot more 
credible at telling people your story than I would be. In other words, 
it's important for people to hear that. Here's Jerry sitting here; he 
doesn't have anything to--any axe to grind, all he wants to do is tell 
people what's available. And that's why we've asked him to come. And 
you're very articulate about it. Thanks for coming. Looking forward to 
meeting the grandkids. Appreciate you.
    Helen Robinette--isn't that right?
    Helen Robinette. Yes, that's right, Mr. President. [Laughter]

[Mrs. Robinette, senior citizen, made brief remarks, concluding as 
follows.]

    Mrs. Robinette. I save approximately 200 a month on my drugs.
    The President. Isn't that interesting?
    Mrs. Robinette. Yes, I save approximately 200 a month.
    The President. You mean you were paying 300 a month, and now you're 
paying about 100?
    Mrs. Robinette. Yes, yes. It's probably--sometimes it's not even 
100. Then also I had----
    The President. So your insurance friend laid it out for you?
    Mrs. Robinette. Yes.
    The President. Explained it?
    Mrs. Robinette. Yes, she did. She did. She was very nice, very nice.
    The President. Well, she's supposed to be. [Laughter]
    Mrs. Robinette. We were kind of dense and didn't understand it.
    The President. No, listen, but you're not alone. When you're--this 
can be confusing to folks.
    Mrs. Robinette. It is.
    The President. And that's why we've asked people to help--step up 
and help somebody who needs some explanation. Jerry figured it out, but 
you, fortunately, had somebody who said, ``Look, I want to help you see 
what's available.'' And you're saving now over $2,000 a year, sounds 
like.

[Mrs. Robinette made further remarks.]

    The President. Babying that inhaler.

[[Page 692]]

    Mrs. Robinette. I was babying that inhaler. [Laughter] And only took 
it when I couldn't walk across the floor.
    The President. I got you.
    Mrs. Robinette. And then all my allergies--if the doctor didn't have 
any samples, I didn't take it because it was very expensive, and I 
couldn't do that.
    The President. Yes.
    Mrs. Robinette. So now with your program, my inhaler is $5. And I 
get to take the allergy medicine too, and I love it. [Laughter]
    The President. I'm glad you came. Good job.
    All right, we're going to end here with Bob Vanderfeltz. Got the 
Vanderfeltz family here. When I first met him, I said, ``I like a guy 
with a snap-on shirt.'' [Laughter] Tell everybody about yourself right 
quick.
    Bob Vanderfeltz. Your people asked me when they called me, ``Are you 
going to wear a suit?'' I said, ``No, I'm not going to buy one; I don't 
have one.''
    The President. Yes. [Laughter] Yes, I wish I didn't have to wear 
them, believe me. [Laughter]
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. I wish to acknowledge my family. My beautiful wife 
and four of my children are here. One of them is a little bit far away. 
We've got a lieutenant colonel, battalion commander, serving in Iraq at 
the present time.
    The President. Really? Gosh, thank you. Yes, tell him thanks. You 
tell him. That's great. You know how to e-mail?
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. No, sir, I'm one of those illiterate computer boys. 
I don't even own one.
    The President. Yes, well, get one of your sons to e-mail him, and 
tell him the Commander in Chief is proud.
    How do you make a living?
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. How do I make a living?
    The President. Yes.
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. Well, at the present time, I'm retired. I was born 
and raised right here in central Missouri. The apple didn't fall far 
from the tree. I live still on the dairy farm I was born and raised on.
    The President. Really?
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. Yes, sir.
    The President. A man of the land. That's great.
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. Nothing like it.
    The President. You got big hands. [Laughter]
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. I know how to milk.
    The President. Yes, I bet you do. [Laughter]
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. It's kind of like riding a bicycle. You never 
forget that. [Laughter]
    Getting back to what we're here for--[laughter]--well, I went about 
mine a little differently, like I said, being computer-illiterate--well, 
what did I have to lose; I called my local Social Security office. And 
surprising to me, I was lucky I knew someone there, and I was talking to 
them and in less than 10 minutes, they had me signed up on a program, in 
less than 10 minutes' time. And from that point, I said, well, I'll find 
out what it is to get into a program, so I attempted to call the 1-800 
number in the middle of the day, and I found out that sometimes 
automated machines work better at nighttime when they aren't so busy. 
[Laughter]
    The President. Bring that up with McClellan. [Laughter] We did have 
a problem initially on the 1-800 number. A lot of people were calling, 
and then they ended up putting a lot more operators on there. Now, I'm 
not making excuses. Look, I understand. But thank you.
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. But I went, like I said, earlier--or later in the 
evening, at that time, and it was, push the buttons and right straight 
through.

[Mr. Vanderfeltz made further remarks.]

    The President. Yes, hear that--$140 a month, now he's paying $7 a 
month. Here's a guy--he may not be computer-literate, but he's smart 
enough to call and ask advice for a program that's saving him a lot of 
money. Isn't that right?
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. Right.
    The President. You recommend people look at this thing? That's a 
leading question--I'm not even a lawyer. [Laughter]
    Mr. Vanderfeltz. No, I appreciate it very much. Needless to say, I 
didn't have to go to school very far to find out that it saved me money. 
[Laughter]

[[Page 693]]

    The President. I bet you're plenty smart; you know what I'm saying? 
[Laughter] I bet you know what you're doing.
    I hope you all have found this interesting. You may not believe me, 
but you'll believe Bob, or you'll believe Helen, or you'll believe 
Jerry. These are real-life examples of people who said, ``I think I'll 
just take a look.'' Twenty-nine million Americans have signed up so far. 
There's 7 million more we're trying to reach. If you're one of the 7 
million who have not signed up, at least take a look--take a look at 
what's available for you.
    This Government of ours has modernized Medicare so that we can look 
seniors in the eye and say, ``We're doing the best we can to make sure 
your medicine is modern.'' We don't want people choosing between 
electricity bills or food and their pharmaceuticals, like that was 
happening a while back.
    This program makes sense for our seniors. It makes sense for our 
taxpayers. Do you realize that because there's choice in the 
marketplace, because we've trusted seniors to pick a plan that meets 
their needs, the estimated costs in the first year to the Federal 
Government are 20 percent less than thought. In other words, one of the 
things that's important for our society to understand is that when you 
trust people, good things happen. It happens for them, and it happens 
for society as a whole.
    I'm proud to be here in Missouri. I want to thank you all for giving 
us a chance to come by and say hello. We're dealing with big issues. 
We're dealing with health care; we're dealing with keeping the peace; 
we're helping our small businesses thrive. It is a fantastic opportunity 
to come and thank you all for really being, however, the--representing 
the true strength of America. And the true strength of this country is 
not in the size of our armies or in the size of our wallets, it's in the 
size of our hearts.
    And for those of you who are helping a neighbor in need, helping a 
child to learn how to read, or providing shelter for the homeless or 
food for the hungry or advice to the seniors, I want to thank you from 
the bottom of my heart for helping to make this Nation the greatest 
nation on the face of the Earth.
    Thanks for coming, and God bless.

Note: The President spoke at 12:37 p.m. at the Etta and Joseph Miller 
Performing Arts Center. In his remarks, he referred to Cynthia Brinkley, 
president AT&T-Missouri Carl Rausch, president, Lutheran Senior 
Services; and Gov. Matt Blunt and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder of Missouri.