Lynn C. Woolsey: “like the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) said, this is deja vu all over again. Here we are, once again, discussing ways…”

“like the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) said, this is deja vu all over again. Here we are, once again, discussing ways to help seniors afford the prescription drugs that they need and must have and, once again, the majority insists on a sham proposal that gives seniors nothing more than a false sense of security. I am here tonight with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) to remind everyone that as we debate proposals to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, the decisions we make will overwhelmingly impact the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts across this country. Women are living longer than ever, and they are living longer than men. That is good news. However, the poverty that many women experience during their final years is certainly not good news. There are several reasons women's golden years are not so golden. While most women have worked their entire lives, a good portion of this work was not in the paid workforce. You do not earn a pension for the time spent caring for children or elderly parents. When many of our mothers and grandmothers were in the workforce, they were denied equal pay for equal work, therefore earning less. Some worked only part-time, trying to balance the responsibilities of their jobs and their families. As a result, they have made less over their lifetimes, and now their monthly Social Security benefit is considerably smaller than their male counterparts.”