Political Quotes

“today is a day of profound disappointment to me. We have completed a debate on proposals to provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries, the most vulnerable sector of our population, and we have come up empty. I applaud my colleagues for their earnestness and conscientiousness as this issue was discussed on the Senate floor, but earnestness and conscientiousness do not help the senior citizen who cannot afford to pay for needed medications. I introduced a bill, the Prescription Drug Benefit Act of 2002, that would have provided an excellent benefit for Medicare beneficiaries by adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare Part B with no new premiums or deductibles, and I still believe that should be our goal. But at this point, we don't even have a consensus for a first step toward a Medicare prescription drug plan for seniors. Last week, I voted for the Graham-Miller plan, a comprehensive approach to this problem that, although not as good as my own bill, was a worthy compromise. It was defeated. Today, I voted for the Graham-Smith plan that would at least offer us a starting point toward a comprehensive prescription drug plan. It was defeated. I and all of my colleagues who are concerned about the welfare of our seniors are regrouping with an eye toward taking another run at this critical problem in the very near future. The seniors and the disabled still need their life-saving medications.”