Bill Nelson: “I thank the Senator. I understand the good intentions of the Senator from Iowa in what is a difficult situation for him.…”

“I thank the Senator. I understand the good intentions of the Senator from Iowa in what is a difficult situation for him. The Senator from Iowa has indicated he had a number of townhall meetings, of which there seemed to be complete acceptance and happiness with this prescription drug benefit. I want the Senator to know that I, too, have had innumerable townhall meetings in my State of Florida, and I get exactly the opposite result. Perhaps that is because it is a demographic fact that Florida has a higher percentage of senior citizens than most States. Perhaps it is that our senior citizens are very aware and current on events and on news. Perhaps it is also because there is a great deal of activity in our State of Florida with regard to wanting to sign up for this plan, because we have the beneficence of the fact that so many seniors around the country, including from the State of Iowa, the State of the Senator, retire and move to the State of Florida. So there is great consternation, I want the Senator to understand, among seniors in our State. The Senator mentioned earlier in his comments--and I don't take the comments personally--he said there was a politicizing of this particular issue. This Senator from Florida has an obligation to stand up and fight for his people. I can tell you that the senior citizens of my State are concerned and they are confused and they are bewildered and, in some cases, they are frightened because of this.…”