James Davis: “one of the things that we can all agree upon here today is that there ought to be an open and honest debate in our…”

“one of the things that we can all agree upon here today is that there ought to be an open and honest debate in our country and with our seniors as to exactly how to accomplish writing a prescription drug benefit. There are Democrats here who recognize that we have to live within the budget constraints that have been forced upon us, and we are ready to take the first step, even though it would not be the final step we would take. We are ready to work with Republicans. This bill that is being forced on the House of Representatives today with a minimum amount of debate is a sham. There are many ways to illustrate the point. Probably the best is the private insurance companies who are being asked to provide this drug benefit are saying, once again, we do not want to do it. We do not want your money. There are not many people here in Washington who tell the government we do not want your money. These private insurance companies do not want to write this drug benefit. This bill is a sham. The bill sets no details on premium, no details on the scope of the coverage. What are seniors getting under this bill? They do not know because we honestly do not know. The Dooley bill deserves a debate here today. It represents a compromise between what the Senate and the House is trying to do here and what the Democrats are proposing in the substitute. We deserve to have a debate on the Dooley bill.”