Jack Kingston: “I think if we look at the Gore plan, and there is a plan, it has never been introduced for 8 years, but suddenly about a…”

“I think if we look at the Gore plan, and there is a plan, it has never been introduced for 8 years, but suddenly about a month ago the Gore plan had a new prescription drug benefit. I did not know it until I saw an advertisement on there. Let me ask my colleagues. In fact, I would love anybody to answer. Have my colleagues been sent anything to the office? I mean, we have got New York, Minnesota, Georgia, and Colorado here. Not one office has been sent this allegedly serious proposal. But the Gore plan has one purchaser of prescription drugs. That is the Federal Government. The Bush plan has eight different options to choose from. The Bush plan they can enroll in at any time in their life. The Gore plan they have to chose at 64½ years old. And if they do not choose then, they are out of luck. The Bush plan says, we are not going to ensure Bill Gates and Ross Perot because two-thirds of the people out there already have a prescription drug plan; we do not need the universal coverage for everybody. The Gore plan says, no, sir. Ted Turner, Ross Perot, Bill Gates are my kind of guys. I want to make sure they get free prescription drugs from the truck drivers back home and the coal miners in Tennessee. And so it is the typical government-mandated, one-size-fits-all, huge Washington-driven entitlement.”