Ed Whitfield: “prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare, this is an issue which has been before the Congress for quite some time.…”

“prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare, this is an issue which has been before the Congress for quite some time. There has been a discussion about it for a number of years. If Members will recall, last year for the first time the House of Representatives under our leadership did pass a meaningful prescription drug benefit for senior citizens throughout the country. We all know how difficult it is for some of these seniors to pay for the prescription drugs that they have been prescribed for their particular condition. One of the disappointing things about last year was that although the House passed a meaningful prescription drug benefit, the Senate did not pass one. So we found ourselves back this year at the same place that we started last year. So we made it very clear on the Republican side of the aisle that we were committed to a meaningful prescription drug benefit for senior citizens that would not bankrupt the country. Because, obviously, we can spend a trillion dollars over 10 years, or $2 trillion over 10 years, but that certainly would not be fair to the young men and women who are out working today with children.”