Byron Dorgan: “the importance of this amendment is answering the question, what to do with $12 billion. I propose we use that $12…”

“the importance of this amendment is answering the question, what to do with $12 billion. I propose we use that $12 billion to reduce the premium that senior citizens will be required to pay for this prescription drug benefit, roughly $7 a month, from $35 to $28. The rebuttal to my amendment has been: This really doesn't mean very much. Only in this Chamber would $12 billion not mean very much. Frankly, this means a great deal to senior citizens. The underlying amendment represents the worst of all worlds. It says, let's give $6 billion to insurance companies. And I guarantee, you dye that money purple, you will have purple pockets in the insurance industry. That is where it is going. Let's have $6 billion go to the insurance industry to conduct an experiment that we already know has failed. I don't understand why that is the way we want to use billions of dollars. Why not use it to help senior citizens close the coverage gap or, as I suggest, to reduce monthly premiums which start at $35 a month in this bill and then ratchet up and up and up as prescription drug prices increase. Pass my amendment and help senior citizens reduce these premiums.”