Frank Lautenberg: “I support the Robb second-degree amendment to help ensure that Congress acts this year to provide a real prescription…”

“I support the Robb second-degree amendment to help ensure that Congress acts this year to provide a real prescription drug benefit for seniors. Mr. President, prescription drugs are a vital part of health care in this country. In fact, senior citizens spend more of their own money on prescription drugs than on any other health care item. If Medicare were enacted today, it would be unthinkable to create a benefit package that did not include prescription drugs. The resolution before us claims to provide $40 billion for a drug benefit through a reserve fund for Medicare. But there are no reconciliation instructions to make sure that the Congress actually acts--unlike the tax breaks, which the Finance Committee is required to produce. Mr. President, this amendment ensures that Congress really will act on prescription drugs, by requiring that such legislation be enacted before we take up any tax cut. This makes sure that we keep our priorities straight. And that we won't give tax breaks for the wealthy a higher priority than life-saving drugs for seniors. Why is it so important that we move on prescription drug legislation this year? Unfortunately, three of every four Medicare beneficiaries lack decent, dependable coverage for prescription drugs. At least a third of those people have no drug coverage at all. And we're not talking about wealthy people here. Fifty-four percent of the people on Medicare without drug coverage earn about $17,000 a year.”