we have a very simple message this morning. America's seniors now, for 37 years and 1 day--since 37 years ago yesterday was the day Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare legislation into law--have been waiting for prescription drug coverage…

Our amendment has a simple objective. It is to bring Medicare into the 21st century by providing for it what virtually every private health insurance plan has--coverage of prescription drugs. When Medicare was established in 1965…

I also appreciate the kind remarks of the Senator from Utah and hope that he will open his Congressional Record tomorrow and will read the remarks that I am going to be delivering shortly, as we both share a very strong interest in the…

I am voting on a piece of legislation that affects your jobs, and I have no idea exactly how it works. But I know this: On page 271, 272, page 281, 243, and 244, the amount of duty-free apparel that can come into this country to compete…

I rise to respond to criticisms raised about the availability and cost of drugs under the Democratic proposal. The minority leader has distributed a memo in which he cites selected provisions of our bill to come to a false conclusion about…

I thank the Chair. Last Thursday, the 18th of July, Senators Kennedy, Miller, Corzine, and I offered this amendment to provide affordable, comprehensive, and reliable prescription drug coverage for the 39 million older Americans and…

The answer is no. It is because they start from a fundamentally different position. Our bill is what would be described as a ``defined benefit.'' You know what you are going to get, and you can rely on it. The Republican bill is a defined…

That is true, I say to the Senator. What you have just said contributes to a recent poll, done by the Kaiser Family Foundation in May of this year, which asked Americans: Which kind of plan did they want? For Republicans in America, 58…

one of the enigmas about Medicare and why it has fallen so far behind other major health care plans, such as the one that the Senator and the Senator from Maine and I participate in, along with Federal employees--one of the reasons is the…

There are two rates. One is what I would call the retail rate, and the second is the wholesale rate. Insofar as the overall expenditures for individuals, if it is determined that individual requires a specific drug, which is not on the…

I do not want to do is to create a poisoned environment which will make it difficult, if not impossible, to do what I think seniors want, which is to arrive at a reasonable compromise that will provide them with a prescription drug…

the estimate of our bill is that, in conjunction with the underlying generic drug bill, if that passes and makes generic drugs more available, our bill, which would only charge a $10 copayment for generic drugs as opposed to a $40…

What does our plan provide? Our plan will require of seniors who voluntarily elect to participate a $25 monthly premium to do so. There will be no deductible. There is an easy-to-understand copayment system, which is $10 per prescription…

the locals call it ``God's country.'' The Apalachicola River, beginning at the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint River, near the borders of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, was and remains an important waterway in the southeast. The…

It is a testimony to exactly those attributes that we have had Medicare for 37 years and never, never has it been proposed that we add an assets test to people's ability to secure the basic necessities of health care that sustain life and…

I am going to talk about one of the issues which will be a central part of the next several days' debate on American health care. The specific bill before us upon which we are seeking permission to proceed relates to generic drugs and…

I have just one last comment about the automobile. As it is for most of us, an automobile is more than just a means of transportation; it is a statement of our independence, our ability to be able to do those things that make life…

I appreciate the Senator's thoughtful, incisive questions which underscore some of the differences--I think clear deficiencies--in the legislation the House has already passed. According to the Corporate Health Care Coalition, the benefit…

Section 302 of S. 2673 involves Corporate Responsibility for Financial Reports. I am concerned that in subsection (b), where the CEO and CFO sign documents to verify the accuracy of financial reports, the bill's language says they shall…

In this article, the President of the United States has given as one of his reasons to continue his support for the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Harvey L. Pitt, the fact that Mr. Pitt has required chief…

I express my great admiration for what Senator Sarbanes has done in presenting to America such a meaningful piece of legislation to deal with one of the great scandals that has occurred in the history of our free enterprise system, and…

first, I commend my two colleagues for their eloquent statements. I commend the Presiding Officer for his great leadership on this effort to pass a prescription drug benefit this year. The most fundamental reform for our Nation's Medicare…

since its creation in 1965, the Medicare Program has helped millions of the Nation's elderly and disabled when they were in desperate need, after they had become sick enough to require a physician's assistance or hospitalization…

when the Spanish explorers surveyed Florida in the early 16th century, this is what they saw: Massive pines, measuring two to three feet in diameter that climbed into the skies over 100 feet. This was the landscape of the Apalachicola…

I rise, along with 21 of my colleagues, to submit a resolution commending the country and the people of Colombia on continuing the tradition of democracy, with a plurality freely and fairly voting for President-elect Alvaro Uribe Velez and…