Is it correct, then, that if an individual or household was unable to obtain a loan from SBA, or assistance from another source, then they could be eligible to receive additional emergency home repair assistance, based upon the regulations…

The bill includes a provision that caps emergency home repair assistance for individuals and households at $5,000. Could the Chairman elaborate on this provision to describe what additional assistance might be available to individuals and…

I will conclude these questions by going back to my first assertion. We are not talking about prescription drugs through Medicare; we are talking about an assault against the basic principles of Medicare itself. That is a universal…

What do you estimate to be the cost of that plan that has a $150 deductible and $25 copay?

How can you offer a more generous plan by having the beneficiary pay only 25 percent as opposed to the Vice President's 50 percent and yet have such a lower cost?

As you understand, all of the plans provide for no payment for persons who are above the Medicaid eligibility limit but generally below 175 percent of poverty, which means approximately $14,000 or $15,000. They would pay no premium. They…

I am talking about the plan that will be in effect in the year 2002 when we adopt this plan. It will be a voluntary plan. It will be a plan which will be affordable. It will not only give you the benefit of access to 50-percent coverage of…

If I had been there last night--and I know the rules of the first debate precluded having a chart--I would have loved to have had a chart and asked Governor Bush to fill in the blanks. Since we do not have Governor Bush here but you are…

Let me ask about your plan. For persons over 175 percent of poverty, what percentage of the prescription drug expenses would you have the plan cover as opposed to that for which the individual would be responsible?

No. 2, do you understand Part B of Medicare--I am talking about Medicare as it existed for 35 years--requires the exact same election process as the Vice President's plan would require for prescription drugs? He is doing nothing beyond…

No. 1, it is $25 a month or $300 a year. No. 2, it is a voluntary election, exactly the same way that you had a voluntary election for Part B for 35 years. No. 3, you understand that the plan of the Vice President is a universal plan like…

No. 1, you understand, of course, that Part B of Medicare requires, first, a voluntary election to participate and then, second, a monthly premium which today is approximately $45?

I say to my colleague, I am concerned that several of your criticisms sound to me as if they are really criticisms against Medicare, as opposed to the idea of prescription drugs being offered through Medicare. For instance, did you just…

I do not want to speak much longer. I didn't speak much when I was on the floor before about another element of the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act because I focused on my own personal experiences in south Florida. But the ``registry…

I again lend my support to the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act. I understand we may be voting at 4:30 this afternoon to waive the rules to allow this legislation to be considered. I am hopeful in the spirit of fundamental fairness the…

before we start discussing the bill, I would like to offer a debt of gratitude to my colleagues on the other side for allowing this bill to go forward. And we can make it better, I am sure. But I have a few points that were mentioned. This…

I want to talk about another group of about 10,000. That is a group of Haitians. There are many more than 10,000 Haitians who have come to the United States in the last decade, decade and a half, fleeing first the dictatorship of the…

I express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to Senator Smith for the great leadership he has provided to the Environment and Public Works Committee in many areas but especially for what he has done for the Florida Everglades, America's…

I agree with the remarks by my colleague from Florida, and I would add that, in my view, the resolution makes clear that--once the conveyance process is complete--the Secretary of the Army should work closely with the parties to which the…

The Everglades is sick. This sickness has been long coming. It was approximately 120 years ago that man looked at the Everglades and realized that it was different, different than almost anything he or she had seen before, and seeing this…

for the past 2 weeks, my colleagues have heard me speak regarding the need to add a prescription medication benefit to Medicare. I indicated that in my judgment the most fundamental reform for Medicare is to shift it from a program which…

The first letter is signed by a broad coalition of national environmental groups, including the National Audubon Society, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the World…

I repeat what I said before. The purpose of these water reuse facilities, as I indicated earlier, and the nature of these reuse facilities is one of the areas on which we are going to be doing some preliminary experimentation and…

I will return to discuss the specific issue of municipal water. Let me complete the arithmetic of the analysis I was doing. On an annual basis, the difference between the State of Florida contributing 50 percent as opposed to the norm of…

That happens to be the size of the Everglades system. This project encompasses the Everglades system, an integrated environmental system, the totality of which creates the environments that sustain all of these great Federal investments.