I have two amendments to establish legislative exchange programs on behalf of the United States Senate. These two amendments will authorize funds necessary to create formalized, cooperative relationships between the U.S. Senate and the…

before starting the bill, I will take 2 minutes on leader time to comment on an issue that is important to me personally but that I think is important to our concerns for people around the world, and that is the President's trip right now…

I want to strongly urge my colleagues to vote for the motion to proceed. We have had a good debate over the last three days, and it is clear that right now patients across the country are facing a crisis of access to quality health care…

Before we left for the Fourth of July recess, we passed historic legislation to improve Medicare, to strengthen Medicare, and to offer for the first time a prescription drug benefit through the Medicare Program for our seniors and…

last Tuesday, the Committee on Rules and Administration favorably reported S. Res. 138, a proposal to amend the Senate's cloture rule. The committee's action represents an important milestone on the road to filibuster reform. It brings the…

this resolution has been submitted by myself and on behalf of Senator Daschle, Senator Graham, and Senator Hollings in honor of the honorable and great J. Strom Thurmond. Last night shortly after 9:45, we were notified of the death of…

just about 30 minutes ago I sat down and wanted to review a little bit about the last 6 months. As I did that and came to the floor and cited some of the legislation we have done, I so much appreciate the comments of the Senator from New…

As I look back over the last week, it has truly been an exciting week for America. After years of discussion, after years of debate, we passed a bill this morning, in the middle of the night, late last night after midnight, that we know…

a few moments ago we were made aware that at 9:45 tonight a close friend, a confidant, a colleague to most of us in this body, Strom Thurmond, passed away. It was a century ago when Mark Twain was alive and Teddy Roosevelt was President…

I believe in assuring the ability of seniors who choose to do so to add their own funds on top of the government contribution in order to participate in private fee-for-service plans under Medicare. I also believe that private…

Whereas Augie Hiebert came to Alaska in 1939 and built the first successful commercial radio station; Whereas on Dec. 7, 1941, Augie Hiebert picked up the first report of the raid on Pearl Harbor from his radio station in Fairbanks, Alaska…

for years Congress has debated providing prescription drug coverage to seniors and how to strengthen and improve the Medicare Program. Tonight we have acted. Tonight America is one step closer to being a more caring society for millions of…

as we bring this very busy day to a close, I wish to reflect on where we are with this very historic bill that will provide prescription drugs and, at the same time, strengthen and improve Medicare for our seniors and individuals with…

let me just make one final comment. In wrapup last night, we had two very important pieces of legislation pass through the body. We are debating throughout each day the prescription drug benefits and Medicare bill, yet we have other…

as I mentioned earlier, we have had a productive week. We have moved forward and we have debated and we have amended the prescription drug Medicare bill. We have discussed such issues as asset testing, generic drugs, and appropriate…

on this Friday we have had a number of speakers come forward over the course of the morning and the afternoon on the topic of how best to improve Medicare, strengthen Medicare, preserve it, and build upon what we have learned in the past…

I rise to oppose the Dorgan amendment on importation of foreign drugs. It is essential that my colleagues understand the gravity of what we are about to vote on today. My colleagues yesterday passed the Cochran second degree amendment by…

an issue outside of Medicare but one that has been in the news, one that deserves more attention, is an issue that is changing a little bit, like the demographics I just went to, in an unprecedented way. That is childhood obesity. This is…

one last issue I wish to speak about now is one we will be talking about today and tomorrow on the floor of this Senate, and that is this whole issue of strengthening and improving Medicare. Over the last several days, we have used terms…

We can preserve the good of that model but, based on what we know in 2003, add state-of-the-art, quality, partnering-type, coordinated, integrated delivery of health care. That is a great example of traditional Medicare in 1965. We opened…

We have learned a lot from it since 1974. The point is Medicare has not changed.

if I could just briefly respond, and that is where this Medicare+Choice is really the HMO model, although not for everybody.

In terms of the demographic shift, the fact is, we have doubled the number of seniors. It is unprecedented. It never has happened in the history of this country, or indeed in the world, where a country has doubled the number of seniors…

They can keep that sort of plan. That is why I am so confident that over the next 30 years this will work because that is what the Senator has, and what I have, and what most employer-sponsored plans are. But that is what we are denying…

The problem with the Medicare system, which has not changed very much, is those new advances and what we learned cannot be rapidly incorporated into Medicare. I talked earlier about heart disease. Most people know cholesterol is important…