William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “like most bills brought before us, this bill is a mixture of provisional I support and provisions I oppose. Unlike most…”

“like most bills brought before us, this bill is a mixture of provisional I support and provisions I oppose. Unlike most bills brought before us, it affects every American and will have significant, long-term consequences for our Nation. I believe that providing access to quality health care is one of the most formidable challenges facing our Nation now and in the decades to come. The retirement of the baby boom generation, which begins in less than 8 years, will make that challenge enormously difficult. When the House considered its version of this bill in June of this year, I said that our objective should be to ``update and strengthen Medicare so that it does a better job of providing health care for seniors and at the same time put Medicare on a sound financial footing so that it can be sustained through the baby boom generation retirement.'' This conference report does begin to update Medicare by adding prescription drug coverage. It does little to put Medicare on a sound financial footing. Making prescription drug coverage available to all seniors is very important. Not only will that benefit keep seniors from having to choose between buying medicines and other necessities of life, it will help them stay healthier.”