Political Quotes

“this past April when the Senate was debating its annual budget resolution, I offered an amendment which stated that if Congress was going to consider massive tax cuts this year, it must first pass legislation that modernizes Medicare through the creation of a prescription drug benefit. Fifty-one Senators voted in favor of this amendment, in favor of putting our Nation's seniors before massive tax cuts, including six of our colleagues from the other side of the aisle--Senators Chafee, Specter, Abraham, DeWine, Burns, and the distinguished occupant of the chair. I rise today to follow up on the vote that we took in April and to urge a majority of our colleagues to, once again, come together across party lines for our Nation's seniors. Putting seniors before tax cuts was the first step. Now the Senate needs to take up and pass a comprehensive affordable prescription drug benefit for all Medicare beneficiaries. Unfortunately, it is now mid-June and neither the Senate Finance Committee nor the Senate itself has considered a Medicare prescription drug benefit. With so few legislative days left in the year and so much work to be done, it is crucial that we take this issue up now. The amendment I am offering today will commit this bill back to the Appropriations Committee with instructions that they report out a new bill that provides a universal, comprehensive, dependable prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries.”