July 14, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S8057 heard reports about chemical and bio- an interim report that we can quote. A while back, I held a ‘‘living room logical weapons being dispersed. We That interim report noted finding meeting’’ on health care costs in Sioux cannot confirm where they are. We ‘‘dozens of WMD-related program ac- Falls. An older, married couple came to only hope and pray they are not in the tivities and significant amounts of that meeting. He’s a veteran, 68 years hands of terrorists who have made equipment that Iraq concealed from old, with diabetes and congenital heart their way to the United States. But the United Nations during the Inspec- failure. She’s 62, with cerebral palsy. only time will tell. tions that began in late 2002.’’ Last year, shortly after the husband Conclusion 97, which is on page 348 of Some of these included, for example: retired, this couple learned that the the Intelligence Committee report, A clandestine network of laboratories and wife’s bladder cancer had come back. concluded: safehouses within the Iraqi Intelligence This couple pays $418 a month in The CIA’s judgment that Saddam Hussein, Service that contained equipment subject to health insurance premiums through if sufficiently desperate, might employ ter- U.N. monitoring and suitable for continuing COBRA, plus another $400 a month for rorists with global reach—al-Qaida—to con- CBW research. prescriptions, and more on top of that duct terrorist attacks in the event of war, That is chemical and biological in co-pays for doctor visits. Soon, their was reasonable. weapons research. COBRA eligibility will expire. And of course it was reasonable; after A prison laboratory complex, possibly used The husband is on a waiting list—a all, we already knew Saddam Hussein in human testing of BW agents, that Iraqi of- waiting list—to see a VA doctor. But was supporting terrorists such as the ficials working to prepare for U.N. inspec- they don’t know how they will pay for Arab Liberation Front, and he was of- tions were explicitly ordered not to declare the wife’s health care after they lose fering money to the families of suicide to the U.N. their current insurance coverage. Indi- bombers, particularly Hamas. We know The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The vidual coverage for a 62-year-old he had the ability to turn his manufac- Senator’s time has expired. woman with cerebral palsy and cancer turing capabilities, with the scientists Mr. BOND. Mr. President, is there would be prohibitively expensive—if he had, into the production of chemical any time remaining on our side? they could get it at all. So, after nearly and biological weapons. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No. 20 years of marriage, this couple is con- We know how tragic the terrorist at- Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I ask for 1 templating divorce as the only option tack of 9/11 was on our soil. We lost more minute to conclude. for getting essential health care for the over 3,000 people. They used unconven- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. I be- wife. tional weapons—airplanes loaded with lieve the Senator has 49 seconds re- If this Senate wants to protect Amer- fuel—to cause those deaths. I tremor to maining. ican families, let’s discuss what we can think about what could happen if Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I will do do to make health care more affordable chemical or biological weapons were the best I can with the time remaining and accessible so that spouses don’t used in large areas where unsuspecting to conclude. have to consider divorcing each other civilians are gathered in the United Dr. David Kay said he thought ‘‘it in order to get essential health care. States. was absolutely prudent’’ going into Forty-four million Americans were After what happened on 9/11, we had Iraq. He went on to say: uninsured in 2002—the most recent many investigations saying why didn’t In fact, I think at the end of the inspection year for which figures are available. we put all of those elements together? process, we’ll paint a picture of Iraq that was That’s 2.4 million more Americans They were very fragmentary. We had far more dangerous than even we thought it without health insurance than the year walls that prevented us from sharing was before the war. It was a system col- before—the largest 1-year increase in a that information among our intel- lapsing. It was a country that had the capa- decade. Eight-and-a-half-million of ligence agencies. It would have been al- bility in weapons of mass destruction areas those 44 million Americans are chil- most impossible, even in hindsight, to and in which terrorists, like ants to honey, were going after it. dren. Sixteen million are women, many connect all the dots and know what in their child-bearing years. was going to happen on 9/11. I thank the Chair, and I yield the As shocking as those figures are, After that, intelligence analysts were floor. they tell only half the story—literally. under great pressure to try to identify The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. A new study conducted for Families potential attacks on the United States, GRAHAM of South Carolina). The Demo- USA, using census data, shows that al- or the potential use by terrorists of cratic leader is recognized. most 82 million Americans—one in weapons of mass destruction and they Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will three Americans younger than 65—were overstated many of those conclusions. use my leader time and reserve the uninsured at some point in the last two But what we know from our own expe- time left under morning business for years. Two thirds were uninsured for at rience is that Saddam Hussein consist- my colleagues. least six months. Half were uninsured ently engaged in a pattern of denial f for 9 months or longer. and deception. He made it very dif- Who are these people? They’re work- ficult to find out what he was doing. INCREASING NUMBER OF ing people, mostly. Eighty percent of We know from his actions what a dead- UNINSURED FAMILIES IN AMERICA uninsured Americans live in families in ly, murderous terrorist he was. By re- Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, this which at least one adult works. But moving the Saddam Hussein regime, we morning we were again reminded of their employers don’t offer health in- eliminated yet another front from how much remains to be done in ad- surance, or their pay is so low they which terrorists could operate safely; dressing the health care crisis in Amer- can’t afford to buy it. A growing num- most importantly, we eliminated the ica. Today’s paper has this headline: ber are middle class. One in four had possibility that Saddam’s weapons pro- ‘‘Medicare Law Is Seen Leading to Cuts family incomes between $55,000 and grams in the future could be leveraged in Drug Benefits for Retirees.’’ Accord- $75,000. by terrorists who seek to destroy us. ing to the article, the government is In South Dakota, more than 27 per- Finding huge stockpiles of weapons now estimating that 3.8 million retir- cent of people younger than 65 were un- was not the objective of going into ees who currently receive prescription insured for at least some part of the Iraq. The failure to do so should not be drug benefits through their employers last 2 years. That’s 180,000 people living taken as a measure of the lack of suc- will see their coverage reduced or with the fear that they are just one se- cess in Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair eliminated as a result of the Repub- rious illness or accident away from fi- today said, on receiving the Butler re- lican drug law passed last fall. nancial disaster. port, that we were right to go into That is simply unacceptable, and it is In 14 States, according to the Fami- Iraq. He has been a steadfast ally, and only one of the many problems we are lies USA study, more than one-third of we commend him. facing when it comes to health care. all people younger than 65 were unin- We also have the interim report of Over the past several years, the cost of sured for at least part of the last two the Iraqi Survey Group. We spent a health insurance has skyrocketed, and years. One in three people. The State long time listening to Dr. David Kay in millions more Americans have found with the highest percentage of unin- our closed sessions, but he has issued themselves uninsured. sured was Texas: 43.4 percent.

VerDate May 21 2004 01:39 Jul 15, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G14JY6.006 S14PT1 S8058 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 14, 2004 We have the highest per capita they spend more than $200 a month on People without insurance pay more health care spending of any nation on muscle relaxants and other medica- for health care. Hospitals routinely Earth. Yet, in comparison with other tions Pauline needs for her MS. charge uninsured patients up to four developed, high-income nations, the The Larsons used to have private times as much as patients with insur- United States consistently scores at or health insurance. But it got so expen- ance for the same services. Too often, near the bottom on infant mortality, sive, they gave it up about 5 years ago. people who are already battling illness life expectancy, and the proportion of ‘‘We didn’t know she was going to have find themselves having to fight off ag- the population with health insurance. a stroke,’’ Lowell says. gressive debt collectors, too. We hear a lot today about who is Today, Lowell Larson gets Medicare. And 18,000 Americans die pre- more optimistic about America’s econ- Pauline has a very bare-bones health maturely every year because they do omy and our future. I believe it is pes- policy that pays $75 a day for hospital not have health insurance. Forty-nine simistic to look at the state of health care and $50 a day for nursing home people every day. care in America today and conclude care—nothing else. Last year, the Our economy also suffers. The Insti- that we really can’t do much better. I Larsons held a sale. They sold many of tute of Medicine estimates that lack of believe it is pessimistic to watch the their personal possessions and much of health insurance costs America be- cost of health care increase sharply their farm equipment to raise money tween $65 billion and $130 billion a year every year; to watch the number of un- to pay their medical bills. The sale in lost productivity and other costs. insured Americans grow every year; brought in about $30,000. Lowell Larson Democrats have been leading the and to watch more businesses be forced talked with doctors and hospitals and fight for universal health coverage in to reduce or eliminate employee and got them to forgive another few thou- America for decades. We want to work retiree health benefits every year— sand dollars of their debt. with our Republican colleagues to re- year after year—and conclude there Lowell Larson brought Pauline home duce the number of uninsured Ameri- isn’t really much of anything we can from the nursing home about 18 cans and make health care more af- do about it. And I believe it is deeply months ago because they couldn’t af- fordable and accessible. irresponsible for this Senate to spend ford the $4,000 a month it cost and be- But the few proposals offered so far almost no time on serious discussions cause they were both too lonely living by the President and congressional Re- of responsible proposals to address this apart. These days, Pauline spends most publicans will not work. Independent crisis. People all across America are of her time in a hospital bed set up in studies of these proposals show that looking to us for help on health care. their home. She has difficulty speak- they would do little to address soaring Lowell and Pauline Larson are two of ing. She also has trouble using her health care costs and the growing in- those people. I’ve known the Larsons right arm, which makes it hard for her surance gap, and, in some cases, they for years. Lowell is 68, almost 69. Pau- to feed herself. would actually make matters worse. line turned 64 on the Fourth of July. It can wear you down, living with the There are better ideas. Democrats They live in Chester, SD. Lowell fear that your family is just one more have proposed that, within 2 years, all Larson has worked hard all his life. He medical emergency away from finan- Americans have access to affordable started work in a furniture mill in cial disaster. Lowell Larson says, ‘‘A health care that is as good as the Sioux Falls just out of high school and lot of mornings, I wake up around 4:30 health care members of Congress stayed there for 20 years before he fi- or 5 o’clock and I just start worrying have—at the same rates, or lower. We nally got the chance—about 30 years about things.’’ The Larsons are count- ask our Republican colleagues to work ago—to do what he’d wanted all his ing the days until Pauline turns 65 and with us to make that a reality. life: own his own farm. can get Medicare. In addition, we should adequately It’s a small farm—160 acres. The Since President Bush took office, fund the Children’s Health Insurance Larsons raised corn and beans and kept family health care premiums have in- Program. We should also adequately a few cows. It’s hard work. I don’t creased by more than $2,700 a year. The fund the VA and the Indian Health think Mr. Larson would mind me tell- average cost for a family health plan is Service—we must keep our promises to ing you, he and Pauline don’t have now $9,000 a year. Workers pay about America’s veterans and honor our trea- much money. Small family farmers $2,400 of that amount out of their own ty obligations to American Indians. don’t make much money. Some years, pockets. That’s just for premiums. It We can reduce the cost of prescrip- if the weather’s bad, or the market is doesn’t include copayments and tion drugs—one of the driving forces weak, they don’t make any money. deductibles. And these are the people behind medical inflation—by letting What Lowell Larson does have, in in the best situations; they have access Medicare negotiate the best prices for abundance, is a strong sense of per- to group plans through their employ- American seniors, and by allowing sonal and family responsibility. It’s ers. This is just one more example of Americans to re-import safe prescrip- part of the South Dakota ethic. It’s how the middle class is being squeezed tion drugs from Canada and other in- what we’re taught, and what we teach in America. Families are paying more dustrialized nations. our children: If someone you love needs for skimpier coverage every year. Un- I introduced a bill recently that help, you help them. And if you owe less we act, the number of families could significantly reduce the number someone money, you do everything you without health insurance will continue of uninsured Americans and help small can to pay them. to grow. business owners create new jobs at the When Lowell Larson was a young And the consequences of un-insur- same time. The Small Business Health man, his mother had a stroke. He post- ance are staggering. People without in- Tax Credit—S. 2245—would provide poned marriage and spent 20 years car- surance use one-third less health care. small businesses with tax credits to ing for her. After his mother died, Low- They skip preventive care and regular cover up to 50 percent of the cost of ell met Pauline. At 45, he finally mar- check-ups. They don’t fill prescrip- their employees’ health insurance. ried. A few years later, Pauline began tions. They postpone surgeries if they These health care tax credits would having trouble walking, and she was di- can. They live with pain. When they help businesses save money, which agnosed with MS. Over the next few get sick, they crowd emergency rooms means they will have more money to years, she progressed from a cane to a where the care they get is often too lit- invest in new equipment, hire new wheelchair. tle, and too late. workers, and give their employees In early November 2002, Pauline had In a new survey by the American Col- raises. a serious stroke. She spent a few weeks lege of Emergency Physicians and the If our Republican colleagues have ad- in the hospital, followed by a few Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ditional ideas that will actually reduce months in a nursing home. Then she two-thirds of ER doctors said the unin- the cost of health care and increase the had to have her gall bladder removed— sured patients they see are sicker than number of Americans with insurance, more time in the hospital. In less than those with insurance, and nearly all— we welcome the chance to work with 2 years, the Larsons ended up with 94 percent—said it was harder to sched- them on those ideas as well. $40,000 in medical bills from Pauline’s ule needed followup care with unin- What we cannot do is to continue to stroke and surgery. On top of that, sured patients. ignore this urgent problem. Lowell and

VerDate May 21 2004 01:39 Jul 15, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A14JY6.055 S14PT1 July 14, 2004 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S8059 Pauline Larson sold much of what they revealed in print by columnist Robert ing for someone with connections to owned to pay their medical bills be- Novak. This illegal act should have Niger to find out about a possible pur- cause they take their responsibilities outraged everyone at the White House. chase or attempt to purchase uranium seriously. It’s time for this Senate to It should have moved President Bush by Iraq, she suggested that her hus- take seriously its responsibility—to immediately to demand the identity of band, former Ambassador Wilson, go as find solutions to reduce the cost of the perpetrators. a factfinder. Mr. WILSON was sent health care and the number of Ameri- Instead, in his only public statement there. He reported the claim’s lack of cans without health insurance. about this act of betrayal, Mr. Bush credibility to the CIA. I yield the floor. smiled—yes, he smiled—and said: Later that year, the President was to The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- This is a town that likes to leak. I don’t give a speech in Cincinnati mentioning ator from Nevada. know if we are going to find out the senior the claim. On October 6, CIA Director f administration official. Now, this is a large Tenet personally called Deputy Na- administration, and there’s a lot of senior of- tional Security Adviser Stephen Had- ORDER OF PROCEDURE ficials. I don’t have any idea. ley to outline the CIA’s concerns that Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent Again, he said it with kind of a smirk this claim was not real. And it was that the time allotted under the pre- and a wry smile on his face. then deleted from the President’s Cin- vious unanimous consent agreement I consider that statement to be dis- cinnati speech. for the Democrats be divided 10 min- ingenuous. The number of senior White Between October 2002 and January utes to the Senator from Iowa, Mr. House officials with the appropriate 2003, concerns about the claim in- HARKIN, 5 minutes to the Senator from clearances and access to knowledge creased. In January, the State Depart- New York, Mr. SCHUMER. Under the about Ms. Plame’s identity can prob- ment sent an e-mail to the CIA out- previous unanimous consent agreement ably be counted on one hand, two at lining ‘‘the reasoning why the uranium that had been entered into we have the most. If Mr. Bush was serious about purchase agreement is probably a time set aside for Senator LEVIN of 10 identifying the perpetrators, those offi- hoax.’’ minutes. Senator LEVIN will not come. cials could have been summoned to the Here is the troubling aspect: The I ask unanimous consent that Senator Oval Office and this matter would have same official, Stephen Hadley, who REED of Rhode Island be inserted in his been resolved in 24 hours. spoke with George Tenet and took the place. Now, we are not talking about some claim out of the October speech in Cin- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there little thing happening. This is an ille- cinnati, was also in charge of vetting objection? gal action under the law. the State of the Union Address. Amaz- Mr. CORNYN. Reserving the right to Mr. Bush did not question his staff in ing. If he knew it was a problem and object, I am sorry, I was otherwise dis- the Oval Office. There was no outrage took it out in October, why was it put tracted. at the White House. There were no in- in for the State of the Union message? A lot of questions need to be an- Mr. REID. The Senator does not need ternal investigations. There was no swered. Mr. Bush seemingly does not to worry. Everything is under control. angry President Bush demanding an- want to know the identity of the Mr. CORNYN. That is what I was swers from his senior aides. There was leakers. The White House occupies a afraid of. I want to make sure, are we only a cavalier dismissal, followed by a small area. The number of employees pushing back morning business? year of virtual silence. who are suspect in this matter is small. Mr. REID. No. Morning business is Three decades ago, a previous occu- This should not be like trying to find going to proceed, but because of leader pant of the Oval Office, President nonexistent weapons of mass destruc- time and the prayer and the pledge, Nixon, was recorded on audiotape say- ing to a senior White House official: tion in Iraq. morning business did not start until a One year has passed. Perhaps the few minutes later. So the Democrats I don’t give an [expletive] what happens. I want you to stonewall it, let them plead the President and others have already told will now have 15 minutes for morning Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald who is business and following that we will go Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it’ll save it, save this plan. That’s the responsible. Perhaps that has hap- into the 2 hours of debate. whole point. We’re going to protect our peo- pened. If not, I believe it is clear that Mr. CORNYN. I thank the Senator ple if we can. the President and the Vice President very much. That was Richard Nixon almost 30 should be put under oath. They need to Mr. REID. All I was doing is stating years ago. This White House has now tell the special prosecutor and the that Senator LEVIN will not be here. delayed any accountability for this American public who committed these Senator JACK REED is going to take his damaging and illegal leak for a full acts. They should be put under oath, place. year. White House officials who com- questioned, and filmed. Remember, Mr. CORNYN. No objection. mitted this act of treachery presum- this happened just a few years ago The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without ably are still exercising decision- when another President, President objection, it is so ordered. making power. Clinton, was put under oath and ques- The Senator from Iowa. Who is the White House protecting? tioned by the special prosecutor, on Mr. HARKIN. I understand I have 10 Why? Do we now have a modern day film, which we witnessed right here on minutes. Richard Nixon back in the White the Senate floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is House? Also, by putting the President and correct. And what was the cost of exposing the Vice President under oath and f Ms. Plame? Not only her job. As Vin- questioning them as they should be CLASSIFIED LEAK INVESTIGATION cent Cannistraro, former Chief of Oper- questioned, it sends another powerful ations and Analysis at the CIA message to the people of this country: Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, today Counterterrorism Center, told us: No President, no Vice President, is we observe a sad milestone in the scan- above the law. President Clinton was dal and tragedy that some have labeled The consequences are much greater than Valerie Plame’s job as a clandestine CIA em- not above the law. This President ‘‘leakgate.’’ It has been exactly 1 year, ployee. They include damage to the lives and should not be above the law. July 14, since two senior White House livelihoods of many foreign nationals with I call upon the special prosecutor: officials leaked Valerie Plame’s iden- whom she was connected, and it has de- Put the President under oath. Put the tity as a covert operative at the Cen- stroyed a clandestine cover mechanism that Vice President under oath. Question tral Intelligence Agency. may have been used to protect other CIA them about their knowledge of this in- Last July 14, 2003, 8 days after Ms. nonofficial cover officers. cident and let’s get this matter cleared Plame’s husband published an op-ed in Valerie Plame’s cover was blown to up. Find those responsible and pros- the New York Times which questioned discredit and retaliate against her hus- ecute them to the full extent of the information in the President’s 2003 band Joseph Wilson. The recent report law. State of the Union message regarding a by the Senate Intelligence Committee I yield the floor. supposed effort by Iraq to purchase provides some insight. It states that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- uranium from Africa, her identity was back in 2002 when the CIA was search- ator from New York.

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