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SENATE—Wednesday, October 26, 2005

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October 26, 2005 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 23679 SENATE—Wednesday, October 26, 2005 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was pose of these amendments, and we will tion drug program that is about to called to order by the President pro announce when Senators can expect take effect. This flaw is a ticking time tempore (Mr. STEVENS). those votes. bomb for more than 6 million Ameri- I remind my colleagues that a clo- cans, for our communities and our PRAYER ture motion was filed last night on the health care providers. That fuse is The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Labor-HHS appropriations bill. That going to detonate on January 1. fered the following prayer: cloture vote will occur on Thursday We cannot allow low-income seniors Let us pray. morning. Under rule XXII, Senators and the disabled to lose their direct O God our rock, exalted above all have until 1 o’clock today to file their coverage. We cannot leave our doctors blessings and praise, the host of Heav- first-degree amendments at the desk. and hospitals and nursing homes un- en worships You. Today we praise You We will finish this bill this week. It is prepared for the biggest change in dec- for the opportunity of serving our up to the Senate to decide if we are ades. And we should not be pushing country in the Senate. Incline our going to be here late Thursday or Fri- hundreds of thousands of people who hearts to do Your will and set a guard day, but we will finish the bill. If Sen- need care onto our local communities. over our lips. Help us to see the path ators are reasonable in their requests We can’t wait. We have to fix this prob- You desire us to take as You teach us for amendments and debate times, we lem today. That is why I will be offer- to do Your will. may well be able to finish tomorrow; if ing an amendment later this morning. Lead our Senators. Revive them so not, we will continue on Friday to fin- I have been working with Senators that they will face each challenge with ish this final appropriations bill. ROCKEFELLER and BINGAMAN to address an inexhaustible faith. Direct their Again, I congratulate all of our col- the immediate crisis. I thank them for steps by Your word and let no evil leagues for sticking together and sys- their leadership. I have also introduced dominate them. May their faith have tematically going through each of the my own bill to protect our most vul- feet and hands, a voice, and a heart, appropriations bills over the last sev- nerable. It is the Medicare HEALS Act, that they will seek to serve You by eral weeks. S. 1822. serving others. Mr. REID. If I could direct a question I have been traveling around my Help each of us to strive for truth, to the distinguished majority leader, it State. I have been meeting with people justice, and peace. May the lofty ideals is my understanding we are not going in Seattle, Lakewood, Yakima, Aber- we profess shine in our faces and be to recess at 1:45 for Negroponte. People deen, and Olympia. I want my col- seen in our lives. can go or not, and we will still con- leagues to know, everywhere I go, peo- We pray in Your wonderful Name. tinue Senate business. ple are angry and confused. And they Amen. Mr. FRIST. That is correct. We will are very worried, with good reason. continue working today. Again, I want One senior told me: f to restate the conversation that the Everyone I have talked to is totally con- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE distinguished Democratic leader and I fused—my doctor, my pharmacist, even the had yesterday regarding these votes Medicare number you are supposed to call. The PRESIDENT pro tempore led the Another one said: Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: over the course of the day. We want people to come over on time so we can If we can’t understand this, this whole I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the [Medicare] plan is going to fail. United States of America, and to the Repub- proceed in a disciplined, orderly way. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, I suggest the absence of a quorum. Everywhere I went, people were con- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The fused. There were questions that I clerk will call the roll. couldn’t answer. When I turned to the f The legislative clerk proceeded to doctors sitting next to me, they didn’t RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME call the roll. know the answer. And neither did the The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask pharmacists or the patient advocates. the previous order, the leadership time unanimous consent that the order for If Senators and doctors and experts do is reserved. the quorum call be rescinded. not understand this, how can we expect The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With- an 80-year-old person with serious med- f out objection, it is so ordered. ical problems to understand this com- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY f plicated new program? We can’t. So we LEADER need more time and more resources to MORNING BUSINESS make this prescription drug plan work. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under One person I met with said: majority leader is recognized. the previous order, there will be a pe- Please give us more time. Give us the f riod for the transaction of morning chance to understand this so we don’t make business for up to 30 minutes, with the a mistake when we sign up. SCHEDULE first half of the time under the control One panelist told me: Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this morn- of the Democratic leader and the sec- Taking away something from those that ing we have set aside the first 30 min- ond half of the time under the control need it the most . is not the American utes for a period of morning business. of the majority leader. way. We will then proceed to consideration The Senator from Washington is rec- I couldn’t agree more. That is why I of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. ognized. am here this morning to talk about Senator SPECTER has commitments f this, and that is why I will be offering from several Senators this morning to an amendment shortly after we go to come offer their amendments. In addi- MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG the bill. tion to those to be offered, we already PROGRAM I have many concerns with the Medi- have several pending from yesterday. Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am care prescription drug law. I voted We will be calling rollcall votes here this morning to talk about a dan- against it in 2003 because I believed throughout the course of today to dis- gerous flaw in the Medicare prescrip- that seniors deserve better and that ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:45 Mar 01, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\2005BOUNDRECORD\BOOK17\NO-SSN\BR26OC05.DAT BR26OC05 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 23680 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE October 26, 2005 America can do better than that. I am doesn’t make sense, but that is exactly That is a tremendous new adminis- concerned about the complexity, the what this new drug program will do un- trative burden for understaffed and un- coverage gap, whether needed drugs less we fix it before January 1. derfunded nursing homes and care pro- will be covered. I am concerned about In fact, the new Medicare prescrip- viders who care for people we know— retirees losing the good coverage they tion drug program changes the cov- our parents, grandparents, sisters, and have today. And I am concerned about erage of our most vulnerable in five brothers. the late enrollment penalty that is ways: It imposes higher costs—those That is who is going to be affected by going to punish seniors who need more are premiums, copays and deductibles; this new law if we don’t take action. time to pick the right plan. I am work- it covers fewer drugs; it blocks States Unless we act, the new program is ing with many other Senators to ad- from providing extra help as they do going to make the work of our phar- dress all of those concerns. But today today; it provides no transition period macists across the country much hard- the most urgent problem is the way the to ensure that these low-income resi- er. They are literally going to be on new law treats our most vulnerable dents don’t face these gaps in coverage; the front lines. They may well be people, people with low incomes, the and it penalizes people who need more forced to deny coverage to seniors. And disabled, and those facing serious med- time to pick the right plan for them. by the way, each one of these phar- ical challenges like AIDS. These are real people we are talking macists has to go in contract with each This law takes away the critical drug about. I want to introduce two of them. of these new drug plans in their States. coverage these people have today and Earlier this month in Seattle, I met a Now CMS is telling us that phar- puts them into a new program that woman named Kathryn Cole.
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