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Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / July 10 Yet, for all its successes, Medicare has not er than a Medicare prescription drug benefit. fully kept pace with the miracles of modern Insurers, themselves, however, say this won’t medicine. The original Medicare law was written work, and they won’t participate. Just today we at a time when patients’ lives were more often learned that the State of Nevada is using a pri- saved by scalpels than pharmaceuticals, when vate insurance model that’s very similar to the many of the lifesaving drugs we now routinely plan passed by the Republican majority in the use did not even exist. House of Representatives last week. Not surpris- No one creating Medicare today would even ingly, it has not found one single qualified in- consider excluding coverage for prescription surer willing to participate. drugs. That’s why we’ve proposed a comprehen- You have to give it to the insurance compa- sive plan to provide voluntary prescription drug nies; they have been honest here. They have benefits that are affordable for all seniors, a said that the Republican plan won’t work. It’s plan that ensures that all Medicare beneficiaries, a plan designed for those who make the drugs, no matter where they live or how sick they not for the seniors who need to take them. are, will pay the same affordable premiums, a So today I call on Congress to reject that plan that covers catastrophic drug costs, a plan approach and the reckless campaign of narrow that is part of an overall effort to strengthen special interests, and act together in the public and modernize Medicare so we won’t have to interest. We need a prescription drug benefit ask our children to shoulder our burden when that works for seniors and people with disabil- we retire. ities, not just for the pharmaceutical industry. Across the Nation, we’ve seen a great out- A few weeks ago I put forth a good-faith pouring of support for adding such a prescrip- proposal to do just that. I said that if Congress tion drug benefit. And yet I’m increasingly con- will agree to pass a plan that offers affordable cerned that efforts in Congress are bogging Medicare prescription drug coverage to all sen- down. One reason for this is clear: The pharma- iors and people with disabilities, while protecting ceutical industry has unleashed a shameless, our hard-won fiscal discipline, then I will sign scorched-earth campaign to thwart the will of a marriage penalty relief law of equal size. the American people. At this time of year it’s natural that we begin An industry-funded group calling itself Citi- to think ahead to election day, but let’s keep zens for Better Medicare—can you believe in mind, as well, the spirit of common purpose that?—has flooded the airwaves with negative we just celebrated on Independence Day. That’s ads against our plan. Just this week we learned the spirit I hope Members of Congress will that the drug companies have enlisted nearly bring back to our Nation’s Capital when they 300 hard-gun lobbyists, more than one for every return to work Monday. At a time when Amer- two Members of Congress, and paid them to ica is once again bursting with abundance, there do everything in their power to block all mean- shouldn’t be a limit on what we can achieve. ingful reforms. All told, the drug industry has Thanks for listening. spent a staggering $236 million on its lobbying efforts. These millions would be a lot better spent on research for new medicines. The pharmaceutical industry is pushing Con- NOTE: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from gress to adopt a private insurance program rath- the Oval Office at the White House. Remarks on the Home Heating Oil Reserve and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Transition and an Exchange With Reporters July 10, 2000 Home Heating Oil Reserve and Hershel Gober and the direction of the The President. Good afternoon. I want to say Department of Veterans Affairs and its mission. a few words in a moment about Togo West 1397 July 10 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 But first, I’d like to make one brief announce- Under his leadership, the VA has begun to ment. confront some long-neglected problems head on, Since March, I have asked Congress to estab- reaching out to more than 400,000 veterans who lish a home heating oil reserve in the Northeast were exposed to Agent Orange, pressing for an- to reduce the chance that future shortages will swers to the Gulf war syndrome and proper hurt consumers, as they did last winter. Con- care for those who suffer from it, beginning gress recently, again, has failed to act, and time the process of building five new national ceme- is running out. Winter may seem far off on teries, the most since the Civil War, and making this hot day, but if we don’t do something now, a special effort to bring homeless veterans back reserve stocks of heating oil may not be in place into the society they did so much to defend. before the cold weather comes. That’s why today His leadership and devotion to our veterans I am taking action to establish a home heating helped improve lives and make this country a oil reserve to help families avoid higher energy better place. And on behalf of all Americans, costs this winter. Togo, I want to thank you for more than a First, I’m directing Secretary Richardson to quarter century of service and selfless devotion exchange crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum to our Nation. Reserve for 2 million barrels of home heating To carry forward the vital work of the Depart- oil to store in the Northeast. Second, we’re tak- ment of Veterans Affairs, I turn to one who ing steps to establish this reserve on a knows the work and the mission of the VA as permanent basis. The action I take today will well or better than anyone ever has, Deputy leave us far better prepared to face the winter Secretary Hershel Gober. You all know we’ve months. But it does not relieve Congress of been friends for many years. He did a superb the responsibility to act. job as the State director of veterans affairs in So I renew my call to Congress: Please, pro- Arkansas when I served as Governor. He did vide the authority so we can tap into this new a superb job as Acting Director between the home heating oil reserve when we need it; take tenures of Secretaries Jesse Brown and Togo up my energy budget initiatives and the tax in- West. There are few people in our country who centives; pass comprehensive electricity restruc- have ever been as prepared for a job as Hershel turing; reauthorize the strategic petroleum re- Gober is for this one. serve. These are things Congress can do right He has an ear for the needs of our veterans now to build a better, safer, more secure, and because he has the heart of a soldier. A veteran more affordable energy future. I ask them again of both the Army and the Marine Corps, to do their part to increase our energy supply, Hershel Gober served two terms in Vietnam, protect the environment, increase energy con- earning the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and servation, and keep our economy strong. the Soldier’s Medal. A few years ago, I was honored that he agreed to head a delegation Secretary of Veterans Affairs Transition back to Vietnam to seek the fullest possible ac- This morning I accepted the decision of Togo counting of our men and women still missing West to step down as Secretary of Veterans Af- in uniform. fairs by month’s end, after more than 2 years Hershel has already made his mark on the of effective leadership on behalf of our 25 mil- critical issue of veterans’ health care. Early in lion veterans and their families. our administration, he came to me and rec- Every day, in every way, Togo West has given ommended that we look for ways to bring health his all to make sure America does right by our care closer to the veterans who needed it. Since men and women who have served us in uniform. then, we’ve opened more than 200 outpatient As Secretary of the Army at the beginning of clinics all across America and have more our administration, Togo West was known as planned this year. That’s one of the big reasons a ‘‘soldier’s Secretary.’’ His leadership helped we were able to treat—listen to this—400,000 make the Army part of the best trained, best more veterans last year than we did the year equipped, most potent fighting force in the before. world. He took special care to make sure that Hershel Gober has been a strong partner for America took good care of our Army families. both Secretary Brown and Secretary West. He And he brought that same sense of purpose will serve in a great tradition, and I thank him to the Department of Veterans Affairs. for agreeing to do so. Now I’d like to ask them 1398 Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / July 10 both to say a few words, beginning with Sec- for either to come. But they have come because retary West. they think that the price of not doing it is great- er than the risk of going forward.

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