Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

I would just remind the gentleman from Texas that all these facts he is throwing out happened to have taken place at a time when the President of the United States and the entire United States Congress was controlled by Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) for the wonderful work he does as our ranking member on the Committee on the Budget. I will be followed in just a few minutes by the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), who has served on the Committee on the Budget. He has been a deficit hawk and a debt hawk and a very responsible person with this country's money for a long, long time, and I want to publicly acknowledge the great work that both these gentlemen have done and tell them how much the rest of us appreciate it.

I can state that to be here this evening talking about this very issue is a heartbreaking thing for me, Mr. Speaker. I came here in 1993, shortly after the historic vote when they changed the course of the economy in this country with only Democratic votes to pass the economic recovery plan of then-President Bill Clinton. I was part of the Clinton administration. I know how hard it was to reduce spending, and we did reduce spending. And we continued to reduce spending until we had the budget in balance with the help of both of these gentlemen. I know how difficult it was to achieve that.

We reduced the number of Federal employees by 20 percent. And it was a hard thing to do. And yet, the President now says, this current President, he comes in, he squanders the surplus, and he says: We are going to stay the course. We are going to keep doing what we have already done that has been such a disaster. I guess what he means is, as near as I can tell, he is going to cut taxes on the wealthiest people in this country some more.

There is nothing in the minority we can do about it. The Republicans have the White House. They have the House. They have the Senate. They can pass whatever they want to pass. But I can tell you where I come from, Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that some people they just do not know a good deal from a bad one, and we have obviously been given a bad deal.

Let us look at the record, and it will be talked about over and over and over. We are not able to fund education. We cannot fund veterans benefits; we have to cut them. There are 3.2 million lost jobs, and we are losing more every day. There is a $5.6 trillion surplus that was inherited by this administration that has just, simply, been squandered. Two million people that do not have health insurance. This is the plan that we are going to stay with. And it is a heartbreaking thing because we did have a surplus when this President came into office.

Now, I find the other gentlemen from across the aisle this evening, they were talking about we had wasteful spending, and they had found places where the government had not spent the taxpayers' dollars very wisely, and I do not think we ought to do that either. I agree with that. But the sad part of this story is if we did away with the whole department that they were talking about, we could not balance the budget. If we did away with an entire Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, Department of Education, and the list goes on and on, we could not balance the budget.

The budget is so far out of whack that we would not salvage anything but about 15 or 20 percent of the discretionary spending. If we tried to balance the budget, that is all we would have.

The wasteful spending they talk about is shameful, but at the same time it does not even come close to addressing the problem. We need to understand the magnitude of this problem.

The Concord Coalition says that if we were to balance a budget within the next 10 years, we would have to cut Social Security benefits by 60 percent, we would have to cut the Department of Defense by 73 percent, and those massive Draconian cuts go on and on and on. And this is what the President says that he is going to stay with, the plan. He is committed to his economic plan.

At some point, Mr. Speaker, you have got to recognize a bad deal when you have one and deal with it in an appropriate fashion. We simply cannot afford to continue to do this as a Nation. I am sure our Founding Fathers would be horrified at this. I am horrified by it. But the most heartbreaking thing that I find, and that I feel when I see this happen, is the fact that we are passing it on to our children and grandchildren.

Why would any responsible adult do this to their children and grandchildren? We are putting a tax on our children and grandchildren that they will not have a choice about. They will have to pay exorbitant taxes just to pay the interest on the debt, not to pay the debt off. And also I cannot forget the fact that our troops are on the battlefield losing their lives, making enormous sacrifices, in some cases the greatest sacrifice; and those that are lucky enough to return will have to go to work to help pay the interest on the debt where we borrowed the money while they were in battle. And they will have to help pay off the interest and the debt that we have incurred in such an irresponsible way. I think that is a heartbreaking set of facts.

I think that it is absolutely unacceptable that we would allow this to happen to the next generations. I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt) for his leadership in this matter.

Mr. Speaker, I think that we have indeed on the Committee on Appropriations had good leadership. I compliment the gentleman from Florida on the great job he has done leading that committee. I compliment my own ranking member the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) for the wonderful work that he does, but I think, Mr. Speaker, rather than just pass another CR and let us see how long we can stall dealing with the problems of the American people, facing up to the reality that we have got some massive problems in this country, it is time to realize that we have some serious problems, and the way to fix those problems is for us to work together like we have under the leadership of the gentleman from Florida and the gentleman from Wisconsin. Let us face our problems, come to some realistic solutions that do not involve enriching our friends, do not involve enriching large corporations, do not involve further enriching the pharmaceutical industry in this country.

One of the things that is holding up the completion of this year's work is the Medicare reform bill. One of the things that is holding it up is the massive debt that we are creating for our children and grandchildren with absolutely no plan, no plan whatsoever to deal with it. Our seniors do not have the medicine that they need, and we know how to fix this problem. We can actually fix this problem without spending a large amount of government money.

We should not leave this Chamber again until we solve these problems or at least come to some mutual agreement as to how we are going to work to try to get this done. We should stay in this Chamber day and night for as long as it takes to get the job done for the American people.

This is not about Republicans. It is not about Democrats. The senior citizens in the 1st District of Arkansas do not give a hoot whether it is Republicans or Democrats, but they do care about the fact that they get robbed by the prescription drug manufacturers of this country to the point where they cannot buy their own food and they are not going to be able to heat their homes this winter. They care about that, and I care about it for them.

It is time that we face the reality of the problems and quit trying to take care of those that have patronized us and work in a cooperative way between the parties, with the leadership of good men like the gentleman from Florida and the gentleman from Wisconsin, to lead us through these efforts and get the job done for the American people.

Let us work together to do this, but let us not leave this Chamber again until it is done.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

I thank the distinguished ranking member from Wisconsin for yielding me this time, and I appreciate his leadership in this matter.

Mr. Chairman, there should be no doubt that we support the troops and support whatever resources they need. Clearly the Defense Department and the Secretary of Defense have done a terrible job preparing to go into this mission. Just yesterday, I saw on television where the administration says America is not being told the truth. I could not agree more. Just yesterday, I saw where the President now says that he is in charge. That is about the third boss in a week that we have had over this project. He says that debt for Iraq is bad, debt for America is good. The truth is Iraq can afford to pay this debt off more than we can. I can tell you this. The miscalculations, the poor planning, say anything we can dream up to try to make the American people think that this is a good idea, change stories every week and now we are asked to give this same administration that has engaged in this another $87 billion with no plan, no requirement for us to know how this money is going to be spent, and, clearly, they have not known how to spend it before now.

I can tell you this, Mr. Chairman. In the First Congressional District of Arkansas, if you spend a billion dollars, you do not have to wonder how it got spent. You can drive down the road and

see it. It takes us a long time to make a billion dollars in the First Congressional District of Arkansas. It has been referred to that they have got hospitals in Iraq that have leaky roofs, that they have hospitals in Iraq that do not have backup generators. Come to the First Congressional District of Arkansas, and I can show you the same thing. There is simply no reason to borrow this money from our children and our grandchildren and expect them to repay this debt when we have the ability. If we are going to do this, we should at the very least pay for it ourselves. But I have to tell you, I think the Iraqi people ought to pay for it or at least pay for part of it. I urge the defeat of this bill and the support of the Obey amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Cole Wood, a young man whose definition of freedom won him the ``Spring 2003 Essay Contest'' at the Sixth Grade Academic Center in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Mr. Speaker, when Cole Wood was asked to define the word freedom for the essay contest he chose to focus on the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and, ``the great presidents that have brought this nation through times of thick and thin.''

Freedom, for so many Americans, is still taken for granted. While Mr. Cole's essay rightfully draws our attention to the founding father's legacy, it should also call to mind those men and women who have fought so bravely to ensure that our freedom endures. More importantly, it should evoke our sense of duty to those veterans and remind us that they deserve our support as well as our respect.

Mr. Wood also recalled the tragedy of September 11th as he described the meaning of freedom: ``At first I was scared, but when I saw all the people donating and sticking together, I didn't feel sad anymore, I felt proud and strong. I was proud to be an American, proud to know I was free.''

That pride is what makes this country great. It is the pride that inspires young people like Mr. Wood to be responsible leaders of our nation. It is the pride that should infect every decision we make as elected representatives.

On behalf of Congress, I extend congratulations to Cole Wood for winning this essay contest and for reminding all public servants why we are here today.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case) for his leadership in this matter. And I can say that I know that my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), cares about senior citizens and their health. I know that there are many Members on both sides of the aisle that have a genuine concern about what happens to our health care system and what happens to our senior citizens. But I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, as we consider H.R. 1, and just as my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Case), just mentioned, every meeting of the conference committee does not include the Democrats. I do not know why that is, but that is the way it works around here.

I would probably call this H.R. 1 bill that we are working with right now, I would be more inclined to call it a fall-back or a fall-off or fell-off or jump-off or some characterization like that because this bill just simply does not provide any kind of a guarantee for our senior citizens as to what it will do or a guarantee to our health care industry as to what they need to see in the way of the ability to continue to provide services and do business.

And, certainly, in rural America there are no guarantees. We lose hospitals almost on a monthly basis across this country in rural America. We have providers now that just simply do not take Medicare patients any more. Most of this is as a result of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which I proudly voted against; and it has put our health care system in great jeopardy.

Now we are talking about another Medicare reform bill that would reduce payments in some cases to all hospitals, and certainly it would make it more difficult for our rural hospitals and rural providers to stay in business, and it does not guarantee any kind of a prescription drug benefit to our rural seniors who would need it the most.

So I would encourage my colleagues to look carefully at this and not do something that will hurt rural America and our seniors. It is very disappointing to think that the possibility even exists that we would not have a fallback provision that would ensure that our seniors in rural communities would have access to a Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Over the last 25 years, over 470 rural hospitals have closed. Rural hospitals all over the country are in danger of being forced to shut their doors. Currently, hospitals receive full inflation market-basket payments for inpatient and outpatient services. H.R. 1 would reduce hospital payment updates for the next 3 years, costing hospitals an estimated $12 billion.

Our health care system in this country is on the verge of serious, serious problems. All we are asking for is a fair deal for rural America and a fair deal for the people that provide the services to our senior citizens through Medicare so they can stay in business.

Mr. Speaker, I must say that I think the chairman and the ranking member of this committee have done as best they can with what they have to do with. I also must note that 2 years later we are still struggling with getting the job done, and I think it is now time for us to press forward with all due haste to see that these homeland security issues are dealt with as quickly and as effectively as possible.

The House bill has $650 million more for the Office of Domestic Preparedness. The conferees should give first responders this higher amount. The Senate bill has $50 million for port security grants. That higher funding is critical. The President has asked for $87 billion to make Iraq secure. Certainly, America deserves no less. We are spending about half as much, about half that much to try to make the American people secure.

The motion also instructs conferees to include a provision that requires all cargo on passenger planes to be screened. Obviously, this is something that needs to be done. But we do not want to be on this floor anytime in the future talking about what happened, what went wrong, what we should have done. Now is the time to deal with homeland security funded appropriately and get the job done for the American people that we know needs to be done and we know how to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I am the only registered pharmacist in this Congress. And I know what I am talking about.

Now, do not confuse safety with the fact that FDA many times just simply does not do its job. Let me tell you what the real danger is. The danger is not getting or not being able to afford the medicine you have to have to stay alive, stay healthy, and have a decent life-style. That is danger.

Now, this safety deal is bogus. I am not even going to tell you how bogus it is. On the front page of Roll Call this morning it says, ``The Food and Drug Administration has formed an unofficial alliance with the pharmaceutical industry to urge House Members to vote today against a bill that could flood the Nation with cheap prescription drugs from Canada and overseas.''

Now, would that not be a tragedy, that our people could afford the medicine that they need? This is a classic, cynical example of crony capitalism. An alliance between the Food and Drug Administration has existed for many years, and the pharmaceutical industry makes them nothing better than common thieves. And if you vote against this bill tonight, just think about what you are going to tell your constituents when you go back and say, I voted to keep your medicine five times more expensive than any place else in the world. I voted to let the pharmaceutical industry continue to rob the old people in this country. You go back and tell them that.

What I have seen here this evening makes me think of that old Southern philosopher, Brother Dave Gardner, who said when you get people down, kick them. It gives them an incentive to rise above themselves.

We were charged by our Founding Fathers with this responsibility, and we will be judged by God Almighty as to how we do it.

Mr. Speaker, when the economy is falling on its face, unemployment is rampant, and chaos worldwide reigns, it is time for us to return to the bedrock that we built this Nation on, something that I love to read and I love to talk about, the greatest document ever written, with the exception of the holy Bible. It is the Declaration of Independence.

It says in the second paragraph, ``All men are created equal.''

It does not say rich people are better than poor people. It does not say that

Republicans are better than Democrats. It does not say that you are better if you do not have to sweat for a living. It does not say that if you do not have callouses on your hands you should not pay taxes, but, if you do, you should.

It says, ``All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among those are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.''

I think it is time that this Congress and this country remind themselves what built this great Nation. It was the blood, sweat and tears from working people, the kind of people we are talking about helping with this bill.

Now, I do not hardly ever vote for a tax cut. I do not like to pay taxes any better than anybody else does, but we cannot afford it. We cut taxes and increased spending five times in this administration in 2 years, more than the Clinton administration did in 8 years, and built up a debt. My grandchildren are sitting right there, and we are dumping debt on them at a rate that they are not going to be able to carry. That is the reason I do not vote for tax cuts.

But, Mr. Speaker, this tax cut is meager; and it is paid for. To deny the working people of this country the ability to have a piddling $3.5 billion tax cut when we have passed trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the richest people in this country is patently ridiculous.

Now, I know my colleague on the other side of the aisle means well and has got a good heart and thinks he is doing the right thing. But this is not about partisan politics. It is about America. It is about giving working people an even break. We are talking about benefiting 12 million of the poorest children in this country.

How in this wild world can we possibly deny that small benefit to working people? Throughout American history, the greatest industrialists, the richest people in this Nation recognized that working people have to be successful. We cannot all sit back and draw dividends off our stocks. Somebody has to work. That is what has made this country so powerful. Working people were allowed to be successful.

But in the last 2 years, we have seen an assault on working families in this country that is unprecedented, that continues day after day after day on the floor of this House, and it is time to bring it to an end. It is time to be fair. It is time to be honest. It is time to admit to the American people this just simply will not work. Give working people a chance. I urge my colleagues to vote for the child tax credit and do the right thing and stand up and be Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Michigan for yielding me the time, and I appreciate his leadership on this and all other matters before this House.

Mr. Speaker, one thing we understand is the Republicans are in the majority. They are in charge. You can do whatever you want to do. You have got the Senate. You have got the White House. Now, you may talk more trash than a $3 radio, but you are in charge.

The difference in these two plans is very simple. The Democrats would offer you the best plan, the best price, and we will pay 80 percent and let the patient, the Medicare beneficiary, pay 20 percent. The Republicans only, on the other hand, will allow the pharmaceutical companies, by law, statutorily, to continue to rob our senior citizens, charge them the highest price and let them pay 80 percent; and they will pay 20 percent of the bill, if you are lucky enough to live long enough.

They come to the floor repeatedly this evening and talk about this bill is not perfect. Boy, you have got that right. I will agree with you on that one.

They say it is historic, and they are right. Never before in the history of this Republic has there been such an outrageous attempt to provide the ability to insurance companies, as if they needed any help, to rob and deceive and cheat our senior citizens. Never before have they been presented with an opportunity, the pharmaceutical companies, to cheat and continue to rob our senior citizens.

It is indeed historic by their own admission. The chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means says we want to end Medicare as you know it. I suggest you all get you a buckeye. It will bring you good luck and keep rheumatism away. That is all you are going to get through this Medicare program.

Mr. Speaker, we are here this evening on a very serious matter. It can literally mean life or death for many of our elderly citizens. Our great Nation was founded, and has so far been successful, based on the self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Speaker, these founding truths were followed by a firm commitment from our Founding Fathers, the last sentence in the Declaration of Independence. It says: In support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

Mr. Speaker, I think that those men would be heartbroken to see what happens here this evening. As I said earlier, the Republicans are in charge. We recognize that. You can do what you want to do. You do, and I give you credit, for publicly acknowledging that you want to destroy Medicare. You do, and I give you credit, for some of your leaders publicly acknowledging that you would put us into bankruptcy just so we can make the government smaller, so we can do away with certain social programs that you do not like. And I give you credit for that. In fact, I think some of you, and I have seen it, have publicly proclaimed you are proud of it.

My dilemma is, why would you want to do what you are trying to do tonight to the greatest generation, the men and women that went through the Depression, fought World War II, and then built this great Nation into what it is today and turned it over to my generation?

I had a cute little remark in there, but I am not going to use it because I think this is far too serious, this business we take up this evening. A government should not make poor people poorer, rich people richer. It should not create a situation where no one has to be responsible, and it should not make it possible for a person or group of persons to be able to take advantage of others because of an act of that government.

If you do what you are talking about doing, you will make that exact thing possible. You will make it possible for insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies to rob the senior citizens of this country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan, an outstanding citizen and one of our state's enduring treasures, Robert Patrick. I am proud to recognize Mr. Patrick in the United States Congress for his invaluable contributions and dedicated service to the people of Arkansas County and the nation.

Mr. Patrick was born and raised in DeWitt, which is located in the same county where I was raised. While he was still a teenager, Mr. Patrick left the small community where he grew up to serve his country in the United States Navy. After returning home from his distinguished military service, Mr. Patrick married his lovely wife Doris, a fellow Arkansas County native.

Mr. Patrick built a successful career as an energetic and successful salesman traveling the country to make a living and support his family. He, Doris and their two children, Pam and Kevin, lived in locales as varied as California, Missouri and even Connecticut, where the Patrick family owned and operated a sports and hobby shop.

As Mr. Patrick neared retirement age, he and Doris decided to move back to her hometown, St. Charles, where his dedication to community service took root. Just two years after moving to St. Charles, Mr. Patrick was elected mayor, and it seems like he hasn't rested since.

Personally, I think of him as the consummate utility man--and not because he has worked tirelessly to upgrade the natural gas, water and sewer infrastructure in St. Charles. Rather, just like a good utility player on a baseball team that's willing to play any position in the field to help his team, Mr. Patrick has been willing to do anything to improve his town. He has done everything from securing a full-time police officer for St. Charles to erecting the city's annual Christmas light display.

Mr. Patrick embodies everything that's wonderful about living in small town America. He has generously shared his time and talent with the citizens of Arkansas County and it's a better place to live because of him. On behalf of Congress, I salute Mayor Robert Patrick of St. Charles, and thank him for his tireless service to his community, his state and his nation.

Mr. Speaker, we are here this evening to talk about the impact of this very cynical prescription drug bill that is proposed by the majority side and what would happen if that bill, were we so unfortunate as a Nation as to have that bill enacted into law and put upon our senior citizens.

We are indeed pleased that the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballance) is here with us, and at this time I would like to yield the floor to him and let him make whatever comments he sees fitting in regard to this particular issue; and we thank the gentleman from North Carolina.

(Mr. BALLANCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his comments, and appreciate his leadership in this matter that is so critical to the senior citizens of this country and the tremendous impact it will have not only on our seniors but on all Americans because when the government makes it possible for one person or group of persons like the prescription drug manufacturers of this country, when the government makes it legal for them to rob and to steal from senior citizens, when the government allows that to go on day after day after day, it is our job to speak out. It is our job as best we possibly can to do something about it.

It is an interesting thing, every speaker that talks about this refers to the fact that the United States of America and American citizens pay three to four times as much for their medicines as any other nation in the world, and yet the President of the United States has within his power the ability to change that with the spoken word. All he has to do is tell the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. Thompson, certify that we can put a stop to this, certify that we can safely reimport medicine and let our people be treated fairly, but the President refuses to do this.

So it is left up to us, once again, to attempt legislation that will make it possible for the senior citizens of this country to be treated fairly. How can we deny the pain and suffering that this policy, that this country has put in place, causes to our senior citizens and to their families? How can we continue to let that go on? Yet when a remedy is proposed, in this cynical way that we will be presented with before the end of this week, I think it is called the Thomas-Tauzin bill or the Tauzin-Thomas bill, but we cannot devise a more cynical attempt to trick the American people and the senior citizens of this country.

That bill, if we would be so unfortunate to see it enacted, specifically prohibits the government from trying to achieve the best possible price for our citizens. It specifically makes it possible for the drug companies to continue to rob the senior citizens.

It would privatize Medicare. Medicare came into being because private insurance did not want to insure people that were older and sicker, and yet now we are going to turn this back to the insurance companies. If anyone thinks that that is a good idea, I would suggest that they go out and try to buy some health insurance from a private company for a 65-year-old citizen.

It will end Medicare as we know it. One of the authors of this bill came before the Blue Dog Coalition this afternoon, very proud of his work. It was interesting as he sat there and described this; and he said, I have softened this part of the bill; instead of just ending Medicare as we know it in 2010, we are going to phase that, ending in over 3 or 4 years. So it just will not be quite as noticeable.

I could not help but think as I was listening to that about my brother when we were young boys. He had worked hard one summer and saved his money, and he wanted to buy himself a shotgun for hunting season. He went to town and went to the hardware store, and he asked this fellow how much will you take for a certain shotgun. The proprietor said, well, I do not have one; but if I did, I would sell it to you for $100. So since the fellow did not have one, he went on around the square, and he came to another hardware store and went in there and asked him if he had that gun. He said, yes, I do. He said, well, how much will you take for it? He said, I will take a $110. He said, well, the other fellow on the other side of the square said he would take $100 for his, but he did not have one. He said, well, if I did not have one, I would take $100 for mine.

That is the way this deal works. It does not even go into effect for 2 years, 2006. Our seniors have an urgent need today. We have the ability to provide relief today; and yet we are going to be presented with this cynical, horrible piece of legislation that is nothing more than an attempt to trick our senior citizens in desperate need into doing something that will make their desperation even worse.

What kind of a legislative body would do something like that? This is absolutely amazing that the leaders of the Republican Party in the House would be so cynical that they would be willing to attempt to take advantage of senior citizens who have already paid the price, done the work, lived by the rules, and built this great Nation into what it is today; and now they are going to be treated like this by those of us that inherited this wonderful place.

I am astounded that we have to come to this floor this evening and do everything we can to try to prevent such an outrageous act by the majority.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas and appreciate his passion and concern for all senior citizens in this country.

This bill would not only end Medicare as we know it, but, interestingly enough, it does not have a defined benefit. It does not have a defined premium. It turns this business over to insurance companies that have a very poor record of being able to deliver service when it is called on to do that.

We have been fighting the Patient's Bill of Rights battle in this House all the time that I have been here. We still do not have a Patient's Bill of Rights. But the pressure got to be so great on the insurance companies that they did stop the grossest abuses that they have engaged in to deny coverage and deny service to our American people. They would be allowed to define their own benefit. They would be allowed to set their own premium. They would be able to create many, many different plans, and it would be nearly impossible for a senior citizen to tell the difference.

I have to believe, Mr. Speaker, that our Founding Fathers would be saddened and sickened to see the great Nation that they brought in to being, that has succeeded and prospered beyond all imagination, to the point where we have the ability to do these wonderful things for our seniors, and yet when the opportunity presents itself, the majority chooses to use that opportunity in a cynical way and in a way that only serves to enrich a few people in this country.

I want to now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sandlin), who has worked tirelessly on this issue to defend our senior citizens against such activities as would be used against them if this bill were to be passed.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his great leadership in this matter and continued willingness to do the battle on behalf of our senior citizens in this country.

I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, rural pharmacies are the only professional healthcare providers we have in many of our rural communities. If this bill were to become law, it would wipe out those institutions. It would make it impossible for them to stay in business because they would be forced to compete with a mail order operation that would be so full of gimmicks that it would be impossible. These mail order operations would be set up by the prescription

drug manufacturers with the cynical reason of taking the healthcare providers out of these communities. HMOs will have an incentive to put profits before patients. Headlines in the Wall Street Journal today documents a situation exactly like that where an insurance company or a pharmacy benefits manager chose to put profits before patients.

Let us not wipe out healthcare for senior citizens in rural America. Let us deny this bill and send it back until we can do what we know that we have the ability to do, and that is to provide to seniors citizens of this country with a reasonably priced prescription medicine program that will serve them well and serve this country well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great Arkansan, an outstanding citizen and one of my best friends since childhood. I am proud to recognize Bob Rollison in the United States Congress for his invaluable contributions and service to his community, his state and his nation.

Bob Rollison (Robert Charles Rollison as his mother called him) has been my great friend since we were both seventh-graders at DeWitt Junior High School. Even as a teenager, he was the kind of person that would befriend everyone, and in my case, he was a friend to a country kid that had come to a new school. Bob has always had the unique ability to make everyone feel comfortable.

Even as we grew into adulthood, got married and raised a family, we continued to enjoy spending a lot of time together, particularly hunting. Through it all, Bob was always the trustworthy person that everyone could depend on.

When Bob assumed the responsibility of running his family's business, he was known by colleagues, customers, and even competitors, as fair, honest, and accommodating. He was not only a supplier to local farmers, but worked diligently to provide them with information on the latest technology and equipment. But, more than anything else, you could always go to Bob for a kind word, good advice, and an honest opinion.

Bob has been active in many leadership roles in the community and in the agriculture business. He served in the Junior Chamber of Commerce, local politics, seed organizations, and numerous projects to make our community a better place to live and work.

Bob is now battling a serious illness, and continues to have the great attitude and spirit that he has generously shared with those around him throughout his life. He has made life richer for all--like me--who are fortunate enough to call him a friend. On behalf of Congress, I pay tribute to my good friend, Bob Rollison, for his tireless service to Arkansas and the United States.