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IT'S TIME -- HON. KEN LUCAS (Extensions of Remarks - June 12, 2002)
[Page: E1014] GPO's PDF
---
HON. KEN LUCAS
OF KENTUCKY
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
- Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to my colleagues
about prescription drugs and
Medicare . Specifically, I feel
it is an outrage that our senior citizens are being forced to drive to Canada
to get prescription drugs at
reasonable prices, or even worse having to choose between buying food or
medication.
- This has gone on for far too long. As a couple in Maysville, KY, avowed,
``It is past time! And way overdue! Older people need help, perhaps not all of
us, but many of us do.'' This is just one of the many comments that I received
in the mail from Kentucky seniors. However, as I read their comments, I
realize these are not just the voices of Kentucky's senior citizens, they are
the voices of America's senior citizens. These senior citizens are veterans,
they are mothers and fathers, they are grandparents, and they are men and
women that have worked their entire life to make America a better
place.
- As representatives of the American people, we must work together to pass a
meaningful drug benefit for our
senior citizens. We need a bipartisan prescription drug plan that helps seniors afford
the drugs their doctors are telling them they need. This is not a political
issue. This is a quality of life issue. We need to get this done and get this
done now. I would like to share with you some of the stories from Kentucky's
senior citizens. However, when you listen to these stories from across the
Fourth District of Kentucky, remember they are representative of the problems
seniors are facing all across America.
- From Crittenden, KY, ``It is getting so bad we are thinking about driving
to Canada to stock up on our prescriptions.'' From Rush, KY, ``Seniors have
worked all their lives and now can't enjoy pleasures because medicine is too
high.'' From Pleasureville, KY, ``When is it going to end? Something surely
needs to be done, people like myself are not going to be able to make it.
Sometimes, I wonder do I pay my bills or buy my medicine.'' From Dry Ridge,
KY, ``We are both 68 years old. My husband's prescription drug bills were about $600 a month
after heart surgery. So we started getting prescription drugs from Canada. My
cholesterol medicine is $80 a month from Wal-Mart. From Canada it is $31 a
month and is exactly the same prescription drug .'' From Ashland, KY, ``I am 90
years old and it is a choice between food and Medicine.'' From Williamstown,
KY, ``We need the medicine but we need to eat too. Sometimes we do not know
which comes first. We need help with our prescription drugs.''