Silver City, May 10, 2004 - Congressman Pearce
I read with interest Richard Earnheart’s letter about Congressman Pearce’s Medicare meeting in Silver City. I was also at that meeting and, frankly, Mr. Earnheart’s letter bared no resemblance to the meeting I attended.
I wanted to thank the congressman for caring enough to hold meetings on a subject as complex and important as Medicare reform and the new prescription drug benefit. I know many seniors have questions about it and I was thankful for the opportunity to ask Pearce about it. I found his answers to our questions to be clear and forthright.
For example, Mr. Earnheart attempted to mock Steve Pearce for being concerned about counterfeit drugs from foreign countries, including Uganda. The fact of the matter is that law enforcement agencies have already intercepted dangerous counterfeit drugs; it is not an abstract excuse but rather a danger that has already been documented.
I am glad my Congressman is concerned enough about senior’s health to monitor and protect against this threat. If Mr. Earnheart would rather get his prescription drugs from overseas companies not monitored by the Food and Drug Administration he can be my guest, but count me out.
Mr. Earnheart even tried to smear Steve Pearce by claiming that he had sold his vote to the Pharmaceutical companies. I called Steve Pearce’s office and found out that he refuses to take campaign contributions from drug makers on principle. Campaign contributions are available online and Mr. Earnheart needed look no further than the Internet to find out what I did. I suspect he knows this but chose to conveniently forget this fact as well.
So thank you Congressman Pearce for coming to Silver City again, thank you for holding an open meeting to explain this complex and important issue, and shame on you Mr. Earnheart for distorting or ignoring the facts.
Ron Henderson
Silver City