A large part of my decision to run for Congress was based on my goal to implement a meaningful prescription drug plan for our seniors. 

My wife and I own a pharmacy in Prescott. Through the years, I have seen so many seniors walk through the doors of our pharmacy, who could either not afford their medicine or could not afford to take it properly. And I have seen these very seniors, a week or two later after being in our pharmacy, in the hospital 16 miles down the road in Hope, running up thousands of dollars in Medicare bills simply because they could not afford to buy medicine or afford to take it properly.

So I ran for Congress, to try and modernize Medicare to include medicine for our seniors. I knew Washington was partisan. But I thought, if there was ever an issue that would not be a Democrat or Republican issue, but rather, a senior issue, this would be it. Instead, we have a bill that provides no real benefit for our seniors, and only benefits the big drug manufacturers. I cannot vote for the Medicare Bill in its current form, because it offers nothing more than false hope and false promises for our seniors.

This is a bill written by the big drug manufacturers to benefit the big drug manufacturers. The bill actually contains language that states the Federal Government shall be prohibited from negotiating with the big drug manufacturers to bring down the high cost of medicine! That is in the bill. And they call it a seniors' bill?

The second problem is the privatization aspect. Private plans will not offer the same, comprehensive benefits Medicare does. Because private plans’ first concern is profits, those plans will likely offer more limited benefits to our seniors than Medicare would.

And finally the prescription drug plan currently on the table does not even start until 2006, and only provides seniors $1,042.50 on the first $5,044.00 in prescription drug costs.  

When Members of Congress vote on this bill this week, they will be choosing to vote on the side of the big drug manufactures, or on the side of America’s seniors. In voting against this bill, I will be voting on the side of our seniors. And I will not stop fighting until seniors can walk into the pharmacy of their choice.