As a former nurse, I am committed to making sure that our seniors have the drugs they need to stay healthy, without having to make painful choices between buying groceries or paying rent or getting the prescription drugs they desperately need.

In July, 2003, at my request, the House Government Reform Committee conducted research on prescription drug costs in the 30th Congressional District. The results of the study were astounding. Seniors in the 30th District pay 122% more for prescription drugs than do members of managed care plans and federal employees.

On June, 27, 2003, the House of Representatives brought the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 (H.R. 1). I voted against H.R. 1 because it did not entitle seniors to any particular drug benefit plan; instead, this "standard benefit" is merely a suggestion for what private plans might offer. The plan provides no assistance for prescription drug cost between $$2,000 and $5,600 per year, and nearly half of all seniors have prescription drug expenses over $2000 annually.

Instead, I was supportive of a Democratic substitute that would have provided an 80% benefit, 20% co-pay, with a maximum $2,000 per year for out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses. This plan could have saved seniors thousands of dollars per year!

When the Democratic and the Republican plans are put side by side, the American public can easily observe that the Republican plan fails to provide any substantive benefits. The public also notices that the Republican plan's benefits are so insignificant that it would not be worthwhile for many middle-class seniors to enroll. The Republican plan does nothing to curtail exploding drug prices because of their ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Democrats know that America's seniors have waited long enough for relief from the nation's skyrocketing prescription drug prices. Unfortunately, we are not giving our seniors an affordable and dependable.

Providing affordable prescription drug coverage should be an issue that transcends partisanship. The American public should be outraged that the Republican leadership is playing politics with the health and well-being of millions of our citizens, and I hope the voters will remember this shameful abuse of power when they go to the polls in November.

As the Medicare issue continues to be debated in Congress, I will continue to support what is best for the working people of America. I understand that Medicare provides for so many who have provided so much to our nation. You can count on me to fight to ensure that Medicare keeps on doing just that.

Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30th)
Member of Congress