"The Blue Dog Coalition has spent years trying to convince the leadership in Washington that we need to get our fiscal house in order," said Congressman Berry. "Now I think everyone agrees that we have a financial situation on our hands that deserves the attention of the President and every Member of Congress. We ask nothing short of an immediate budget summit to get this country back on the right financial track."

Congressman Berry intends to offer his Medicare Prescription Drug Savings Act of 2005 as a potential offset to save the country billions of dollars a year. The measure would allow beneficiaries to sign-up for a Medicare administered drug plan that allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to bargain with pharmaceutical companies for a lower price. This process already works well at the Veterans Administration (VA) where agency officials negotiate drug prices that fall on average 45% below market price.

"When the Republican Party voted to dismantle Medicare in 2003, it gave the pharmaceutical industry complete control over the price of prescription drugs," said Congressman Berry. "This was a bad decision that put the interests of pharmaceutical companies before the interests of the American taxpayer. Now we have a responsibility to reconsider this decision and come up with an alternative prescription drug benefit that does not tie the hands of our government."

The Medicare Prescription Drug Savings Act was introduced in February of this year and has the support of fifty-seven Members of Congress. Senator Richard Durbin has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.

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Text of the letter is included below:

September 27, 2005

President George W. Bush

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As you know, the Blue Dog Coalition has long expressed tremendous concern over the rapid increase in our national debt resulting from large structural deficits that are projected to continue well into the future.  Today, our nation’s long term fiscal security is growing even bleaker with the addition of billions of dollars in emergency supplemental funds needed to rebuild the Gulf Region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. 

As such, the undersigned members of the Blue Dog Coalition urge you to immediately call for an emergency bipartisan budget summit to get our nation’s fiscal house in order.  

Mr. President, the Blue Dog Coalition believes that the United States should not be forced to borrow funds from foreign nations to finance our reconstruction efforts.  We owe it to the American people to act responsibly by sitting down together and devising a serious plan to keep America from going even deeper into debt. 

We must also assure the country that every dime of their money is being spent appropriately – in the Gulf Region and throughout the federal government.  Currently, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO) 16 of 23 major federal agencies are unable to produce reliable, useful, and timely financial information.  Americans are losing faith in our nation’s financial situation.  If we’re asking them to trust the government to potentially spend over $200 billion to rebuild areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, we must assure them we are up to the task and that we will act responsibly. 

Earlier this year, the Blue Dog Coalition offered a 12 Step Plan for curing our nation’s addiction to deficit spending that required, among other things, all federal agencies pass clean audits, a balanced budget, and the setting aside of a rainy day fund to be used in the event of natural disaster.  We recognize that this is only one of the many items that need to be discussed, but it is our conviction that we must first stop the hemorrhaging of red ink.   

Mr. President, we again urge you to immediately convene an emergency bipartisan budget summit.  We can and must do better.  We look forward to hearing from you.