WASHINGTON -- Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI)
joined First Lady Hillary Clinton today at a press conference on
Capitol Hill to urge the Republican House leadership to include
prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.
Kennedy, chairman of the House Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee, joined with Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt
in imploring the Republican leadership to place the highest priority
on affordable drug coverage for senior citizens. Also speaking at
the press conference at the Rayburn House Office Building were Democratic
Whip David Bonior (D-MI), as well as Pete Stark (D-CA) and Henry
Waxman (D-CA), leading advocates on health care issues.
"It is maddening that the Republican leadership is
refusing to bring Medicare reform to the floor because they are
buying into the scare tactics of the pharmaceutical industry," said
Kennedy. "They are afraid to take tough votes on these issues, and
while they run away, critical senior citizen health care needs continue
to hang in the balance."
Kennedy said that negative advertising campaign waged
by Citizens for Better Medicare, a group organized and primarily
funded by the pharmaceutical industry, has hampered the Democrats'
efforts to include prescription drug coverage in Medicare reform
as part of the ongoing budget talks.
"The President, the First Lady and many of my Democratic
colleagues have worked so hard on this issue because we really believe
in the importance of helping senior citizens with their prescription
drug expenses," said Kennedy. "We will be fighting relentlessly
until next November to have action and we will continue to stand
up against false advertising, pharmaceutical companies and the do-nothing-on-Medicare
Congress."
Kennedy and other Democratic leaders are putting
together a discharge petition in an attempt to force an open debate
on the House floor on prescription drug coverage inclusion in Medicare.
If 218 signatures are obtained, legislation can be heard on the
House floor, rather than being procedurally delayed by the Republican
leadership or watered down in the GOP-controlled House Rules Committee.
