Lincoln Davis Visits Huntland
By Wayne Thomas
Winchester Herald-Chronicle
December 16, 2003

Several local elected officials were in attendance at the meeting as well as several senior citizens that were concerned about the new Medicare law.

Davis explained that the new plan that was recently signed into law by President Bush does provide for those who are under the poverty level and it does provides a prescription drug plan in 2006.

"On April first of next year, there will be a $600 allocation for those individuals who are in that category," Davis explained.

"There are 27,000 people in this congressional district who are in the income level."

He explained that the plan would have a tremendous impact on seniors who are in the lower income level.

"Secondly, the rural health providers will receive in the first four years of the program, $55-million extra for services provided to residents," Davis said.

Davis explained that there were a number of points to the plan that he felt were bad to the program.

Davis also discussed the huge gap in the cost of drugs in this country and that of drugs sold in Canada.

"The Canadian government negotiates with the drug companies for a lower price," he explained. "That medicine is then sold over the counter at the lower price."

He pointed out that under the new Medicare bill, the federal health and welfare agency is prohibited from negotiating with the drug companies for better prices.

Davis said that there are some ten million more people in the United States who are on Medicare than those who need the prescription service in Canada.

He said he felt those states that have decided to ignore the warnings from the federal government about purchasing drugs in Canada for its residents are violating the law as the way it is written.

"I don't think that anything will be done to them at this time," he said.

Davis noted that the pharmaceutical companies are the second largest contributors to congressional campaigns.

"The TV ads that ran about me working for better health care was not paid for by me but by pharmaceutical companies," the congressman stated.

He also explained that the U.S. is the only country in the world that does not have a healthcare program for its citizens. "That proposal was tried during the 90's and failed," he said.

On the question of whether or not he felt Arnold Engineering Development Center will be subject to the plan to close some military bases, Davis stated that every military base will be subject to the Reduction plan.

"We are trying to find out what bases are being targeted," he said. "We're told by the president that he doesn't want any base closed until 2005, after the next election."

Davis stated that he felt that because of the importance AEDC plays, that he doesn't think it will be targeted. "I'll be fighting for it, on that you can count," he said.

Davis said that he felt AEDC and a couple of other bases around the country are very vital to the security of our country.

"We don't need to be buying our aerospace technology from other countries," he said. "Some of those that have been our friends might turn out not to be in the future."

He then made a statement that was surprising to some of those in attendance at the Huntland Community Center.

"I have been told that the barrels on our military tanks were made in another country," the congressman said.

When County Mayor Monty Adams asked if Franklin County would be receiving any additional grants for the county fire departments through the homeland security act, Davis said that after the first of the year they will start work to get more money for the departments.

"The fire departments here in Franklin County this year have received $327,831 through the Homeland Security Act," Davis said.

He also noted that several departments in nearby Lincoln County had also received grants.

At the end of the meeting, Davis thanked all of those in attendance for listening to him. The town meeting was the first to anyone's memory held in Huntland by a national political figure.

Davis did wash dishes at a restaurant in Huntland when he was running for office.