Nathan Deal

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, it is with reluctance that I come today because this is a matter that we would rather not have to deal with on this floor. It relates to the limiting language that was placed in the bill by way of a manager's amendment that was not debated in the subcommittee but was inserted prior to the full committee and taken by voice vote. It relates to the restrictive language that does not allow the Corps of Engineers to upgrade its master plans and water control plans. The bottom line of this is that this is involved in litigation that has been going on at least since 1990 in the Federal courts. Most recently, the Federal courts have ordered by virtue of a decree in the District of Columbia District Court that the Corps of Engineers is to proceed with its NEPA studies. This relates to the water usage along two major river corridors that originate in the State of Georgia and also, of course, supply water into Alabama and Florida. We believe that we should not as a Congress interfere with the actions between States that are in litigation. The courts have actually spoken on the issue. We think they should be allowed to proceed with the actions they have directed the corps to take and that Congress should not inject itself into this matter. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I make a point of order that the language beginning with, ``The Secretary of Health and Human Services,'' on page 81, line 16, through, ``Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,'' on page 82, line 5, violates clause 2 of rule XXI of the rules of the House which prohibits legislation on appropriations bills. The language that I have cited permits the Secretary of HHS to require the holder of an approved application for a drug to conduct studies to refute proposed theories. This language clearly constitutes legislating on an appropriations bill and, as such, violates clause 2 of rule XXI.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I rise to make a point of order.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 802) encouraging all eligible Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet elected enroll in the new Medicare Part D benefit to review the available options and to determine whether enrollment in a Medicare prescription drug plan best meets their current and future needs for prescription drug coverage.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss something of great importance to all Medicare beneficiaries. As my colleagues are no doubt aware, on January 1 of this year, prescription drug coverage for our seniors became more than just something we talked about in this body. It became a reality for every single person eligible for Medicare. This legislation accomplished a very important thing. It helped millions of senior citizens save thousands of dollars on their prescription drugs. For years, before enactment of this new benefit, we heard the horror stories of our seniors having to choose between groceries or their medicines, or having to cut their pills in half, all because they just couldn't afford their prescription drugs. Well, now, all those beneficiaries have the option to have good drug coverage and have the quality of life that we wish for all of our American seniors. As of today, we have nearly 37 million Medicare beneficiaries with drug coverage. This is an outstanding number. The unparalleled effort to get this brand-new change to Medicare up and running and get people enrolled has truly been incredible. However, there are still individuals who have not yet signed up, and we want to make sure that they are aware of this new benefit and can examine the options available to them, and can and will make a decision as to whether or not to sign up. We have to remember, though, that this is a voluntary benefit. If a beneficiary chooses not to enroll, then that is his or her choice. However, we will ensure that all seniors have the information available to them to make such an informed decision. We are on the verge of an important date in the implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. The initial enrollment period for drug coverage ends at midnight, May 15. All beneficiaries who have not signed up for this new benefit will need to make a choice. If there is a Medicare prescription drug plan out there that will save you money on your prescriptions, I would urge these seniors to sign up before May 15 in order to avoid paying a penalty. Like Medicare part B, if a beneficiary fails to enroll in part D during their initial eligibility period, then they may have to pay a penalty. Even if you are a Medicare beneficiary who doesn't have any prescription medicines right now, I urge you to consider signing up. You can't wait until you have had an automobile accident to buy automobile insurance. And if you are eligible today and can save money, then I urge you to sign up before the open enrollment period ends. Local outreach efforts and enrollment events are being continued across the country, and the capacity is in place to help callers who phone to 1-800-Medicare. People with Medicare can join a Medicare drug plan through the mail, by phone or over the Web now through May 15 of 2006. All completed applications postmarked on May 15 must be processed. I urge all my colleagues to help their constituents to examine all the options available to them. We can't afford to let the opportunity to save thousands of dollars on prescription medicines pass even one of our seniors by. I encourage, therefore, my colleagues to adopt this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) be allowed to control 10 minutes of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Actually, Mrs. Johnson is not the author of the resolution. I believe I am. I would have the same response because I find it somewhat interesting that the gentleman from California who, according to my statistics, says 83 percent of his seniors who have signed up for the program, who I believe voted against the inception of the program to begin with, and who has repeatedly said how bad the program is, would now say we need to give more time to sign up for a program that he doesn't like to start with. There is something basically inconsistent. If we had seen as much effort on the other side to encourage seniors to sign up as we have seen to discourage them from doing so, perhaps we would have had a higher percentage rate. He is to be commended because 83 percent is a very good rate. I commend the citizens of his congressional district for having the foresight to be able to take advantage of this great opportunity. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me clarify a statement that Mr. McDermott attributed to me about keeping the pressure on senior citizens. I did not say that. The New York Times said that. He said he had a 96-year-old mother who is confused. I have a 99- year-old mother. I am sure he was like me, a good son, who helped his mother figure out what is the plan that was best for her, and she signed up and she is very happy with it. He also alluded, as did the last speaker, to low income seniors who are under a deadline. CMS has made it very clear if they are entitled to the low income subsidy, that the deadline will not apply and they will take care of that problem. So the problem is a nonexistent one. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In spite of the doom and gloom, I am pleased to say to Ms. Schakowsky that in her State of Illinois, 72 percent of her seniors feel it is a good idea and have signed up. I think that is a good percentage.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Seventy-two percent of those eligible are on the program, yes.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time. Mr. Speaker, this has indeed been an interesting debate. Here we are having people who did not vote for the bill who for 40 years controlled this House and kept saying to seniors, we are going to provide you with a drug benefit and never delivered. The Republicans delivered. They did not like the bill. They still do not like the bill. Now they say they do not want a deadline, but the bill that they drafted had a March 1 cutoff with penalties following that. Ours is more generous than that. The purpose of today's debate is to simply remind seniors, this is a voluntary program. If you want to sign up you should do so before May 15. The confusion, yes, there is confusion because there are a lot of choices out there. Our friends on the other side of the aisle said this will not work and nobody will have any choices. The truth of the matter is, there probably are maybe too many choices, but it is better to have choices than none at all.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Surely as our ranking member on the the Health Subcommittee, you know on dual eligibles they are signed up under the program, as the law provides. So dual eligibles are included. Mr. Speaker, I will reclaim my time. The gentleman has more time remaining than I do. I will be glad to debate him on his time. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I believe I have 30 seconds remaining, and I would have the right to close. I would reserve it with no other speakers that I intend to use.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 245) supporting the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week, as amended.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would repeat my expression of appreciation for our colleague, Ms. Johnson, for bringing this resolution today and commend all of those in our society who have chosen the field of nursing as their profession and encourage others to do so and follow their example. Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that we honor them by this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation, and to insert extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 245, a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week. Nurses are an integral component of the health care system, and it is important that we recognize the over 2.7 million registered nurses for the significant work that they do. For the last 3 years, we have celebrated National Nurses Week. Beginning on May 6, we will once again have the opportunity to truly commend the nursing community for their contributions to our national health delivery system. I thank Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson for introducing this resolution, and I encourage my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and urge the adoption of the resolution.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time and reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 99, a resolution expressing the need for enhanced public awareness of traumatic brain injury and in support for designation of a National Brain Injury Awareness Month. I want to thank the principal sponsors of this legislation, Congressman Bill Pascrell from New Jersey and Congressman Todd Platts from Pennsylvania, who are the cochairs of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force. I commend them for their leadership and hard work to increase the level of public awareness of this silent epidemic of traumatic brain injury. Despite the fact that each year an estimated 1.4 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury, costing our society tens of billions of dollars and permanently altering the lives of countless people, too few people are aware of the dangers posed by these highly preventible injuries. To help address this problem, House Concurrent Resolution 99 resolves that Congress, one, recognizes the life-altering impact traumatic brain injury may have both on Americans living with the resultant disabilities and on their families; two, recognizes the need for enhanced public awareness of traumatic brain injury; three, supports the designation of an appropriate month as National Brain Injury Awareness Month; and, four, encourages the President to issue a proclamation designating such a month. Again, I commend Mr. Pascrell and Mr. Platts for their leadership on this issue. I encourage my colleagues to adopt the resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. DEAL of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 99) expressing the need for enhanced public awareness of traumatic brain jury and support for the designation of a National Brain Injury Awareness Month.