Michael Michaud

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), ranking member of the full committee, a gentleman who has fought for veterans issues as long as he has been in Congress.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis).

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the newly formed Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the motion to instruct conferees. It is time to stop the all-out assault on workers in Maine and throughout our Nation who rely on overtime to make ends meet. It is time to abandon the proposal to block overtime pay for 8 million workers nationwide, and it is time that this Congress and this President listen to the hardworking American people. I rise today on behalf of the families across our Nation and in my State of Maine whose overtime pay accounts for 25 percent of their entire income. What message could this be sending them? Mr. Speaker, after working 30 years in a paper mill, I know what message it sends to the working people of this country. It tells them that their work is of less and less value and that this Congress does not care that they are falling further and further behind. I urge my colleagues to listen to the people who work hard, who built this country, made this country what it is today.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. I thank the gentleman from New Mexico for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 159. I agree that recognition is due to the city of Emporia, Kansas and the Kansans who helped make Veterans' Day a national holiday honoring those who have served our Nation. I believe as Members of Congress, we have a special obligation to honor those who have served by demonstrating our support for veterans every day we serve in these halls. We do that not only by Concurrent Resolutions such as H. Con. Res. 159, but by also passing legislation, which provides the benefits and services our Nation's veterans have earned. I would hope that before the next Veterans Day is celebrated, we would pass legislation removing the Disabled Veterans Tax from the burden born by our service-disabled military retirees. I would hope that before the next Veterans Day is celebrated, we would pass legislation assuring veterans adequate funding to provide them with health care in a timely manner. Today, we honor those who contributed to making Veterans Day a national holiday with our words. Let us also honor them by our actions. I urge all Members to support passage of H. Con. Res. 159. I urge all Members to support legislation which honors our Nation's disabled veterans by their deeds.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the victims of the heat wave that gripped Europe through the month of August. Record- setting temperatures across the continent resulted in crop-ravaging drought, devastating forest fires and the deaths of thousands. Cities across Europe from London to Paris to Rome experienced temperatures never before seen in recorded history. A lack of rainfall and soaring heat left crops withered and unusable. The economic costs of such losses have been measured in the billions. Forest fires burned thousands of acres, left hundreds homeless and several dead. Sadly, thousands lost their lives as a result of dehydration, fever and other heat-related illness. In France alone, more than ten thousand people lost their lives. Citizens of Europe have not hesitated to bow their heads and join us in grief during times of tragedy, especially to remember the terrible events of September 11, 2001. Let us take a moment to express our sympathies and share in the grief of the family and friends of those who succumbed during Europe's recent human tragedy.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, it has been 859 days since President Bush and the Republican Party embarked on their economic plan of our country. During that time the national debt has increased by $1,169,750,943,211.93. According to the Web site for the Bureau of Public Debt at the U.S. Treasury yesterday at 4:30 p.m. eastern daylight time the national outstanding debt was $6,810,076,329,570.70. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2003, interest on our national debt, or the ``debt tax'' is $304,978,878,641.11 through August 31.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1, the Medicare prescription drug bill. Mr. Speaker, this motion instructs conferees to do two simple things, two things that the House bill does not accomplish: one, it asks them to provide a guaranteed prescription drug benefit for all seniors; number two, it asks them to preserve Medicare as we know it today. Upon signing the Medicare law in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson said, ``Every citizen will be able, in his productive years when he is earning, to insure himself against the ravages of illness in his old age.'' It says ``every citizen.'' Yet, the bill passed by this body does nothing to guarantee a prescription drug benefit for any citizen and attempts to privatize Medicare in 2010. The proponents of this bill trumpet choice and competition between private plans as the way to provide the best benefit to Medicare beneficiaries. Yet, the truth of the matter is the only choice that will be made will be made by private insurance companies choosing not to serve rural areas. In fact, 80 percent of rural Medicare beneficiaries, including all of the State of Mainers, currently live in areas that private insurance plans have chosen not to serve. Yet, this legislation does not contain a fall-back provision. Medicare+Choice has not worked in many areas, including my State of Maine, and there is a very good chance that this drug bill will not work either. Where does that leave rural Americans? Out in the cold without a benefit. Without a fall-back provision, we are abandoning all rural seniors at a time when they need it the most. As if the problems with this bill were not enough, it contains a premium assistance provision that aims to privatize Medicare by phasing out the traditional fee-for-service plan and replacing it with a voucher program in 2010. This harmful provision would force Medicare to compete with private HMOs that will appeal to younger, healthier seniors, leaving traditional Medicare with those seniors who need a more comprehensive benefit. This change in the pool of beneficiaries will cause Medicare premiums to rise and become unaffordable, jeopardizing the long-term viability of the traditional Medicare program and abandoning seniors yet once again. Do not be fooled by the arguments for premium assistance. It is just another step towards privatization of Medicare and elimination of the only plan available to seniors in areas such as the State of Maine, the traditional Medicare plan. Forcing rural seniors into private plans and making them give up traditional Medicare without a guarantee of coverage is not the right approach and is a disservice to rural Americans, but that is what this bill would actually do. Like my colleagues who will also speak in support of this motion, I want to pass a real prescription drug benefit; but I will not vote for a plan that hurts America's seniors. Health care coverage is nothing if you do not have access to it. We have a historic opportunity to add a much-needed prescription drug benefit; but without guaranteed coverage, we have failed. Let us take an important step today and guarantee coverage to all seniors by providing a real prescription drug benefit, not a thinly veiled attempt to privatize Medicare and abandon rural seniors. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion to instruct. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown). (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, how much time does each side have remaining?

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the minority whip.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin).

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Davis).

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill).

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross).

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, when we get through the smoke and mirrors of this bill passed by this House, it comes down that H.R. 1 aims to privatize Medicare in 2010. It does nothing to guarantee prescription drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas like the State of Maine. And actually, language in the bill prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from negotiating for lower-cost prescriptions. That is wrong. The current bill is a disservice to all seniors, and I urge Members to adopt changes made in this motion to give Medicare recipients present and future the benefit that they deserve. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), we do not have to go back to 1965, I will quote the gentleman's words in 2003, ``To those who say that the bill would end Medicare as we know it, the answer is, we certainly hope so.'' That is a quote in 2003 from the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas). I urge Members to adopt this motion.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) is wrong. This plan does not provide that every senior will have a plan. This plan, all it does is provide the right for an individual to buy a private plan. It does not guarantee that plan. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes and 10 seconds to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, subject to rule XX, clause 7(c), I hereby announce my intention to offer a motion to instruct on H.R. 1, Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003. The form of the motion is as follows: Mr. Michaud moves: 1. To reject the provisions of subtitle C of title II of the House bill. 2. The House recede to the Senate on the provisions to guarantee access to prescription drug coverage under section 1860D-13(e) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 101(a) of the Senate amendment.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1572 is a bill to designate the Federal Building in Pensacola, Florida, as the Winston E. Arnow United States Federal Courthouse. Judge Arnow was a native son of Florida. He was born in 1911 in Micanopy, Florida, attended public schools, and graduated from the University of Florida in 1932. He received his law degree in 1933. Judge Arnow was a World War II veteran, serving in the infantry in the United States Army. Although he graduated from college and law school during the Depression, Winston Arnow became the first research clerk at the Supreme Court of Florida. He then practiced law for 30 years in Gainesville. President Johnson appointed him to the Federal bench in 1968. In 1969, he became the senior judge, and served in that capacity until 1981. As senior judge, Judge Arnow continued his work on the bench until his death in 1994. Judge Arnow was instrumental in enforcing civil rights law during the critical period from 1969 through 1978. He based his decisions on the strength of the Constitution, and his decisions leave a legacy of fairness and integrity. On the bench he was all business and showed no favoritism. His social and economic decisions had a profound effect on the social fabric of Northern Florida. In 1972, Judge Arnow's decisions regarding the Naval Live Oaks Reservations ended a long and controversial dispute over ownership, when he declared the historic woodland in the Gulf to be owned by the citizens of the United States. He was a warm and gracious judge, generous with his time and advice. Judge Arnow was a fearless decision-maker, known for integrity and honesty. This designation is a fitting tribute to his long and distinguished career. I support this legislation and urge its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, the Singapore and Chile agreements are wrong for labor standards, they are wrong on the environment, they are wrong on the economy, and they are wrong for the American people. I have been a mill worker at Great Northern Paper Company for over 30 years. I have had firsthand experience with the devastation of the so- called free trade agreements on the U.S. economy. I know what they really mean to the working people of this country. Almost no one else in this Chamber can claim that experience. These kinds of agreements are bad for the working American people. NAFTA has been nothing but a disaster in my State of Maine, costing over 24,000 manufacturing jobs alone since NAFTA came into effect. As a matter of fact, in some parts of my district, the unemployment rate is over 38 percent. Working people do not want the programs or handouts that we have created because of trade agreements, they want to keep their jobs. No, I do not oppose all free trade agreements categorically; but they must be truly free, and they must be truly fair for our workers. Singapore and Chile are neither. Mr. Speaker, the problem with these agreements is made far worse by the Trade Promotion Authority which shuts out the people's voice and even prevents Members of Congress from holding negotiators responsible for harmful and misguided policies. That is why today I am introducing a bill to repeal Trade Promotion Authority. If the people had a voice in how these agreements are reached and we could amend sections of these agreements that are lacking, then we might have fair and free trade agreements. In fact, we might not even need this debate today. So I urge my colleagues to stand up for the working Americans who sent us here to fight for them, and I urge my colleagues to vote against both agreements.

Mr. MICHAUD

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support H.R. 2357, the Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act of 2003 and I would like to thank Congressman Evans, Ranking Member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee for introducing this important measure. As we speak, our young men and women in uniform are selflessly risking their lives in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The bravery that they show reflects the proud tradition of this nation's military and demonstrates the great sacrifices made by our veterans and their families. America owes a great debt to its veterans. Recently, the President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Veterans released its final report, which noted ``a significant mismatch in VA between demand and available funding.'' To ensure funding for veterans' health care, the report recommends ``modifications to the current budget and appropriations process by using a mandatory funding mechanism.'' The ``Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act of 2003'' would address the findings and recommendations of the Task Force by creating a guaranteed funding stream for veterans' health care. We need a process that ensures that our veterans do not have to wait for discretionary funding each fiscal year, and that is why I support H.R. 2357. The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars have built a coalition to fight for the passage of mandatory funding for veterans' health care. It is one of the highest priorities for the veterans of this country and it should be one of the highest priorities for this Congress. We need to work to ensure that both bodies pass legislation to guarantee funding for veterans' health care. The veterans of this country need to know that this Congress is serious about caring for their needs, and that this country keeps its promises.