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One of those bills is the
prescription drug bill, which will allow senior citizens who live on
a fixed income to have the capability to pay for the high cost of
drugs. This is a bill that has been worked on for several years. It
has now been passed by the House and Senate and is in a conference
committee.
When asked by a member of the
audience if he thinks the pharmaceutical companies have received a
wake-up call from attempts to have the bill passed, the congressman
said, "I think the pharmaceutical companies have already gotten a
wake-up call."
"I do not want to completely
blame the pharmaceutical companies," he added. "They have poured a
lot of money into research and development of drugs that have
extended people's lives. We do have the best health care system in
the world, but we have people who do not have access to it; that is
the issue."
Another bill LaHood spoke about
is the energy bill. This bill would implement an energy policy in
this country such that we use our own oil and also use corn for
ethanol, making ethanol a renewable fuel.
"This would really help the
agricultural business and help us not rely so much on the Middle
East," he said.
He then moved on to the war on
terrorism and the debates going on in our country regarding this
issue. "It is very costly and very expensive but it is what we have
to do," LaHood said. "I really believe that we are winning the war
on terrorism."
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As of now there are over
135,000 American troops stationed in Iraq, and LaHood stated, "They
are trying to stabilize the country and find emerging leaders and
set up a new government, and that is not easy."
LaHood also is in support of
the partial-birth abortion bill. The bill, which bans the procedure,
was recently signed by President George W. Bush.
"This is a bill that will go to
the (U.S.) Supreme Court," LaHood said. "We cannot predict at this
point that the Supreme Court will throw this out. We are probably
two years away from a final decision on this."
LaHood was also asked about the
steel tariff issue. President Bush put a tariff on imported steel
and then took it off because of the European Union saying that it
violates trade practices.
"The tariff
really did help some steel manufacturers in this country," LaHood
remarked, "but look
at Caterpillar. They buy foreign steel and they don't want to see
the tariff get put back up because it will raise costs for them --
this is a Catch-22."
As
the address concluded, LaHood was asked what the best part of his
job is. "The opportunity to serve and help solve problems and get
things done from our district," he said. "I think public service is
really a noble calling, and if you do it the right way, you can get
a lot of things done."
[Janell Woolard] |
