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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1987)
Friday, September 4, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local ^Congressman explains stands on AIDS problem, Medicare act tss tee will be nd student — not iatukiti liter use. Thoy liters on camp, ill, probably ome when die imputer, whet it or work at., es, instead of (1 for coraputr be semester,tb ilities on catr.: senior jourm. I he Battalion ■n 1 fAlppOS belongs ic xnir dog’. 3 Republican congressman Joe Barton prepares to answer questions from local residents. ty, a legitimai i the AtlantK 'st A&M’s leasu re byth d Ralph Coach (Bill) cio the talkif the game. ggies are qu By Lee Schexnaider Staff Writer J.S. Rep. Joe Barton expressed his concern about the AIDS problem and explained why he voted against the Medicare Catastrophic Protec tion Act in a town meeting Thursday morning at the Brazos County Courthouse. Hd am really worried about it be cause it is a contagious disease and it kills people,” Barton said to the standing-room-only audience. has been killing people in the homosexual community and intrave nous drug users,” he said. “It is now spreading to the heterosexual pop ulation; 39,000 people have died from it already in the United States. There are people in Brazos County who have the disease. There are people who die from it. And if you get it you’re dead.” ■Barton took an impromptu poll of the people at the town meeting on the acquired immune deficiency syn drome. He found the majority of people who answered were con cerned about the disease. Barton said the government should try to provide a cure, vaccine and treatment for those who have AIDS.and that the disease should be treated as a public health issue and not a social issue. “I am personally not sympathetic to the lifestyles of the homosexual community,” Barton said. “However ... to those who have it, we need to do whatever we can to make sure they don’t infect other people.” Barton discussed some of the problems involved in passing and enforcing laws regarding the deadly disease. “We can pass laws to prevent its spread to the general population,” he said. “When you start talking about passing laws you’re talking about testing. How do you test? Do you test? When do you test? Do you make it mandatory or voluntary?” Barton said one of the most im portant topics to come out of the meeting was a discussion on the Medicare Catastrophic Protection Act that the U.S. House of Rep resentatives passed on July 22. Addressing the many elderly per sons in the audience, he explained why he disagreed with the major thrust of the bill. “That bill is a catastrophe,” Bar ton said. “It’s a catastrophe for your pocketbook and everyone’s pocket- book. “I voted against that bill. I am not opposed to catastrophic health care for senior citizens, but your defi nition of catostrophic health care and that bill are not the same. “When you talk about cata strophic health coverage, what I think you mean is something to deal with long-term, health-care cost if you have to go to a nursing home. This bill doesn’t deal with that at all. It doesn’t touch it.” He criticized the American Asso ciation of Retired Persons for refus ing to support the bill unless a provi sion for prescription drug expense — which they favored — was in cluded. The House passed the bill with the provision, which included a $500 deductible, plus a charge of up to $20 per year, for prescription drugs. In addition, he said, the bill will Photo by Robert W. Rizzo increase senior citizens’ tax bill, be cause it contains an additional in come tax that would be mandatory and would increase some Medicare premiums. “You’re going to pay an income tax surtax that no one else pays,” he said. “Only senior citizens will pay that surtax. You will also be paying an increased premium for Medicare Part B. And it’s not going to be vol untary, its going to be mandatory. The whole thing is going to be man datory. There isn’t going to be any thing voluntary about it.” He advised citizens to contact their senators because the bill al ready has passed the House and now will move on to the U.S. Senate. In other discussion. Barton ex pressed his support of the Strategic Defense Initiative. “The current sentiment in Con gress is ambivalence,” he said. “Eve ryone wants to spend the money on research and then some want to spend the money to deploy the bene fits of the research. I am one of the ones who would want to spend the money.” House osks USDA to help pay for new institute year, but tin: ire to Tiger of LSU ed by (hen sionandone WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of the Texas defegation united Thursday in a request that the ■ i • , U.S. Department of Agriculture pay half the cost '' u< ' of a planned $25 million advanced biotechnology 1 l hey \u i' center in Houston. The new Institute of Biosciences and Technol- snot tsmanslu ,;0 gy * n Houston would merge the agricultural, ' , veterinary and engineering expertise of Texas ms]Mill 11 a&M University with the world-class medical (that awesOW||i s at Houston’s Medical Center Complex to Ls and fans form a center focused on diet-related medical re search. House members signed a letter written by Sen. Llovd Bentsen, D-Texas, urging the USDA to ne game, in pay half of the cost. told the per sC The letter was sent to Agriculture Secretary r for winninS Richard E - L y n S- . . r te - m andW ^ r ' -f 0 ^ n J or dan, administrator of USDA’s n, embarasst® “awesome' > wht Cooperative State Research Service, praised the idea and said he has already told officials at Texas A&M that he will work with them to help develop an acceptable proposal. “It is a very reasonable possibility,” Jordan said in a telephone interview. “Houston has just loads of quality people and A&M is one of the top insti tutions of its kind. “The meshing of those two makes good sense.” The letter was signed by Bentsen, Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and 25 of the 27 Texas House members. Bentsen wrote, “Your department is autho rized to provide matching funds for construction of agricultural research facilities. Texas A&M is eligible for and would like to apply for funds un der this program.” The letter noted that many medical problems, such as arteriosclerosis, are diet-related and said a program combining agricultural, medical and nutritional research could lead to the devel opment of foods tailored for specific health needs. The Congress must authorize the $12.5 mil lion expenditure by the USDA before the project is formally cleared and the state must come up with the matching $12.5 million. Meanwhile, Jordan said he would work closely with the project organizers to meet program and facility merit tests. Bentsen spokesman Jack DeVore said a letter has been sent to Sen. Q uent in Burdick, D-N.D., chairman of the agriculture subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, asking that an initial $50,000 be appropriated for a feasibility study. dd Saturda' ir own. 1. 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