Friday, September 4, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
^Congressman explains stands
on AIDS problem, Medicare act
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Republican congressman Joe Barton prepares to answer questions from local residents.
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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'
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