[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 109 (Tuesday, August 9, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, we are within a very short time about to 
begin the debate on health care and health care reform that we have all 
been anticipating for a very, very long time.
  We have worked untold hundreds and perhaps thousands of hours in 
meetings, committees, subcommittees, and task forces, Democrats, 
Republicans, liberals, and conservatives. We have seen some $50 million 
to $80 million, it is predicted, to be spent on this issue of health 
care reform in an attempt by various groups within our country to 
influence this body and our colleagues in the other body to do one 
thing or another in this regard.
  I daresay, Madam President, that there is not a Senator in this body 
who is not met almost on a daily basis with constituent groups relative 
to proposals that are in some of these plans and relative to proposals 
that are left out of some of these plans.
  Whatever we pass, however we conclude this debate, when and if it is 
concluded, Madam President, I daresay that not everyone is going to be 
happy with its conclusion.
  Madam President, I would just like to say that I think the time is 
now, the time is now for us to proceed and to begin this debate, to 
take it out of closed meetings, to take it out of small task forces, 
and to take it out of those areas where perhaps the public did not get 
to see how the decisionmaking process was actually achieved.

  It is time now to bring this debate to the U.S. Senate and to the 
House of Representatives, so that all the people throughout our country 
may have the opportunity to watch their legislative bodies look at this 
legislation section by section and page by page.
  Madam President, I have two observations as this debate begins. The 
first observation is, I truly believe, as one of my colleagues, Senator 
Dodd of Connecticut, expressed last Thursday, when he asked a 
rhetorical question, when he asked in that question, why not? Why can 
we not, as 100 Members of the U.S. Senate, for at least a period of 2 
or 3 weeks, drop the partisan concerns, political labels, and look at 
what is best for this country?
  Madam President, I have great concerns that on the floor of this U.S. 
Senate, we are going to see what I truly believe is going to happen--I 
wish I did not have to say this--but I believe that we are going to see 
a tremendous number of half-truths spoken, a tremendous number of 
statements that are made that are not backed up by fact.
  Then we wonder why, and why again, do we see the true American 
public's feeling for this political institution on the downward slide.
  I hope, Madam President, that today, as this debate begins, whichever 
side of the aisle--Democrat or Republican; liberal or conservative; 
those who want to move now and those who want to wait until later--all 
of us will pledge one thing: that whatever we say and however we say 
it, it will be the truth. Maybe it will not help our position, our 
respective positions, at all times to tell the truth, but in the long 
run, Madam President, I truly believe that the American people will 
respect us, and respect us more, if they know that we are telling the 
truth about this extremely complex and volatile issue.
  The other request I would have, Madam President, is that on the floor 
of this body we would not use fear tactics; that we would not try to 
scare the American public; that we would level with the American 
public; that we would state our position and ultimately have an up or 
down vote, resolve the issue, resolve the issue as thousands and 
thousands of other issues have been settled by this body, by a 
legitimate debate, by a constructive debate, by debate which states 
different points of views, and then ultimately decide on a yes or no 
vote, up or down, whether we believe that we should put this section in 
or have that section out. I think that is the way, Madam President, 
that we should proceed.
  But, regardless of all of that, I think it is very important 
tomorrow, on the vote on the amendment offered by the Senator from 
North Carolina, for us to realize that we have at this moment an 
opportunity that may not come to us in our lifetime again, an 
opportunity to do something regarding one of the number one problems of 
American society, and that is to provide universal, affordable health 
care, with a new partnership of local, Federal, State, private 
industry, private citizenry, business, all of us together working 
together to provide that partnership which will provide universal 
coverage for all of our citizens.
  Madam President, tomorrow, the amendment of the Senator from North 
Carolina is going to be phrased something like this, and I am 
paraphrasing: Let us wait until next year. Let us postpone any action 
that we might be thinking about taking now.
  Madam President, this morning, driving to work, I started thinking of 
myself just a moment or two. And I said, ``You know, David Pryor, you 
have been in the U.S. Senate for now 15 years and during those 15 
years, you have heard each year someone say that we need to take a look 
at reforming health care.''
  We came close to some reform in catastrophic coverage. That was 
repelled. We came close to really examining our health care system 
during the Pepper Commission days, of which I was a member, and our 
fine colleague, the Senator from West Virginia, Senator Rockefeller, 
chaired with great dignity and great honor.
  I said, ``Well, I have been here 15 years and yet we have seen no 
real changes in health care. Nothing. No real changes.
  Every year we get to a point and we say, ``Well, let's back away. 
Let's wait until next year. Things will be better. Let's wait until 
after the next election.''
  But there is always a next election, Madam President.
  Then I got to thinking, ``Well, if I have been doing this 15 years, 
what about my colleagues in the Senate? We have all been waiting our 
time for this opportunity to come.''
  Then I started to think, ``Well, you know, I wonder how many 
collective years we have had in this body.''
  And so this morning I asked a very enterprising intern to do a little 
research. I said to this individual, ``How many Democratic man or woman 
years do we have in the U.S. Senate?'' The answer, 692.
  ``How many Republican man or woman years in the U.S. Senate of those 
of us who now serve in this body?'' The answer, 544.
  I added those two together, Madam President, and there are 1,236 
years represented in service in the U.S. Senate of the presently seated 
100 Senators--1,236 years that we have been waiting, postponing and not 
meeting our obligation.
  It is time, Madam President, that we met that obligation. It is time 
we started this debate. It is time that we fulfilled our commitment to 
debate, and debate honestly, debate out in the public where our people 
can watch us, watch these decisions being made, and to ultimately call 
the roll.
  It is time, Madam President, that that roll be called. It is time 
that these 1,236 years represented in the U.S. Senate at this time be 
called to service and called to action and to decide that now is the 
time to begin, now is the time to proceed, and above all, Madam 
President, now is the time to decide.
  Madam President, I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  Mr. INOUYE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

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