[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 136 (Monday, September 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 11 a.m. 
on Tuesday, September 27, there be a total of 90 minutes remaining for 
debate on the conference report accompanying H.R. 4624, the VA-HUD 
appropriations bill and the remaining amendments in disagreement, with 
the time divided and controlled in the usual form, with no other 
amendments in order; that at 2:15 p.m., the Senate vote on adoption of 
the conference report; that upon the disposition of the conference 
report, the Senate vote on or in relation to the McCain amendment No. 
2587 to amendment 84; that upon disposition of the McCain amendment, 
the Senate concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment No. 
84; that upon disposition of amendment No. 84, the Senate then vote on 
or in relation to the Smith amendment No. 2588 to amendment No. 28; 
that upon disposition of the Smith amendment, the Senate concur in the 
House amendment to Senate amendment No. 28; that upon disposition of 
amendment No. 28, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on 
the motion to request a conference with the House on the disagreeing 
votes of the two Houses relative to S. 3, Campaign Finance Reform; that 
if cloture is invoked, there be 26 hours remaining for debate under 
rule 22, with the above occurring without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now ask for the yeas and nays on the 
adoption of the conference report.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I yield the floor.
  Mr. SIMON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rockefeller). The Senator from Illinois is 
recognized.


                              Health Care

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly--and I assure 
my friend from Pennsylvania that I will speak briefly--on the topic 
that Senator Mikulski spoke on at the end of her remarks, and that is 
health care.
  What has happened in this Nation today is sad. We have seen health 
care in a coma for the last few weeks, and today health care died for 
1994.
  I think of the woman who testified before the Labor and Human 
Resources Committee--I would guess she is 55 years old--working part 
time at the minimum wage. She cannot afford both her heart medicine and 
food. So she is not getting any heart medicine. The news from the U.S. 
Congress today is you are going to continue without heart medicine. You 
are going to risk your life.
  I think of the story my secretary told me just 2 weeks ago. She and 
two friends, one of whom the Presiding Officer and I know, who has been 
active in Democratic fundraising, and she was with these two friends 
and the woman you and I know started to get pale, have chest pains, 
started to perspire, and she had all the symptoms of a heart attack. 
She would not let them take her to a hospital. They took her in a taxi 
to her apartment and on the way they had to stop the taxi because she 
had nausea. She got home and then got hold of her physician. And it 
turned out she had food poisoning. But she had all the symptoms of a 
heart attack. She was not willing to go to a hospital because she did 
not have any insurance.
  How many Americans die because of that? Or the woman today at O'Hare 
Airport who came up to me with a heavy Hispanic accent, and said she 
has a son seriously ill and she has to spend $1,400 a month for health 
care insurance. She said, ``We just can't keep it up.'' And there was 
agony in her voice.
  The U.S. Congress today has said to her tough luck, tough luck, lady. 
We are not going to help you.
  If that woman was working part time, if that woman that you and I 
know, if that woman at O'Hare Airport lived in Canada, Italy, France, 
Germany, Great Britain, or Japan they would be covered. But the richest 
nation in the world cannot do it.
  And why did we lose this battle to protect people? Newsweek magazine 
last week said $400 million was spent to defeat it--that totals more 
than the amount spent by the Republican and Democratic candidates for 
President in the last two elections combined--to confuse people, to 
stop something. People who are profiting from the present system in 
collusion with those marvelous benefactors of humanity, the cigarette 
manufacturers, got together and prevented 38 million Americans from 
having health insurance. And the number is growing by 2 million more a 
year.
  I heard Senator Paul Wellstone on the floor earlier say this is a 
powerful argument for campaign finance reform, real reform. He is 
right. Something is wrong.
  And let me tell you if I lived in California I would be voting on 
that ballot for a single payer system. I think one of the messages 
today is do not count on the Federal Government to help you. The 
powerful special interests have too much power and you may have to go 
the way of the States to get something like the single payer system.
  I hear all these tales spread about what is happening in Canada. It 
is very interesting. The last poll that I saw showed 3 percent of the 
people in Canada would like to have the United States health care 
system. And yesterday's or the day before--I think it was yesterday's--
New York Times had this these U.N. statistics in there: Canada's 
longevity is seventh among the nations of the world; the United States 
18th. Canada spends far less for health care than we do. We spend more 
than any other nation and yet 38 million Americans are without health 
care.
  I would like to pay tributes. Some reporter just a little bit ago 
said this is not going to hurt the President. I do not know why it 
should hurt President Clinton. To his great credit, and to the great 
credit of Hillary Clinton, they surfaced this issue. To the credit of 
Senator Jay Rockefeller, to the credit of George Mitchell, to the 
credit of Senator Kennedy, you have led on this issue, and I am proud 
of you for leading on this issue.
  This is not a defeat for Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton or Jay 
Rockefeller or George Mitchell or Ted Kennedy. This is a defeat for the 
American people. The people who profit from the present system have 
prevailed, and it is a sad day for this Nation.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.

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