[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]

 
                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am disappointed that the Senate will 
not vote on major health care legislation this year. We made 
substantial progress this year with Senators Chafee and Breaux and 
their bipartisan coalition. We were in striking distance of a 
significant bipartisan compromise. But Republican opposition has 
prevented us from moving forward. The sad fact is that too many of our 
Republican colleagues are more interested in the health of the 
Republican Party than in the health of the American people.
  It is regrettable that because of election year politics, Republican 
leaders are bent upon preventing anything that President Clinton can 
claim as a victory, no matter what the cost is to the American people. 
While our failure to enact legislation this year is deeply 
disappointing, we take pride that we have come farther than ever 
before. We have laid a solid foundation for renewed action next year.
  Health care continues to be a top priority for the American people, 
and it will be a top priority for the new Congress. In recent weeks, 
many of us have persisted in the hope that we might still reach an 
agreement that could obtain bipartisan support. I have worked closely 
with Senators Mitchell, Chafee, Breaux, Lieberman, Kerrey, and others 
on a compromise measure, and we have made great progress in our 
negotiation. These efforts will help to lay a foundation for health 
reform legislation next year. Possibly, some parts of this proposal can 
still be enacted this year, but time is clearly running out.
  Some have suggested that health reform has been halted in this 
Congress because it is no longer an important national issue. That is 
what the special interests would like us to believe. But that is not 
what the American people think.
  There is a health care crisis, and providing health insurance for 
every American is very important. The health care crisis has not 
disappeared. The situation is worse than it was a year ago when 
President Clinton called on Congress to enact health reform--and it 
will continue to worsen as long as we fail to act.
  The debate may be about to end in Congress for now, but it will go on 
in the homes and around the dinner tables of families across America.
  Today, like last year, Americans still have to worry about losing 
their insurance coverage if they change their job or lose their job. 
Today, like last year, Americans still have to worry that they will 
lose their coverage or pay higher premiums if they are sick and 
actually need to use the insurance they have been paying for.
  Today, like last year, Americans still have to worry that they will 
not be able to get coverage if they have a preexisting condition.
  Today, like last year, we are still the only major industrialized 
Nation in the world, apart from South Africa, that does not guarantee 
insurance for all citizens.
  Fifty-one Americans lose their health insurance every minute. All of 
them are at risk of physical and financial disaster if illness or 
accident strikes. We all know friends and acquaintances who have no 
insurance and face unpayable bills.
  Today, even for those families fortunate enough to have health 
insurance, the costs of care are often staggering--and the costs will 
continue to worsen without reform.
  If we do nothing, the average family will be spending 18 cents out of 
every dollar earned on health care by the year 2000--double the 
percentage of family income paid for health costs in 1980.
  Some have suggested that health reform failed because we insisted on 
the goal of universal coverage. But the American people want affordable 
health insurance for all, and they deserve it. And universal coverage 
is the only way to achieve that goal.
  Without universal coverage, we will never avoid the tragedies that 
too often result when uninsured persons fall ill with no means to pay 
for treatment.
  Without universal coverage, we will never be able to control costs 
and end the unfair cost-shifting that plagues our current system.
  Some have claimed that comprehensive health reform failed this year 
because the proposals were too complex and would take away choice. But 
a major part of the problem is the private insurance bureaucracies that 
are proliferating today. According to one report, they are exerting 
more influence over day-to-day medical decisions than President Clinton 
ever proposed giving the Federal Government. They are second-guessing 
physicians. Doctors and medical executives call them the health police.
  Compare this with the recent announcement from the Federal Employees 
Health Benefits Program, which insures the Members of Congress and 
offers choices from a large range of health plans. That program has 
just added benefits and lowered premiums.
  The fact is that our Democratic proposals would have assured more 
choice and less bureaucracy than under the current system.
  Some have said that Democrats should have been more willing to 
compromise with Republicans. That's exactly what we have been working 
to achieve the last several weeks.
  I commend Senator Chafee and those of his colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who were willing to join in seeking a bipartisan 
bill.
  But the sad fact is that too many of our Republican colleagues 
refused to join in that commitment. They have carried out a policy of 
gridlock for political gain, while pointing the finger of blame at 
others. As one Republican Senator reportedly told his colleagues, 
``We've killed health care reform. Now we've got to make sure our 
fingerprints aren't on it.''
  Our Republican opponents filibustered the Mitchell bill when it was 
on the floor in August. They threatened to kill GATT if we tried to 
push for health reform.
  Our Republican opponents have slowed down essential appropriations 
bills. They are blocking campaign finance reform. They have blocked 
telecommunications reform. And now they are blocking health reform.
  They say we are too far apart to reach agreement this year. But in 
fact, Republicans and Democrats were never that far apart on many of 
the most basic issues.
  Some of the most adamant opponents of health reform today have 
supported nearly every basic element of the plans proposed by Democrats 
in the Senate and included in the bipartisan compromise being prepared 
by Senator Mitchell and Senator Chafee.
  The Democratic bills and the bipartisan compromise would have 
provided basic insurance reforms, to prevent companies from denying 
coverage for preexisting conditions, or dropping coverage just when 
people need it most. These reforms also would have guaranteed that 
Americans could carry their insurance coverage with them from one job 
to another.
  Senator Dole wrote or cosponsored three different bills that included 
similar steps.
  Our Democratic bills and the bipartisan compromise would have 
reformed the insurance market to increase coverage and choice and lower 
costs, by grouping the purchasing power of individuals and small 
businesses who are at a disadvantage in the current system. These bills 
would also have opened the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to 
give individuals and small businesses the same access to coverage that 
Members of Congress have. These bills would have guaranteed large 
numbers of Americans a much greater choice of health plans than they 
have today.
  In addition, the leading Democratic and Republican bills would have 
reformed malpractice litigation, simplified the administration of the 
health-care system, ensured the privacy of individual health 
information, provided fair tax treatment for the self-employed, 
subsidized insurance premiums for the poorest Americans, given emphasis 
to coverage for pregnant women and children, and provided needed 
support for research and training.
  But now, as we have sought to reach out to our Republican colleagues, 
they have backed away from the positions they once held. The more we 
move toward them, the further they retreat.
  Our opponents' principal allies in this battle against reform have 
been the health and insurance industries. While some companies and 
organizations have acted responsibly and worked with us to develop 
effective proposals, the opponents of reform have spent millions of 
dollars to confuse and scare the public and undermine reform.
  According to one study, special interest groups opposed to health 
care reform spent $46 million on campaign contributions to candidates 
for Congress in the first 19 months of this election cycle. Another $60 
million has been spent on health care advertising, mostly to oppose 
reform.
  The compromise measure that Senator Mitchell and Senator Chafee were 
negotiating offered the chance to make a real difference in the lives 
of millions of Americans. While many of us still had concerns about 
some aspects of this bill, it offered the opportunity for significant 
progress this year, and I regret that we are no longer able to move 
forward on it.
  We had a historic opportunity this year to make a real difference in 
the lives of all Americans. We could have covered more than 8 million 
children who have no health insurance. We could have guaranteed that 
all expectant mothers have access to comprehensive prenatal care.
  We could have helped senior citizens and people with disabilities pay 
for long-term care. We could have freed all Americans from the fear 
that they will lose their health insurance when they are sick or 
unemployed. We could have taken each of these long-overdue steps--but 
we were blocked by our Republican opponents and their special interest 
allies.
  But let us not lose sight of what we did accomplish. Thanks to the 
leadership of the President and Mrs. Clinton, Congress faced up to the 
issue of comprehensive health reform as it never has before.
  We finally began to seek solutions to the extreme gaps in coverage 
and the endlessly rising costs that plague our health care system.
  We held extensive hearings on health reform, including 46 hearings in 
the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources alone. Four 
committees reported major health care legislation. We debated a 
comprehensive reform bill on the Senate floor. That achievement is 
unprecedented in the history of Congress.
  As a result of this debate and in spite of all the disagreements, we 
have moved closer to agreement on several key points that will serve as 
the basis for a health reform bill next year.
  First, we agree on the need for insurance industry reform. Companies 
should not be allowed to drop coverage or raise premiums when a person 
falls ill. They must not be permitted to refuse insurance to applicants 
who have a preexisting condition. Employees should not be in danger of 
losing their insurance when they lose their job, or change their job--
they should have the right to continue their coverage.
  Second, we should be able to agree on the importance of insuring 
children and pregnant women. Nearly 1 in 10 expectant mothers has no 
health insurance, and one in every four babies is born to a mother who 
does not receive adequate prenatal care.
  The advantages of guaranteeing coverage for these mothers and their 
infants far outweigh the costs. Every dollar invested in early, 
comprehensive prenatal care saves $3 in later costs. A visit to a 
doctor to treat a child's strep throat costs about $20, but 
hospitalization for a child whose untreated strep throat has developed 
into rheumatic fever can cost thousands of dollars.
  Third, we agree on greater assistance for low-income Americans of all 
ages. Today, families on welfare have health coverage, but many working 
parents can't afford to buy insurance for their families. That's 
absurd. Every major bill, both Republican and Democrat, has included 
expanded subsidies to help low-income families purchase insurance.
  Finally, we should be able to agree on improved coverage for the 
Nation's senior citizens. People who have worked hard all their lives 
should not have to worry about losing their life savings to pay for 
long-term care. They shouldn't have to choose between buying food and 
buying the prescription drugs they need. Any reform should include 
steps to increase health security for older Americans.
  When Congress returns next year, I intend to begin work immediately 
on a bill that will bring these basic protections to the American 
people as soon as possible.
  Our underlying goal is and must remain universal coverage. I will 
continue to fight in every possible way to guarantee affordable health 
insurance for every American. Any measure that we adopt must be a 
stepping stone, and not a barrier, to that goal.
  Many Senators deserve credit for the progress that we have made. 
Senator Daschle, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Wofford, and I see 
Senator Harkin in the Chamber, and Senator Wellstone, and my colleagues 
in the universal coverage coalition worked tirelessly effectively for 
our goal.
  Above all, Majority Leader Mitchell deserves the gratitude of all 
Americans for his outstanding leadership on health reform throughout 
these past 2 difficult years. No Member of this body has worked harder 
or achieved more to try to make health security a reality for the 
American people. I deeply regret that we were not able to win this 
battle this year. But he has put us squarely on the road to real 
reform, and because of him, there will be no turning back.
  As we carry on this fight, we renew our pledge to see the battle 
through. Parents across America desire to be secure in the knowledge 
that, whatever happens, they will be able to afford the care their 
children need. I will never give up the fight for health reform until 
senior citizens no longer have to worry about how to pay for long-term 
care. I will never give up the fight until the working men and women of 
this country know that years of effort and hard-won savings cannot be 
wiped out by a sudden illness. The drive for comprehensive health 
reform will begin again next year. We are closer than ever to our goal, 
and I am confident that we will prevail.
  Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, several of my colleagues are here and I 
will defer to them, but I would just like to say one thing for now.
  I have been in the U.S. Senate for a little bit over 4 years. I do 
not have very much to add, because I believe from the bottom of my 
heart that we have just heard from a giant. While I am really saddened 
and maybe a little angry about what has happened, that we cannot move 
this reform bill through, when I hear Senator Kennedy from 
Massachusetts finish up by saying that he will never, never, never stop 
until we make sure that we respond to people's lives and move forward 
in health care reform, it just gives me a great deal of heart.
  I just cannot begin to tell you, from my point of view, what it is 
about being in the U.S. Senate and having a chance to serve with the 
Senator from Massachusetts. I could go on and on and on.
  I think what I will do is, it is my understanding Senator Harkin has 
to leave. If not, I will take a few minutes only.
  Would the Senator like to have a few minutes now? Maybe I could 
follow him. I do not want to stop him from leaving. I just wanted to 
respond to the Senator from Massachusetts. I have more to say, but the 
Senator can go ahead.
  Mr. HARKIN. I appreciate that.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham). The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for yielding to me. I 
do have to be down at a swearing-in ceremony for Marca Bristo at the 
White House very shortly.
  But I wanted join my colleague and friend from Minnesota in again 
saying a great big thank you to Senator Kennedy for his many years of 
leadership, especially in the health care reform area. I, too, am 
heartened by what he just said; that, in fact, we will be back again 
next year.
  I, along with Senator Wellstone, serve on Senator Kennedy's Committee 
on Labor and Human Resources. I just want Senator Kennedy to know that 
we are going to be there behind him. We will help him in every way next 
year to once again make sure that the hopes and dreams of so many 
millions of Americans--that they, too, will have the same kind of 
health care coverage that we have here in the Congress--will become a 
reality.
  The announcement this afternoon by Senator Mitchell that we will not 
be taking up health care this year comes as a tragic blow to millions 
of Americans.
  I, too, want to join Senator Kennedy in complimenting our leader, 
Senator Mitchell, for all of the effort that he has put into it last 
year and this year to try to get something through the Senate. But it 
has all come to naught. And one really has to ask why.
  Mr. President, I think Senator McConnell said it earlier this year 
when he said that gridlock was back in Washington. And he said it is a 
good thing, because there are some things the American people do not 
want to get through here.
  Senator Gramm, the head of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, 
also said it. He said we are going to use every procedural tool that we 
have to stop health care reform.
  Last week, it was reported in the paper that Senator Packwood said 
that he was quoted as telling his colleagues at a lunch on Tuesday 
that, ``We have killed health care reform. Now we have to make sure our 
fingerprints are not on it.''
  William Kristol, the sort of ideological parent of the Republican 
Party, in his newsletter, said their No. 1 goal was to kill health care 
reform. Well, it has happened. It is dead for this year.
  But I want Mr. Kristol, Senator Gramm, Congressman Gingrich, Senator 
Dole and everyone else who has tried to stop and stymie and block and 
kill health care reform to know that we are going to be back, and we 
are going to be back next year. We are going to get our guidance and 
direction from Senator Kennedy. We are going to give him every possible 
support to make sure that next year we are going to bring it back to 
the American people with full force and fury. We have not given up.
  And I stand behind Senator Kennedy. We will not give up. The American 
people demand this of us. It is the least we can do. It is a tragedy 
that we did not get it done this year, and put it off for yet another 
year.
  But I know that President Clinton will be here next year, Senator 
Kennedy will be here next year, and we are going to be here next year. 
We are going to pick this fight up again next year. We are going to 
make sure that the American people get the health care they deserve.
  I can just only speak for myself, Mr. President, in saying that it is 
a shame that we did not do it.
  I am going to ask to have printed in the Record a letter that was 
sent out today from Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania in which he 
pointed out there were seven areas of agreement to which we have all 
agreed in the Labor Committee, the Finance Committee, the Dole bill, 
the mainstream group all agreed on seven different areas.
  Senator Wofford asked in this plan, ``Why can't we pass the things 
that we agree upon and fight about the things we don't agree on?''
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have this letter printed in 
the Record, because it is right on point.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                               Washington, DC, September 26, 1994.
     Hon. George Mitchell,
     Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

     Hon. Robert Dole,
     Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senators Mitchell and Dole: Even though there is broad 
     agreement on many elements of health reform, it now appears 
     that Congress may recess without passing any health reform 
     legislation. To adjourn without enacting those measures upon 
     which we agree would be a scandal. It is hard for me--and 
     more importantly hard for the American people--to understand 
     why we would leave so many significant agreements on the 
     table.
       We have seen how baseball owners and players, by 
     emphasizing their disagreements, ruined a wonderful season 
     for everyone. Let's choose the opposite course. Let's 
     emphasize our common ground, and act on it. That would be a 
     victory for everyone, most significantly for the American 
     people who would find health insurance more accessible and 
     more secure.
       As you, Senator Dole, have suggested on numerous occasions, 
     there are clear areas of agreement on health reform that can 
     still pass with overwhelming support in the Senate and the 
     House of Representatives. Specifically, I propose a bill that 
     includes the following provisions, which you and many 
     Republicans and Democrats have supported. (I have noted how 
     each item has already been included in existing proposals.)
       1. Insurance market reforms. Strengthen private health 
     insurance by eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions 
     and enacting other widely agreed upon changes in insurance 
     industry practices. (Mitchell, Dole, Labor Committee, Finance 
     Committee, Mainstream Group)
       2. Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Open 
     to individuals and small businesses the program that we and 
     millions of Americans use to get health insurance. (Mitchell, 
     Dole, Labor Committee, Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       3. Expanded coverage of children. Provide subsidies for low 
     and moderate income children. Virtually all health reform 
     proposals include subsidies for individuals and families with 
     low and moderate income. This approach would focus subsidies 
     on expanding coverage for children. (Mitchell, Labor 
     Committee, Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       4. Long-term home and community-based care. Make a start on 
     long-term care by creating a capped state grant program to 
     provide assistance to the elderly and disabled for the cost 
     of home and community-based care. (Mitchell, Dole, Labor 
     Committee, Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       5. Deductibility for the self-employed. Permit farmers, 
     sole proprietors, and other self-employed persons to deduct 
     100 percent of their health care costs. Virtually all health 
     reform proposals include an expansion of the deductibility 
     for the self-employed. (Mitchell, Dole, Labor Committee, 
     Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       6. Administrative simplification. Reduce the cost and 
     frustration caused by the mass of paperwork that plagues the 
     current health care system by moving to a uniform electronic 
     system for medical records and claims, building on private 
     sector, not government initiatives. (Mitchell, Dole, Labor 
     Committee, Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       7. Anti-fraud and abuse. Enhanced investigation and 
     enforcement of fraud and abuse laws. (Mitchell, Dole, Labor 
     Committee, Finance Committee, Mainstream Group)
       This ``Seven-Point Common Ground Plan'' is made up entirely 
     of provisions that we have all supported. I believe the 
     American people would understand and support such a bill if 
     we could agree to move it through Congress. To be sure, such 
     a bill would not include many reforms that I support, as well 
     as provisions that others favor. But I suggest that we leave 
     those disagreements for another day. Now is the time for us 
     to come together to work for what we agree is the common 
     good.
           With warm regards,
                                                   Harris Wofford.

  Mr. HARKIN. Finally, Mr. President, and I can only speak for myself, 
we still have 2 weeks here. There are a lot of bills floating around 
here. I still think we ought to make one last stab at it. I do not 
think we ought to go home until we at least have a vote on whether or 
not we will cover the children of America, on whether we will have at 
least something out here on which we can get a down payment, a small 
first step. How can we possibly go home this year without at least 
having tried to extend health care to the most vulnerable of our 
society, and that is our children?
  It may not be possible, under the arcane rules that we sometimes 
operate under here in the Senate, but I will be on the lookout for any 
possibility that may arise in which such a bill or an amendment can be 
offered to try to cover the kids of America. Hopefully, that will not 
be blocked. Hopefully, we might be able to at least move that small 
portion of health care reform.
  So, Mr. President, I feel badly that the leader saw fit to announce 
today that we could not take it up this year. I understand fully why he 
cannot, because of the gridlock that is here because of all the 
opposition from the other side.
  I commend and compliment Senator Kennedy for his many years of 
leadership on this, and tell him that we will be here with him next 
year fighting to make sure that we get health care reform next year.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. WELLSTONE addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.


                           Health Care Reform

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise just to speak for a few moments 
and to do it very informally. I want to pick up on what Senator Harkin 
said. I think one of the things that has puzzled me the most about the 
journey that health care reform has taken through the Senate is the 
position that some Senators have taken, which is a sort of ``no'' to 
everything.
  I started out as a single-payer supporter. I believe that is the most 
desirable policy. And then, much like you, Mr. President, I thought--
this came out of Senator Kennedy's committee, the Labor and Human 
Resources Committee. It was not pure single-payer, but I liked the 
language that would enable States to have the flexibility. It seems to 
me almost outrageous that, for example, we could not even give States 
the kind of flexibility they need in terms of how they might finance 
and deliver health care. Let the country be a grassroots political 
culture. Let us make the States laboratories of reform. That is your 
piece of legislation. I am proud to be a cosponsor. Then the majority 
leader had a bill and so on and so on and so on.
  I just want to make two arguments. One, I do not know of a better 
case to be made for campaign finance reform than what has happened to 
health care. The sad thing is the campaign finance reform bill that is 
now on the floor of the Senate is essentially being filibustered, 
delayed and blocked. But to me the most unconscionable part of this is 
that even those of us who are not about to see the kind of sweeping 
reform that we hoped for were willing to at least take some pieces and 
move those forward. Senator Harkin talked about covering children. 
Senator Kennedy talked about women expecting children, covering 
children. Senator Kennedy spoke with a great deal of passion based upon 
a quarter of century of struggle by one man in the United States, that 
we think about older people, people with disabilities, home-based 
health care.
  Then there was a proposal to make sure that maybe, at least with the 
self-employed people, if we were not going to have comprehensive 
coverage that they would be able to fully deduct their medical 
expenses.
  Then, finally, once again the idea of let us let States move forward.
  But now it just becomes crystal clear that there are some Senators--
it is one thing to disagree substantively. I did not agree with a 
number of the proposals of the mainstream group. But I never said--in 
fact I always said the opposite--I would come out here and filibuster 
it; I would introduce 1,000 amendments; I would kill it. What you have 
had happen here is there is a group of Senators who have essentially 
said we will filibuster anything. We will add a thousand amendments. We 
will just stop it cold. And what is sad about that--I did not even use 
the word, by the way, Republican or Democrat, when I said that, because 
there are some Republican Senators who want to move forward on health 
care reform. But what is sad about this great strategy, and I put 
``great strategy'' in quotes, is it just loses sight of one thing: 
people's lives.
  I have anger but I think I have more sadness, because I cannot get 
the voices of the people I have heard, and their faces, out. They are 
just with me. All these conversations--I am sure the Senator from 
Maryland has heard them over and over again. Both of us love to be in 
cafes.

       You know, Senator, I lost my job. I don't have any health 
     insurance. What is going to happen to me?
       Senator, my mother has Alzheimer's. What is going to happen 
     to me? I'm afraid my family is going to go under.
       Senator, what is going to happen to my family? My child has 
     diabetes, and as soon my child is 21, it is not covered under 
     my company health care plan, and I do not have any coverage 
     and I am afraid my child will not be covered. Or business 
     will not hire my child because their rates will go up.

  And it goes on and on and on. That is the one thing that has been 
lost by the people who have this strategy of just block, ``Just say 
no.'' All these problems continue, they grow deeper, they grow more 
serious.
  So, we will be back.
  Finally, let me simply say one more time that I think there is one 
other thing going on here and I conclude with these words. I hate 
saying this, but I believe it so I will say it. I do not think it is 
just health care. It is campaign finance reform, it is just about 
everything. There seems to be a strategy at play that the best thing 
you can do--at least some Senators think--is you bring this process to 
a grinding halt, you block everything, you essentially just stop the 
Senate and then you go around the country, fanning the flames of 
discontent and you make people angry and you say: Government can do 
nothing, the Senate can do nothing, people in the Congress can do 
nothing.
  It is like what the Senator Kerry from Massachusetts last week 
referred to as a ``scorched Earth policy.'' I think it is deeply 
cynical. And I think it is profoundly wrong. I do believe we are here 
to try to respond to people's lives, the problems that people have and 
trying to do well for people.
  I do not see how, if we are going to block every single thing and 
bring this whole process to a screeching halt, that we will be able to 
do that. I hope people will sort out what has happened with health 
care, will sort out what is happening with campaign finance reform, 
will sort out what is happening on every piece of legislation over the 
last several weeks, and try to hold Senators accountable. Because there 
needs to be some accountability for what has happened here.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan is recognized.


                           Health Care Reform

  Mr. RIEGLE. Mr. President, let me say to the Presiding Officer from 
Florida, I appreciate his recognition.
  This is one of those days when the country unfortunately comes to the 
moment regarding a major problem that needs attention when it is clear 
that a solution is not going to happen. With respect to health care 
reform, there are a lot of different ideas as to how to do it. There 
are all kinds of bases for give and take to work out some of the 
changes and adjustments in health care policy that would be good for 
the country, good for people. But, unfortunately, now that has been 
prevented and will not happen.
  In particular I feel very badly that we are not going to at least 
extend coverage to children in this country who now do not have health 
insurance, as well as to expectant women who do not have health 
insurance. Every shred of information we have--and common sense and 
decency and good economics--all argue for making sure that at least 
those groups in our society are covered with health care insurance, so 
they get good preventive care, so kids have a chance when they get sick 
to get well, or to prevent illnesses, and then grow up and have a 
chance for a full life, as we all want for our families and for our 
children.
  The fact that we are not going to accomplish this now will also have 
the effect of putting a worsening economic squeeze on the middle class. 
The middle class is shrinking all the time. A lot of people understand 
why, when unemployment statistics look more favorable, there is still 
unease across the country on economic questions. It is because so many 
working families are finding, while they may be working, maybe in 
either part-time jobs or jobs that are not far from the minimum wage, 
that today it takes both a mother and father working two jobs each--in 
other words between them having four jobs--to make enough money to 
support a family and try to set a little money aside for emergencies or 
maybe to build up a small nest egg for a downpayment on a house.
  So there is a great uncertainty in people in the middle class because 
so many are sliding backwards. The cost of health care continues to go 
up for most of them. Many of them, in fact, in that group who are 
working every day, do not have any health care coverage, or in some 
cases the father or the mother might have partial coverage for 
themselves through the workplace but will not have coverage for the 
other spouse or for the children in the family. So this is a very 
serious problem in this country.
  It is one we can solve. It takes bipartisan goodwill to do that. We 
have to have the two parties working together to come up with changes 
that are improvements overall for the whole system. Unfortunately, the 
other party decided that they do not want to participate at this point, 
so they backed away from it and we are left in a situation where we are 
not going to be able to proceed with any kind of improvements in the 
system. That is a matter of the deepest regret for me.
  I want to say to the Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, who 
spoke earlier: There is nobody here who has fought harder and fought 
longer to try to accomplish sensible health care reform than Ted 
Kennedy has. I am so struck by the fact that he serves here as a 
Senator in a family tradition starting out with his brother Jack 
Kennedy, our President, who stood here before that as a U.S. Senator 
himself, fighting for constructive changes in our national life, then 
moved on to the Presidency where we lost him to assassination, we lost 
him 1,000 days or so into his Presidency. Then another brother from 
that same family, Robert Kennedy, came here to the U.S. Senate and 
fought for these same kinds of things to try to help people, to 
especially try to help the little people who need it. Robert Kennedy 
came here to try to see to it that people have a chance in life, not 
guaranteed outcomes, but just a decent chance, to be well and healthy, 
to have the kind of health care protection that people need, as well as 
educational opportunity and job opportunity and other things of that 
kind.
  As we all know, Robert Kennedy, as well, ran for the Presidency and 
was also cut down by an assassin's bullet. And even before that, there 
was still another brother, Joseph Kennedy, who was killed in the war, 
in World War II.
  As I listen to Ted Kennedy following in that family legacy, I ask 
myself the question: How many people are there in this country who 
would have the character and the strength in light of that family 
history, of others in the family coming forward and being cut down one 
way or the other, to come forward themselves and to pick up the flag 
and to carry that flag ahead? To not just carry it ahead as a matter of 
family trust and legacy, but for the country, to stand for things that 
count year in and year out, decade in and decade out, to fight for 
things that are good for people, just plain everyday American citizens 
who have problems that we need to understand and to try to help them 
manage.
  If you are a family overwhelmed with a medical problem and costs you 
cannot pay and sick children that need care, then you need health care 
protection, and you need to be able to work and earn that in the normal 
course of events. We can see that that can happen here in America. It 
is happening in every other advanced country in the world. They have 
all managed to find a way to provide health care protection. We do not 
have to accept the notion that it cannot be done here. It can be done 
here. It can be worked out. Yes, there are differences of opinion. We 
work out differences of opinion all the time around here. That is why 
we are here, to work out differences of opinion, not to shut the door 
on these issues, not to hide from, not to pretend that they do not 
exist, but to face up to them and to do something about it.
  Every single one of us in this Chamber have had medical crisis 
situations in our own families, and we have all, each of us here, been 
fortunate enough to have medical protection and health care protection 
to see our family members through those crisis problems. It happened 
even to the Senator from Massachusetts who had a son who lost a leg to 
cancer. I have seen it in my family circle. I have seen it in most of 
the cases of Members whose personal histories I know well.
  But it is true all across the State of Michigan that families have 
crises without health care protection. I have come to the floor to 
present over 50 different individual family cases in Michigan, 
desperate situations of people struggling with health care problems, 
not having coverage, losing all their money, not being able to care for 
their children. Is that good for America? Do we have to leave it that 
way? I do not think so. I think we can do something about it, and we 
ought to do something about it. That is why we are here.
  The Senator from Massachusetts, to his credit, offered a health care 
reform proposal 24 years ago, in 1970, to try to move this issue ahead. 
In fact, in 1991, Senator Kennedy, Senator Mitchell, Senator 
Rockefeller, and I produced a health care plan called Health America. 
It was a good plan. It was a workable plan. I would like to see 
something like that enacted. It was not written in stone. We were 
prepared to change it. I wanted to hear constructive ideas from my 
friends on the other side of the aisle.
  But we need to put something in place for those who do not have any 
coverage. We are spending money all around the world to help other 
people. Why can we not help our own people? We are down in Haiti right 
now. We have been in other places around the world to help other 
people. What about sick people in America? What about senior citizens 
in America who need care to stay in their homes and not have to go into 
a nursing home that they cannot afford? Or what about the seniors who 
need prescription drugs; who cannot afford them, who are not eating 
properly because they are spending all their money on prescription 
medicine? We can do something about that problem.
  What about the children in America who do not have health care 
protection and need it? What about the children that are born with 
problems? It happens every single day in families up and down the 
scale.
  I remember one day, I went to give a commencement address at the 
Michigan School for the Deaf. It was one of the most powerful things 
that ever happened to me. As I went to give the commencement address to 
the deaf students that were gathered there, I looked out in the 
audience and I saw something that you seldom see in America in a group. 
I saw the entire face of America, because deafness does not know color, 
does not know religion, does not know economic status, does not know 
ethnic background. It touches all families.
  And in that auditorium where I was to speak to these graduating deaf 
students, I saw this wonderful mixture of all of our country in one 
room at the same time--black and white, Hispanic people, wealthy 
people, middle-income people, poor people--all there because they had 
this in common: A son or a daughter unable to hear properly but who had 
gotten the education they needed so they were able to graduate. It was 
one of the most powerful and affirming things I had ever seen. It made 
me love my country, to see in one room, in a sense, the whole cross-
section of our society rallying around to do something good to help 
these students be everything that God intended.
  If we can do it there, why can we not do it in terms of health care 
needs? Why do we have to look the other way when we know these people 
out in our society have these terrible health problems and cannot cope 
with them by themselves?
  I have often thought about this question; what happens when we are 
driving down the highway and we come upon the scene of an accident that 
happened just ahead of us? Where by the side of the road are people who 
had been hurt in the accident and they are out on the ground and they 
need care. Do we stop and help? Do we stop our own car and get out and 
help that person and perhaps save their lives, or do we just roll up 
the windows and drive right on by?
  Well, we are driving right on by right now with respect to health 
care reform. We can work this out. There is enough genius here to do 
this. If the Republicans are willing to sit down with those of us on 
the Democratic side, we can work out the answers to these problems. We 
do not have to settle for a status quo that is so hideously expensive 
and does not provide what so many people need. We can do better than 
that, and that is why we are here.
  So I say to those who have led this fight for such a long time, to 
the Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Kennedy, I appreciate his 
leadership. I appreciate the fact that he is following in the footsteps 
of the brothers that came ahead of him, to fight for things that are 
good for people.
  And I say to my other colleagues who are willing to fight for this 
issue: There are answers to be found here, not to be postponed 
indefinitely to still another day. In fact, I remember a time when I 
served in Congress nearly three decades ago, when, to his credit, we 
had a Republican President who came forward and suggested that we 
should have health care reform, and that was Richard Nixon, and he was 
right.
  Now his party, for the most part, has backed away from that. That is 
regrettable in this timeframe, and it is loaded with politics. I know 
there is a lot of politics in it, everybody can see it, so that 
President Clinton cannot take credit for accomplishing something 
positive, so let us shut down the process. Well, that is not fair and 
it is not right and it is not good for America. It is not what America 
needs.
  When we lose track of the people out there in our society who are 
anonymous, particularly the children, who need this health care help 
and who are not getting it, or the senior citizens who need it and are 
not getting it, I do not think we are living up to either our 
responsibility in the Senate or to what we hold out as a vision for our 
country as a whole.
  I think we have to think of our Nation as a family of people, and 
that if there are people out there in desperate need that we are not 
responding to, then in the end that is going to pull the whole country 
down, and we all will suffer. We all suffer in that kind of a 
situation.
  But there are answers to this problem. We have to be willing to work 
those answers out.
  I will just finish by saying this. To his great credit, Senator 
Chafee, on our Finance Committee, and some others, worked very hard on 
the Republican side to reach across to those of us on the Democratic 
side to try to craft a compromise package on health care reform so we 
could get the positive things done and avoid negative, unintended 
consequences.
  He worked very hard, but he was ridiculed by many in his own party. 
He was isolated for that effort. Interestingly, if you look at polling 
data from his own home State, the people of his State have a very high 
opinion of him because they appreciate his courage and his independence 
of mind, his being willing to fight hard on this issue, which matters 
so much in the end to everybody in this country.
  So there were a few people on the other side with the daring and the 
courage to try to workout a bipartisan answer. And when I offered an 
amendment in the Finance Committee to extend coverage to poor children 
in this country, and to pregnant women who now do not have health care 
coverage, Senator Chafee, to his great credit, voted for it, and we 
were able to put it in the bill on the basis of bipartisan support.
  But it cannot just be Senator Chafee, my friends on the other side of 
the aisle. We need some other people on that side to care about health 
care reform now, not after the election, not after the politics, but 
care about it now when people's lives and well-being are at stake. But, 
unfortunately, politics seems to be ruling the day, and the decision 
has been made that there will be no health care reform of any sort for 
anybody at this time.
  That is a terrible tragedy for this country because we know much of 
what needs to be done, and we can do it. It is a failure of will; it is 
a triumph of partisan politics, but the country is a loser for it. The 
people out there who need this help need to understand that they have 
to hang in there as best they can because those of us who will retain 
the sound of our voice and our ability to fight for these issues intend 
to continue to do so.
  I very much respect and appreciate the difficulty of getting this 
done in the future. But the country has to face and solve this problem, 
and we can. My hope is that we will do so on a bipartisan basis next 
year.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. PELL addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.


         the demise of health care reform legislation this year

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, it is with sadness and deep regret that I 
have absorbed the remarks of the majority leader indicating that the 
Senate will abandon efforts to pass health care reform legislation this 
year. And yet, as we speak on this Senate floor, millions of Americans 
have no health insurance, millions fear losing what they have, and 
millions more may lose their insurance before the Congress revisits 
this issue, hopefully next year.
  Mr. President, I was prepared to vote on health care reform 
legislation. I was prepared both to fight for the best plan that we 
could get, and to compromise--if necessary--on a middle ground that 
would leave me, and many of my colleagues, yearning for more. But I was 
ready to vote, and to let the people of Rhode Island hold me 
accountable for the votes that I took and the positions that I have 
long advocated.
  Indeed, voting on health care reform legislation would have been the 
best way for the American people to judge what has gone on behind 
closed doors for too long. It would have exposed to public scrutiny 
those who delivered ultimatums on the issue of health care--those who 
said privately but never publicly that they would not vote for any 
health reform if their pet provision wasn't included, or if their 
preferred bill wasn't the bill that was considered. That intransigence, 
much of it borne of close ties to special interests, is ultimately what 
defeated health care reform this year.
  Now the blame game begins. Health care reform clearly fell victim to 
partisan politics of the most acrimonious kind. But while others may 
stand to tell the American people whom they believe is to blame, let me 
tell the American people who is not to blame.
  Not to blame is the average American who, in poll after poll, 
expressed support for health care reform that included universal 
coverage but fear of what the Government might do to achieve this 
objective. With the barrage of advertising--much of it inflammatory and 
plain inaccurate--by those who profit from the status quo, it is no 
wonder that many Americans were confused and frightened about the 
legislative efforts that were underway.

  Not to blame is the majority leader, who not only made passage of 
health care reform a legislative priority, but also made passage of 
health care reform legislation a personal crusade. His untiring efforts 
to pass the best bill that we could, to negotiate differences, and to 
lead the Senate down a path that would make the Nation proud, could not 
be more admirable. No one could have had more patience, more 
determination, or more strength during these difficult days than the 
majority leader, and as he prepares for his final days as leader, I 
note his role in this important debate with the deepest of respect and 
with the greatest of appreciation.
  Also not to blame in the defeat of health care reform legislation is 
the chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. 
Chairman Kennedy has, in a way unequalled by any other Senator, led the 
fight for comprehensive health care reform throughout his tenure here 
in the U.S. Senate. For the last 32 years, Senator Kennedy has fought 
for health care for every American, long before the issue became known, 
understood, or cared about. Only a handful of people were willing to 
take on the complex world of health care to seek fairness for the 
working people of this country, and to seek compassion for the 
unemployed, underprivileged, and underserved. All throughout our 
committee's deliberations, Chairman Kennedy led with a firm hand, a 
wise eye, and an open ear. His leadership on this issue will be even 
more important in the future, since the American people will not 
abandon the goal of universal health coverage, even if the Senate must.
  And not to blame in the defeat of health care reform legislation are 
the millions of people all across this country who wrote to or called 
their Senators, Members of Congress, Governors, and other legislators, 
urging political courage and demanding that their elected officials be 
responsive to their concerns. The outpouring of interest and citizenry 
from these individuals is nothing short of inspiring, and a clear 
indication that, in spite of record-breaking spending by special 
interests, the cornerstone of democracy--petitioning one's government--
has not been lost.
  Mr. President, two other Members of the Senate deserve special 
recognition for their important roles in promoting health care reform 
legislation: Senator Tom Daschle, who chaired a group called the 
universal coverage coalition, of which I was a member, which fought not 
just for universal coverage but for the best bill that we could 
negotiate; and Senator Harris Wofford, for understanding and bringing 
to the Nation's attention what his constituents' in Pennsylvania want--
quality health care reform.

  Finally, Mr. President, not to blame in the defeat of health care 
legislation this year are the President and Mrs. Clinton. President 
Clinton deserves enormous praise for bringing to Congress a plan to 
provide quality, comprehensive health care reform for every American. 
And Mrs. Clinton deserves our thanks and respect for the hard work that 
she did as head of the President's Task Force on National Health 
Reform, which was charged with crafting a plan for the President's 
consideration. And while there is no doubt that the Clinton plan, once 
introduced in the Congress, was much criticized by friend and foe, it 
was up to us in Congress to make it better, or vote it down, or provide 
an alternative. This, very unfortunately, we were unable to do. But it 
does not lessen the extraordinary work, effort, and commitment of this 
administration to an issue that is crucial to so many Americans. As 
history shows, this is neither the first President to propose nor the 
first President to fail in passing health care reform legislation. But 
no President has tried harder, and for that this President and this 
administration deserve our respect.
  Mr. President, as I stand here acknowledging the legislative defeat 
of health care reform this year, I am reminded of the thousands of 
Rhode Islanders who looked to me to make sure that health care reform 
legislation would in fact pass this year. And I feel their pain, and 
their frustration, and their anger. And I say to them that I will 
continue to fight for health care reform legislation that provides 
high-quality care to every American until it passes. The fight is not 
over. The battle may be lost but the war has only begun. Next year, I 
believe, we must and we will start again.
  For all these reasons, I share real regret at the decision not to go 
ahead but see the reasoning why it must be done.
  I thank the Chair.

                          ____________________