[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 180 (Tuesday, November 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H12203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
       PRESIDENT'S HEALTH CARE TASK FORCE CALLED POLICY DISASTER

  (Mr. CLINGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLINGER. Madam Speaker, in one of his first acts after taking the 
oath of office, President Clinton announced the formation of the Health 
Care Task Force. He selected Mrs. Clinton to lead this task force and 
charged her with developing a legislative proposal to solve our 
Nation's health care problems.
  I was very critical of the secret manner in which this task force 
operated and also the 500 outsiders who worked on it.
  We now know that the task force was an unmitigated policy disaster. 
What we did not know was how much this rogue operation cost.
  Well, now we know and it is not very pretty. The General Accounting 
Office reported to me last week that President Clinton's failed Health 
Care Task Force cost the taxpayers nearly $14 million.
  Shortly after the task force was established, the administration 
estimated that the task force would cost less than $100,000.
  While the Clinton administration was behind closed doors planning a 
Government takeover of the health care industry, the taxpayers were 
picking up the tab.
  This is just another example of the Clinton administration not being 
upfront with the Congress or the American people about the entire 
scale, scope, and cost of their taxpayer-funded activities.
  It is no wonder the Clinton administration cannot balance the budget.

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