[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 174 (Saturday, November 21, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S11906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as we move toward tonight's all-
important vote, we will have 10 more hours of discussion of this 2,074-
page bill, which represents the top part of this stack. The other 
2,000-page bill is the House-passed bill. Senators will have an 
opportunity to express themselves on the merits of this proposal.
  What do we know for sure as we move toward this debate? We know 
Americans oppose this bill. They are not buying the claim that this 
legislation would do anything whatsoever to lower our staggering 
deficits.
  In tomorrow's Washington Post, David Broder, their distinguished 
senior columnist, certainly not a political conservative, expresses his 
reservations as a citizen about the steps we could be about to take. 
Broder says, in part, in his column:

       The day after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave 
     its qualified blessing to the version of health care reform 
     produced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Quinnipiac 
     University poll of a national cross section of voters 
     reported its latest results.

  The reason Broder picks Quinnipiac, he said, is he is familiar with 
the pollsters and the process, knows they are thoroughly nonpartisan 
and credible. Of course, the Quinnipiac Poll is echoed by every other 
poll we have seen, no matter who has taken it. We know the American 
people are opposed to this 2,074-page proposal.
  Broder points out that in the Quinnipiac survey, less than one-fifth 
of voters, 19 percent--a near 19 percent of the sample--support this 
bill.

       Nine of 10 Republicans and eight of 10 independents said 
     that whatever passes will add to the torrent [a literal 
     torrent] of red ink. By a margin of four to three--

  This is extremely significant--

       By a margin of four to three, even Democrats agree this is 
     likely [that this will produce a torrent of red ink].
       That fear contributed directly to the fact that, by a 16-
     point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose this 
     legislation moving through Congress.

  It is not just the American people who are saying that, the experts 
are saying it as well. Broder points out that every expert--this is 
Broder:

       [E]very expert I have talked to says that the public has it 
     right.

  In other words, the experts agree with the public opinion polls that 
this 2,074-page bill is a budget buster. He quotes the executive 
director of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan group. He says--this 
expert says:

       . . . there's not much reform in this bill. As of now, it's 
     basically a big entitlement expansion, plus tax increases.

  He also decries the gimmickry involved in putting this bill together. 
Broder points out the majority leader's:

       . . . decision to postpone the start of the subsidies to 
     help the uninsured buy policies from mid-2013 to January 
     2014--long after taxes and fees levied by the bill would have 
     begun.

  That is the only way they can make the CBO declare it budget neutral, 
deficit neutral.
  In fact, we know that over a 10-year period, once it is fully 
implemented, the cost of this will be $2.5 trillion. Americans do not 
think higher premiums, higher taxes, and massive cuts to Medicare is 
reform. They certainly do not think it is what we need at a time when 1 
out of 10 working Americans is looking for a job and the Chinese are 
lecturing us about debt.

  Do we want to pass this staggering spending program at a time when 
many would argue our international bankers, the Chinese, are lecturing 
us about debt? At this time of economic crisis, we need to make things 
easier for people struggling out there, not harder.
  Make no mistake, the Democrats' plan we will vote on tonight would 
make life harder for the vast majority of Americans. It raises their 
taxes, it raises their health care premiums, it cuts their Medicare, 
and drives millions off the private insurance they currently have. When 
fully implemented, this plan would cost, as I indicated earlier, $2.5 
trillion. That is the equivalent of three failed stimulus bills.
  Perhaps most shocking of all to most people is the conclusion of the 
Congressional Budget Office that this bill would actually drive up 
health care costs, not down. This massive bill, at a time when 
Americans are asking us to control health care costs, according to the 
independent Congressional Budget Office, actually drives up costs.
  The American people are scratching their heads. They thought the idea 
behind all this was to try to lower costs. Perversely, what we are 
doing is the opposite.
  Americans will have an opportunity to hear their elected 
representatives in the Senate express their views on this legislation 
all day today. Senators who support this bill have a lot of explaining 
to do--a lot of explaining to do. Americans know a vote to proceed on 
this bill, to get on this bill, is a vote for higher premiums, higher 
taxes, and massive cuts to Medicare. That is a pretty hard thing to 
justify supporting. Every Senator who goes on record saying we need to 
proceed to this monstrosity of a bill will, in effect, be voting for 
higher taxes, higher premiums, and cuts in Medicare.
  It is a pretty hard position to justify. It is a pretty hard position 
to explain to your constituents. Frankly, I don't think it can be 
explained, and I don't think the American people do either.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Gillibrand). The majority leader is 
recognized.

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