[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S13204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, with Americans now really focusing in 
on the health care debate, it is important to take a step back and 
recall where we started because somewhere along the way, Democratic 
leaders took their eyes off the ball.
  It is a good time to remember what this reform debate was all about. 
The goal of this legislation, by all accounts--everyone agreed--the 
goal was to lower the cost of health care. This is what the President 
had to say. It is a direct quote:

       The bill I sign--

  According to the President--

     must . . . slow the growth of health care costs in the long 
     run.

  That was on July 22 of this year. Yet here we are, nearly 5 months 
later, and the administration's own scorekeeper, the CMS Actuary--the 
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Actuary--says the Democratic 
bill will actually drive costs up, exactly the opposite of what the 
debate was all about in the beginning, and exactly opposed to what the 
President indicated on July 22, that he would not sign such a bill.
  Now, remember, the purpose of reform was to lower people's insurance 
premiums as well. Here is what the President had to say about that, a 
direct quote:

       I have made a solemn pledge--

  Said the President--

     that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the 
     end of my first term as President that will . . . cut the 
     cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2500 a year.

  That was the President campaigning for President on June 24, 2007, 
``a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into 
law . . . that will . . . cut the cost of a typical family's premiums 
by up to $2500 a year.''
  Yet now we are being told by the administration's own nonpartisan 
scorekeeper--again the CMS Actuary--that new fees for drugs, devices, 
and insurance plans will drive up insurance premiums.
  The purpose of reform was also to ease the burden on taxpayers. Here 
is what the President had to say about that:

       No family making less than $250,000 a year will see any 
     form of tax increase.

  That was the President on September 12, 2008: ``No family''--not a 
one--``no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of 
tax increase.''
  Yet now we are told by the independent analysts, such as the Joint 
Committee on Taxation, that taxes will actually go up on those same 
taxpayers, those making under $250,000 a year.
  People who like the plans they have were told they would be able to 
keep them. Here is what the President had to say about that:

       If you like your current plan--

  ``If you like your current plan''--

     you will be able to keep it.

  Then he said:

       Let me repeat that: If you like your plan, you'll be able 
     to keep it.

  That was July 21, 2009, just this summer. Yet now we are told by the 
independent analysts, such as the Congressional Budget Office, that 
millions of Americans will lose their employer-based coverage and that 
millions of seniors will see their extra benefits cut by about half.
  Americans are looking at this, and they are truly outraged. The 
American people are outraged at what is happening. They cannot 
understand what we are doing. The latest CNN poll says 61 percent of 
Americans oppose this bill; 61 percent of the American people are 
saying don't pass this bill.
  This bill is completely out of touch with the American public. Think 
about it: 1 out of 10 working Americans is looking for a job, and 
Democratic leaders in Washington want to spend $2.5 trillion on a bill 
that makes existing problems worse. Mr. President, 1 out of 10 
Americans is out of work, and yet the majority seeks to pass a bill 
that makes the existing problems worse. Yet Democratic leaders in 
Washington are still insisting that we pass this bill.
  Even as opposition grows, supporters of the bill are drafting plans 
and cutting deals to make this bill the law of the land by Christmas--
ignoring the wishes of the American people, off in a room somewhere, 
cutting plans and making deals, trying to figure out some way to jam 
the American people when they are asking us, overwhelmingly: Please 
don't pass this bill.
  You get the impression that the supporters of this bill think it is 
about them, about them and their legacies. Well, this is not about 
them. This is about the American people. This is not about making 
history. This is about doing the right thing for every single 
American's health care.
  Americans have a message: Higher premiums, higher taxes, higher 
health care costs are not what they signed up for. This is not what 
they were promised. This is not reform. Yes, doing nothing is not an 
option, but making current problems worse is worse.

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