[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S898-S899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the American people have spoken 
loudly and clearly on the issue of health care reform. They 
overwhelmingly favor a plan that addresses our problems step by step. 
They want a plan that lowers the cost of health care without expanding 
the role of government and without raising taxes or cutting Medicare. 
They want us to focus on cost.
  Unfortunately, Democrats here in Washington either have not gotten 
the message or they are ignoring it. We know this because after a year 
of protests, three statewide elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and 
Massachusetts, and the clear verdict of every public opinion survey, 
Democrats in Washington are now planning one last-ditch effort to get 
their plan through Congress and past the American people.
  The sad fact is that Washington Democrats are so wedded to the notion 
that they know better than the general public when it comes to health 
care that they are about to reject any pretense of bipartisanship in 
order to jam their plan through Congress by the narrowest margin 
possible whether people want it or not--a raw exercise of legislative 
power that Senator Byrd, our resident Senate historian, has described 
within the last year as an undemocratic outrage on a piece of 
legislation this far-reaching.
  Some on the other side are clearly worried about the consequences of 
taking such a drastic step. They are wondering whether they should risk 
the full fury of the public by using these extreme tactics to 
circumvent the will of their constituents. Democratic leaders are 
telling them not to worry. They are telling them people will forget 
about the process once their plan becomes law. Well, they are wrong. 
Americans are not going to forget if Democrats do this to their health 
care system.
  Wavering Democrats need to realize that there is a better way. Last 
week, the President and other Democrats acknowledged a number of areas 
of agreement between the two parties. These are the ideas that could 
form the solid basis of a fresh start on health care reform. These are 
the ideas that could form the basis of the kind of step-by-step 
bipartisan reform Americans really want.
  Americans do not want the one-party bill Democrats in Washington are 
planning to force on them, or any variation of it, and they do not want 
Democrats to push it through with even more backroom deals. Americans 
are already seething about the kinds of deals that were used to get the 
earlier version of this bill through Congress. The ``Cornhusker 
kickback'' and the ``Louisiana purchase'' became household expressions. 
But using reconciliation to jam this health care plan through would 
make the ``Cornhusker kickback'' look like an exercise in good 
government.
  Using reconciliation to fundamentally change the health care of every 
American would be one of the most brazen single-party power grabs in 
legislative history. It would be the death of bipartisanship. And 
Americans will not stand for it. They know bills of this scope only 
work if they are done along bipartisan lines.
  Medicare and Medicaid were created with the support of about half the 
members of the minority party. The Voting Rights Act passed with 30 
Republican and 47 Democratic votes. Only Six Senators voted against the 
Social Security Act. Only eight voted against No Child Left Behind or 
the Americans with Disabilities Act. Only 12 voted against the Welfare 
Reform Act. Big bills are passed with big majorities, and rarely has 
there been a bigger bill than that. So if ever there was a time not to 
depart from a bipartisan approach, it is now--right now.

  Democrats are saying they want a simple up-or-down vote on health 
care. What they want is to jam their vision of health care through 
Congress over the objections of a public they seem to think is too ill-
informed to notice. If

[[Page S899]]

they go ahead with this plan, they will see how wrong they are. I know 
the argument has been made by the leaders on the other side: Let's get 
this issue behind us; it will get better. If they pass this, it will 
not be behind them; it will be in front of them--right in front of 
them. Americans are engaged in this debate in a way I have never seen 
in my entire career here. They know exactly what is going on. They will 
make sure their voices and their will is felt one way or another.
  I yield the floor.

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