[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 15538-15539]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. REID. Madam President, if you will indulge me, it appears 
appropriate and necessary to briefly summarize the sorry state of 
health care in America today.
  Nearly 50 million people in the greatest country and the largest 
economy the world has ever seen lack the fundamental ability to stay 
healthy or care for a loved one. Nine million of those people are 
children. Eight million fewer people who in 2003 had health insurance 
through their jobs can say the same today. Among those between 18 and 
64, the State of Nevada has the second highest rate of uninsured 
citizens. Health care costs an average family more than twice what it 
did at the start of this decade. Half of all Americans who file for 
foreclosure do so because they can't afford both a house and their 
health care. More than half of all Americans who file for bankruptcy do 
so because health care is too expensive. More than half of all 
Americans skip doctor visits or treatments they need to stay healthy 
because it is too expensive.
  Those fortunate enough to have health care pay a hidden tax just to 
cover those who don't. If your family has insurance, you pay at least 
$1,000 more for it than you would need to if other families had their 
insurance. If you are like about everybody I know and not in absolutely 
perfect health--if you have a history of anything from heart disease, 
to high cholesterol, to hay fever--your insurance company can force you 
to pay exorbitant rates or deny you coverage altogether. Insurance 
companies call these preexisting conditions. Everyone else calls them 
tragedies.
  I know I am not telling the American people anything they do not 
already know. They know it better than any statistics can say. They 
struggle with these challenges every morning when they wake up and when 
they go to bed at night, second-guessing the agonizing decisions they 
made that day about what to sacrifice to stay healthy.
  I said I thought it would be appropriate to go back to the basics for 
the benefit of our Republican colleagues. Their lack of interest in an 
open and candid debate, their lack of interest in coming to the 
negotiating table with productive proposals makes it painfully evident 
they need to be reminded of the reality of this crisis.
  By any measure, these are serious problems, and serious problems 
deserve serious efforts by serious legislators to develop serious 
solutions. Our Republican colleagues think things are just fine the way 
they are. Why shouldn't they? They like the status quo. They are the 
ones who created the status quo. In fact, this is hard to comprehend. 
Just yesterday, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives 
said the following: ``I think we all understand that we've got the best 
health care system in the world.'' When we have 50 million people with 
no health insurance, is that the best health care system in the world? 
When we have 9 million children with no health insurance, is that the 
best health care system in the world? Is it the best health care system 
in the world when today there are 8 million people fewer than in 2003 
who have health insurance through their jobs? Is it the best health 
care system in the world when people between 18 and 64 in the State of 
Nevada have the second highest rate of uninsured citizens? I don't 
think so. Is it the best health care system in the world when the 
health care cost for the average family is more than twice what it was 
at the beginning of this decade? Is it the best health care in the 
world when more than half of all Americans skip the doctor visits they 
need or the treatments they need because they cannot afford them?
  The Republican leader in the House of Representatives is saying, ``I 
think we all understand that we've got the best health care system in 
the world.'' I think he better go back and check that out. He said that 
to a room of reporters. I doubt he would say the same with a straight 
face to the millions of Americans who have to skip routine medical 
checkups or live just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy or 
wonder if they will live long enough to fight through the redtape. We 
have heard President Obama talk about the death of his mother and how 
she fought as strongly as she could to get the health care she needed. 
She lost that battle.
  What about the Republicans in the Senate? We talked about the 
Republican leader in the House. How have they approached the crisis? I 
am sorry to say they have only subscribed to more of the same stalling 
strategy that the American people are tired of. Republicans have 
introduced 400 amendments to the health care bill that is in the HELP 
Committee, 400 amendments,

[[Page 15539]]

and they say they have more to come. Here is a sample of some of their 
serious amendments: two amendments would force doctors to spy on each 
other, multiple amendments just to change the names of sections in the 
bill, and many amendments that simply would give greedy insurance 
companies the ability to deny coverage whenever they feel like it. Each 
of the 400 amendments says something different, but in truth they all 
say the same thing--no. They are designed to slow the process to a 
halt.
  I am not making this up. Look at this newspaper today, Rollcall: 
``Senate GOP Still Saying `No.''' Listen to what the story says. This 
is more than just a headline.

       Though Senate Democrats have handed them defeat after 
     legislative defeat this year, Republicans say they plan to 
     continue trying to slow down the Democratic agenda on the 
     Senate floor as much as possible. ``Democrats need to know 
     when they bring [bills] up, we're going to extend the debate 
     as long as we can--even if we can't win it--so that their 
     people back home know that they're voting for this junk, 
     [said one Republican Senator]. And we're going to see it on 
     everything.''

  The stalling on everything. How is that for moving this country out 
of the problems we have? ``They plan to continue trying to slow down 
the Democratic agenda on the Senate floor as much as possible.''
  Republicans waste the time of the American people in the morning and 
in the afternoon complain that government is inefficient. What do I 
mean? We have wasted the whole week with 60 hours of wasted time on two 
postcloture time blocks. It is just as they said, they are just 
stalling for time. During that period of time, we could have moved to 
appropriations bills, we could have moved to many things.
  I have Senators come to me. There is a bipartisan bill--Senator Kerry 
has worked with Senator Kyl--dealing with Pakistan. It is essential 
that we do that. But because of what is going on here on the Senate 
floor with Republicans stalling, we can't get to that. I have been 
asked by Democrats and Republicans to do something about drug 
importation. We don't have time to go to it because of the stalling. 
The Senate GOP is still just saying no. They complain about the 
government being inefficient? The only inefficiency I see in Washington 
today is the Republican caucus in the House and the Senate.
  Again, our health care system is in serious distress, and serious 
problems deserve serious efforts by serious legislators to develop 
serious solutions. That is why we are committed to lowering the high 
cost of health care, ensuring every American has access to quality, 
affordable care, and letting people choose their own doctors, 
hospitals, and health plans. We are committed to protecting existing 
coverage when it is good, improving it when it is not, and guaranteeing 
health care for the millions who have none. I don't think doing nothing 
is an option because the cost of doing nothing is far too great. We 
must pass health care reform this year.
  As we said at the start of this Congress, the start of the work 
period, and the start of this debate, we will continue doing the best 
work with Republicans--we will work with them. They have a place at the 
negotiating table, and they should take it. We will work hard to do a 
bipartisan bill. But in order for this bipartisan process to work, 
Republicans must demonstrate an interest in legislating, not this:

       Though Senate Democrats have handed them defeat after 
     legislative defeat this year, Republicans say they plan to 
     continue trying to slow down the Democratic agenda on the 
     Senate floor as much as possible. ``Democrats need to know 
     when they bring [bills] up, we're going to extend the debate
     as long as we can--even if we can't win
     it . . .''

  I hope the American people who are watching talk to their Republican 
Representatives in the House and their Senators and say this isn't 
right.
  Despite what we have seen in recent days, such cooperation is not out 
of the realm of possibility. Here is an example of what it looks like 
when Republicans and Democrats work together with each other instead of 
against each other and against the interests of the American people. 
Yesterday, Wednesday, a group called the Bipartisan Policy Center 
proposed a thoughtful and thorough plan for stemming this country's 
health care crisis. The group is led by three former Senate majority 
leaders--I have worked with all of them--Bob Dole from Kansas, Howard 
Baker from Tennessee, and Tom Daschle from South Dakota. I would 
mention about Tom Daschle, I think most people recognize he is a man 
who knows more about health care than just about anybody in America 
today. He has written a book, among other things. Together, Tom 
Daschle, a Democrat, and Senators Dole and Baker, Republicans, served a 
combined 80 years in the Congress. They know a thing or two about 
working across the aisle and getting things done. They know our job is 
public service, not lipservice. I may not agree with every part of 
their plan, but that is not the point. The point is, they have a good-
faith effort. They have avoided the temptation to distract each other 
with misrepresentations and misinformation about the real problem. They 
have put people ahead of partisanship and were able to find common 
ground.
  I encourage Republicans in Congress to read the Bipartisan Policy 
Center's report. Even if they do not support its conclusions, I hope 
they take to heart its authors' motivations. Baker, Dole, and Daschle--
serious problems deserve serious efforts by serious legislators to 
develop serious solutions. The time for partisan games is long over. It 
is time to get serious about fixing our health care.

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