[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 15799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to talk a bit about health 
care, since that seems to be a major issue also of concern to all 
Americans. Today is June 22, 2009. Millions of Americans still lack 
health insurance coverage, and we need to pass reforms that help them 
get coverage. Yet more time has gone by with no plan from the majority. 
While we wait, how many more people will forgo needed care today? How 
many emergency rooms will have to care for Americans who could have 
received care earlier, and at a lower cost, from a medical professional 
if they had insurance?
  The majority talks about reform and how critical it is to move with 
urgency. They also assert that the economic recovery depends on health 
care reform. So many of us would like to know: Where is the plan? It is 
impossible for us to move forward in any manner, let alone with 
urgency, if we do not even have a complete bill.
  On Tuesday June 9, after months of waiting, the majority in the HELP 
Committee, on which I serve, offered a partial list of health reform 
proposals, indicating that the missing pieces would be shortly 
forthcoming. The majority quickly pulled together a roundtable to 
discuss a wide variety of issues. They even held some walk-throughs 
with our side on issues of prevention, quality, et cetera.
  The following week we were told we would receive the missing pieces 
``soon'' or ``early last week.'' Then we were told they would come 
forward with the missing pieces ``this past Friday.''
  Now it is Monday and we have received nothing. While we have waited, 
the Congressional Budget Office told us what many of us had expected 
and feared about this bill: The cost of the bill would have a cost 
exponentially higher than many had predicted. In fact, the incomplete 
bill would cost over $1 trillion, and this cost would only cover one-
third of the 48 million Americans who are currently uninsured.
  So we wait and wait and wait, having no details of the much-wanted 
government plan or the proposal regarding penalties the other side 
wants to impose on employers who either cannot provide health coverage 
or who are not able to provide the coverage according to the government 
dictate.
  Now we hear this Friday might be the day we have a chance to see what 
they have been working on behind closed doors. Friday also happens to 
be the day of the Fourth of July recess. The President and 
congressional Democrats have told the American people that health care 
reform legislation must be passed by the Senate prior to the August 
recess.
  Given that we will not have the text of the legislation prior to the 
Fourth of July recess, I am skeptical that the HELP Committee and the 
Finance Committee will be able to complete their work, combine two 
possibly divergent bills on the Senate floor, and pass a bill during 
the 5 weeks remaining in the July work session.
  One thing I have found out around here is that we miss a lot of 
things, but we never miss a recess. The Senate passed the budget 
blueprint in late April. That included a possible budget reconciliation 
process for considering health care reform legislation.
  One must wonder. One must wonder if the majority is intentionally 
pushing back the schedule and dragging out this process so that a 
bipartisan process and solution is not feasible. Under budget 
reconciliation, which sounds arcane to most Americans, the majority 
would be allowed to jam this important policy through the Senate with 
51 votes instead of the typical 60, with limited time for debate and
  endments.
  I am left to wonder if this contingency was not planned on all along, 
to use reconciliation, to muscle through the health reform we all know 
is desperately needed but to circumvent the normal procedures of the 
Senate.
  I and my colleagues on this side of the aisle continue to await the 
Democrats' complete bill and their plan to make taxpayers pay for this 
trillion dollar new government program. So many questions remain until 
the missing parts of the bill are provided.
  When will we get details of the government insurance plan we are told 
is essential to reform? When will we see what employer health care 
mandates look like? How much will the complete plan cost? How will it 
be paid for? Each day the majority fails to provide a complete plan, 
along with the complete cost and how it will be paid for, is another 
day that millions of Americans go without health insurance.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in 
morning business for as much time as I consume.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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