[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 15838-15839]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this new year began with so much hope. When 
we began the 111th Congress, I had hoped Republicans would leave their 
Republican games in the 110th Congress. I had hoped they would have 
listened when the American people reviewed their record and said no to 
the party of no.
  I wrote the following at the time, this past January:

       We have no choice but to govern differently. The times 
     demand it. If we do not govern differently, we will have 
     taken no good lessons from the bad experience of the Bush 
     years.

  That goes for Republicans and Democrats alike.
  In my first address to this Chamber this year, I reminded both 
Republicans and Democrats that when we retreat to partisanship, when we 
fail to reach for common ground, we rob ourselves of the ability to 
create the change the American people demanded.

[[Page 15839]]

  As the health care debate approached in April, I reached out to our 
Republican colleagues and wrote this:

       Rather than just saying no, you must be willing to offer 
     concrete and constructive proposals. We cannot afford more of 
     the obstructionist tactics that have denied or delayed 
     Congress' efforts to address so many of the critical 
     challenges facing this nation.

  Last week, I reminded the other side that our hands remain 
outstretched across the aisle. I assured them we still save them a seat 
at the negotiating table. And just yesterday, I encouraged our 
Republican friends to join with us to pass an important bill that would 
promote foreign travel to the United States--creating jobs, reducing 
our deficit, and strengthening our economy in the process. Everyplace 
in America, there are hotel rooms and motel rooms that are not occupied 
as they should be. The legislation killed yesterday by the Republicans 
would have had more people coming to those hotel and motel rooms.
  At the beginning of this year, at the beginning of this Congress, at 
the beginning of this debate, and even up to the beginning of this 
week, my commitment to bipartisanship and finding common ground has not 
changed one bit. Unfortunately, a stubborn group of Senate Republicans 
has not changed either.
  Yesterday, Republicans blocked a bill that had 11 Republican 
cosponsors. I assumed when they sponsored that bill they were in favor 
of the bill. That is kind of an idea people get around here. They 
blocked a bill that would support a trillion-dollar industry in an 
otherwise slow economy. They blocked a bill that would create 40,000 
new jobs right here at home over the next year. It would have cut our 
deficit by $425 million and helped our economy recover.
  Perhaps, though, we shouldn't be surprised. Just last week, a 
Republican Senator said the following:

       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.

  That is what he said.
  Given their commitment to obstruction, it is remarkable we have 
gotten anything done this year, let alone such a strong catalog of 
important accomplishments that have helped us revive our economy, 
strengthen our national security, protect our environment, demand 
accountability, promote equality, and ensure progress. But if 
Republicans are going to stand in the way of a bill that creates tens 
of thousands of new jobs, cuts our deficit by hundreds of millions of 
dollars, and helps every single State in the Union, how are we going to 
do the other important work the American people sent us here to do? 
What is it they want to do?
  As my good friend from North Dakota, Senator Dorgan, said yesterday 
on the floor:

       If we can't agree on a piece of legislation that was 
     offered by over 50 Senators, Republicans and Democrats, 
     dealing with promotion of tourism and creating jobs and 
     promoting this country's economic interests by asking 
     international tourists to come to America and see what 
     America is all about--if we can't agree on that, how on Earth 
     will we get agreements on energy, health care, climate 
     change, and so on? It is so disappointing.

  I don't know if anyone could put it any better than Senator Dorgan 
did. I couldn't.
  Reforming health care and pursuing energy independence are daunting 
tasks. No one claims it is simple, but nearly everyone knows it is 
essential. No one claims the answer is obvious, but everyone knows we 
must work toward one. Yet, if Republicans refuse to find common ground 
on the easy things, how will we do so on the hard ones?
  It is difficult to understand, but it is clear to anyone following 
this debate that our Republican friends are not interested in making 
the difficult but necessary decisions to dig our economy out of this 
ditch and move us further down the path of recovering prosperity. They 
have said publicly and privately they are waiting on President Obama's 
failure. At this point, it has been a bad bet because President Obama 
is still--today in the press, his popularity is approaching 70 percent.
  Instead, they like to echo talking points written by pollsters. They 
like to repeat the tired, trite, and baseless claim that if we reform 
health care--85 percent of Americans want us to reform health care, but 
they are saying that if we improve health care, they will be denied and 
delayed in getting health care. It is absolutely incomprehensible what 
their reasoning is. Nothing could be further from the truth.
  First, let me state once again the facts. No matter what Republicans 
claim, the government has no intention of choosing any part of your 
medical plan. Remember, we are talking a public option, a public 
choice. The government has no intention of choosing for you any part of 
your medical plan or meddling in any of your medical relationships. If 
you like the coverage you have, you can keep it. In fact, it is the 
name of a whole section of the HELP Committee's bill. Section 131 is 
called ``No Changes to Existing Coverage.'' That is what the title of 
the bill section is. Every time you hear Republicans say otherwise, you 
know they are not interested in an honest debate.
  Second, let me reiterate once again the reality. The only thing being 
delayed is urgently needed reform that ensures all Americans have 
access to quality, affordable health care. The only thing at risk of 
being denied is Americans' ability to stay healthy, get healthy, or 
care for a loved one. It is being delayed by a party that has made such 
stalling tactics their speciality, as evidenced last night.
  The party of no is showing no interest in sitting down with us at the 
negotiating table. The party of no has shown no interest in 
legislating. And I am most concerned that the party of no has shown no 
interest in helping the millions of people who have no insurance and 
the 20 million who are underinsured and the millions more who are 
paying too much for health care they could lose with one pink slip, one 
accident, or one illness. Millions of people are afraid they are going 
to lose their insurance. That is what this debate is about. It is not 
just about people who have no insurance, it is about people who have 
insurance, to keep it. In the last 8 years, the number of uninsured in 
this country has gone up by 10 million people--10 million people.
  So I remind my Republican colleagues again, this is not about winning 
and losing. This is not the time for ideology. This is not the place 
for political games. For the millions of Americans who have paid 
crushing health care costs or those with no coverage at all, it is 
about a concrete and critical crisis that children, families, and small 
businesses feel every single day. It is about the parent who cannot 
afford to take their kid to the doctor because insurance is too 
expensive. It is about the small businesses that have to lay off 
employees because they cannot afford skyrocketing health care payments. 
It is about small businesses that have to eliminate health insurance 
because they cannot afford it. It is about the three in five families 
who put off necessary medical care because it costs too much.
  American families in every one of our States are counting on us to 
work together in our common interests. They are not counting the 
political points scored by either party. Senate Democrats want nothing 
more than to work with Republicans to create a bipartisan health reform 
bill that ensures quality and affordable help for all Americans. That 
is why the HELP Committee has held 14 bipartisan roundtables, 13 
committee hearings, and 20 meetings of committee members to discuss 
various proposals--each one with the goal of reaching a bipartisan 
agreement. Hard-working Americans are too often casualties of our 
health care system. They deserve better than to also be the casualties 
of this kind of politics.
  It is not too late for Republicans to join us for a serious 
discussion and sincere dialog about how to move this country forward. 
As I did at the beginning of this year, this Congress, this debate, and 
this week, I still have hope they will.

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