[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16862-16863]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. DURBIN. The major thrust of the remarks of the Senate Republican 
leader, day after day, has been in opposition to health care reform. I 
will tell you that I think the Republican leader is out of step with 
America. America understands we need to do something about our health 
care system. We are spending twice as much per person for health care 
in America as any nation on Earth--twice as much--and the medical 
outcomes, unfortunately, do not reflect that kind of major investment. 
In other words, we are wasting money in our current health care system.
  That has to change. So what we need to do is preserve those things in 
our health care system today that are good and fix the things that are 
broken, and that is what the President has challenged us to do. This is 
not something new. This challenge has been waiting for 15 years since 
former President Clinton tackled it and, unfortunately, could not pass 
it. We have seen our health care costs in America continue to skyrocket 
and our costs for health insurance following in track. Now we have to 
do something about it.
  Time and again, the Senator from Kentucky comes to the floor and 
says: We are rushing into this. I would just say to him that in the 
year 2008 the Senate Finance Committee, under Chairman Max Baucus, held 
10 hearings on health reform and a day-long bipartisan summit with the 
Finance Committee's ranking member, Republican Chuck Grassley. This 
year, the Finance Committee has held two reform-related hearings, three 
roundtabless, three walk-throughs with policy options, and a number of 
closed-door sessions to discuss all of the issues on a bipartisan 
basis. The HELP Committee, which is another committee of the Senate 
also considering health care reform, has held 14 bipartisan 
roundtabless, 13 committee hearings, and 20 walk-throughs. Democrats 
are not rushing this through. We have taken this up in an orderly way, 
trying to analyze one of the most significant challenges ever facing 
Congress.
  Time and again, Senator McConnell has also come to the floor and 
argued that Americans should be afraid of change, be afraid, be very 
afraid. He argued before be afraid of closing Guantanamo; now he is 
saying be afraid of health care reform. This is not a fearful nation. 
We are a nation which accepts challenges and does our best to try to 
find solutions. We are a good and caring nation of people who want to 
make certain that, at end of the day, we reduce the cost of health care 
for everyone, bringing it more in line with efficiency and effective 
medical care, and we also pick up the 50 million Americans who have no 
health insurance and give them protection, bring them under the 
umbrella of protection. We should not be afraid of that challenge. Why 
would we be afraid? We know if we don't tackle it, it will continue to 
cost us more and more money.
  One of the things the Senator from Kentucky says repeatedly, which is 
just plain wrong, is that under the proposals coming before the Senate, 
the government can take away health insurance people have today. I am 
sorry the Senator is not on the floor. I am sure some Members of his 
staff will alert him to the fact. I would like to read from the 
language from the HELP Committee bill which is presently being 
considered. This language makes it abundantly clear,--in fact, says 
directly--that we can keep our health care plans, that they would not 
be taken away. That is something most Americans want to have the 
benefit of. Let me read from the HELP Committee bill that will be 
considered by the Senate:

       Nothing in this Act or an amendment made to this Act shall 
     be construed to require that an individual terminate coverage 
     under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in 
     which such individual was enrolled prior to the date of 
     enactment of this title.

  That is what it says. If one likes their health insurance today, 
nothing we do in health care reform will take that way from them. It is 
expressly stated. Time and again, Senator McConnell comes to the floor 
and says the opposite: Government is going to take away your health 
insurance. The clear language of the bill says: No, that is not our 
intention. That is not what we are going to do.
  I am also concerned when I listen to the Senator from Kentucky talk 
about government-run health care. He says it in negative terms, as if 
the government's involvement in health insurance and medical care is 
inherently wrong or misguided or ineffective. Here are the realities: 
45 million Americans out of 300 million currently are covered by 
Medicare. Does the Senator from Kentucky want to eliminate Medicare, a 
government-run health care plan? I am waiting for him to say that. He 
has never said it. Another 60 million Americans are under Medicaid, 
which provides health insurance for the poorest among us and those who 
are disabled. So 105 million Americans today have either Medicare or 
Medicaid. That is a third of America being covered by government-run 
health care. That is a reality. Most Americans understand there are 
very positive things to be said for those plans. Would we do without 
Medicare; would we abolish it? I certainly wouldn't be part of that. In 
over 40 years, Medicare has brought peace of mind, dignity, and great 
medical care to millions of seniors across America. I wouldn't want to 
see that go away. I think it is a program that has served us well.
  A question was asked recently by CNN: In general, would you favor or 
oppose a program that would increase the Federal Government's influence 
over the country's health care system in an attempt to lower costs and 
provide health care coverage to more Americans? The numbers that came 
back on

[[Page 16863]]

May 15, by CNN: 69 percent of the American people favor that statement, 
favor more government involvement in health care to reduce cost and 
expand coverage. Only 29 percent oppose. The position argued by the 
Republican leader does not reflect America's feelings about health 
care.
  If Senator McConnell feels the current health care system is fine and 
we should not work to change it, he does not, I am afraid, reflect the 
feelings of most Americans. We can do better. We need to do better on a 
bipartisan basis. We need cooperation on the Republican side of the 
aisle in a bipartisan effort to find real solutions, compromise that 
would not compromise the values of our American health care system but 
give people a health care program that would not be taken away from 
them by some health insurance company bureaucrat, something the family 
can afford, something small businesses can afford.
  We can do it. We should not be afraid. America has tackled bigger 
challenges in the past.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Delaware.

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