[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16864-16865]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, in the last few years, I have traveled all 
over this country talking to people about health care. After listening 
to countless Americans--including in two townhall meetings last week--I 
proposed in the past health care reforms that would have ensured health 
care coverage was more affordable, accessible, portable, and suitable 
for all American families.
  Health reforms need to be consistent with our American values of 
freedom, choice, and limited government. The key to these reforms is to 
put our citizens in charge of their own health coverage. Rather than 
being stuck in a job because the job provides health care, or worse, 
losing health insurance if the economy causes you to lose your job, we 
need to change our system and allow Americans to obtain coverage 
options with a tax credit for policies not limited by State boundaries 
or government dictates.
  Just this past week, I had the great good fortune to visit two of the 
finest health care institutions in this country. First, I spent time 
with hundreds of patients, doctors, nurses, and health care leaders at 
the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. I heard 
from patients who had come to this center of excellence from 90 
countries and States, including Arizona. Why do patients come to the 
United States of America from all over the world? It is because the 
highest quality health care is in the United States of America. And I 
repeat, the fundamentals of this discussion and debate sometimes go 
astray from the fact that the highest quality health care in the world 
is available in the United States of America. The key to it and our 
challenge is to make that health care available and affordable to all 
Americans. The path we are on will destroy the quality of that coverage 
and will, in fact, make health care the same as it is in other 
countries. The reason they leave there is to get high-quality health 
care in the United States of America. It is the best--our system--
because innovation and technology are allowed to flourish.
  Later in the week, in my home State of Arizona, I visited one of the 
premier children's hospitals in the country. Phoenix Children's 
Hospital is a destination medical facility for children all around the 
Southwest and in the country. At Phoenix Children's Hospital, I also 
met with patients, physicians, nurses, medical executives, and average 
Arizonans. During this visit, not one health care provider in Phoenix 
told me they wanted more government control over health care. In fact, 
they told me the opposite. PCH has experience with Medicaid, and time 
after time I was told of the problems providers face every day with the 
government Medicaid Program. The program is a vital safety net for the 
low income, but we have to recognize the important lessons we have 
already learned about government running health care programs.
  During these events, I was repeatedly told that we need reform. They 
also told me about the problems they face in the government-controlled 
Medicare and Medicaid Programs, both with massive unfunded liabilities. 
They want a stable system that keeps costs under control, gets everyone 
covered, pays fairly, encourages innovation, and maintains America's 
standing as providing the best health care in the world. But none of 
them told me we need more government control of health care or 
government-controlled health insurance.
  I have listened to Americans. But I am worried they are not being 
heard here in Congress by those who control the agenda in the White 
House and the Senate. If President Obama and the Democratic leaders 
were listening, we would not have a bill before us that costs too much, 
taxes too much, covers too few, and puts government in control at every 
turn.
  This country has fought for over 200 years for the fundamental values 
that I fear are being eroded by the other side's appetite for one-size-
fits-all government control of one of our most cherished economic gems.
  First, this administration takes over the banking industry. Then they 
take over the auto industry. Along the way, they tell us $787 billion 
in more and bigger government, along with $1.8 trillion of debt this 
year alone, is the answer to our ailing economy. Now they are telling 
the American people they were not aware of the economic situation and, 
guess what, they are going to want another stimulus package. I think 
that idea would be soundly rejected by the American people. And now 
they are telling the American people that we must rush to pass a new 
government health care plan that we cannot pay for, will increase 
taxes, and kill jobs. We are talking about one-sixth of the gross 
national product of America. And it is pretty obvious the other side 
wants to jam this through in the next 4 weeks. We should not do that. 
They still have not come up with ways to pay for this grandiose 
takeover of the American health care system.
  Americans are losing health care coverage every day. And it gets back 
to the issue of affordability, not quality.

[[Page 16865]]

But the Democrats cannot produce legislation that responsibly makes 
coverage available to all Americans without trillions of dollars in new 
spending.
  This weekend, after a 4-week delay, we finally received new 
provisions in their new government-run health care plans. Here is what 
we know about the legislation before us:
  The Congressional Budget Office says the preliminary cost estimate 
for the new language they reviewed was nearly $900 billion in new 
spending. The other side says this is a cost reduction from an earlier 
version of the bill. Do not be fooled by the smoke and mirrors. After 
an inexplicable 4-year phase-in that delays several provisions in the 
Democratic bill in an effort to hide costs through accounting 
techniques, the bill will actually spend $1.5 trillion when it is fully 
implemented. And that is not counting the hundreds of billions of 
dollars in new Medicaid spending promised by that legislation.
  CBO also tells us the HELP Committee bill still leaves over 30 
million Americans without coverage. Mr. President, for all the spending 
being proposed, don't you think we should be covering more than 40 
percent of the uninsured? When the final numbers come in, don't be 
surprised if the cost of this ``rush'' proposal is at or above $2 
trillion. What is worse, the sponsors cannot tell us how we will pay 
for such a massive price tag.
  My colleagues and I plan to continue talking to the American public. 
I suggest the other side in the Senate talk to all Americans about what 
they need rather than making these decisions for them.
  Again, Mr. President, we cannot risk running through a legislative 
proposal in the next 4 to 5 weeks and be sure that we are not making 
serious and fundamental mistakes. And the serious and fundamental 
mistake is the approach to this legislation, which is, the quality of 
health care in America can and must be preserved; it is the cost that 
needs to be brought under control. We can bring those costs under 
control by innovative techniques, by competition, by allowing Americans 
to go all across America to get the health insurance of their choice--
the same way we have been able to reduce costs in other sectors of our 
economy, as technology has improved the quality of our lives.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I am glad I was here to listen to the 
thoughtful comments of the Senator from Arizona. His leadership on the 
HELP Committee in trying to help make certain we help Americans have 
access to health care they can afford and that we do that in a way that 
leaves them with a government they can afford and with choices so they 
do not have government in between themselves and their doctors has been 
very important. I thank him for his leadership.

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