[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18673]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HEALTH CARE WEEK VII, DAY II

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, the President, to his 
credit, acknowledged what the American people have been telling us for 
weeks: that the Democratic health care proposals currently making their 
way through Congress aren't where they need to be. I couldn't agree 
with him more.
  All of us recognize the need for reform. That is not in question. And 
that is why day after day, I have come to the floor of the Senate and 
proposed concrete, commonsense reforms that all of us can agree on, 
reforms that would increase access, decrease costs, and guarantee that 
no one in this country would be forced to give up the care they 
currently have.
  As I have said repeatedly, we should reform malpractice laws; 
encourage wellness and prevention programs that encourage healthier 
lifestyles like quitting smoking and fighting obesity; promote more 
competition in the private insurance market; and address the needs of 
small businesses in a way that doesn't kill jobs in the middle of a 
recession.
  Unfortunately, the administration seems bent on its own proposal for 
a government-driven plan that costs trillions of dollars and asks small 
businesses and seniors to pay for it.
  Once this plan is implemented, the American people could be left with 
a system that none of them would recognize and that most of them would 
regret--a system in which health care is denied, delayed, and rationed, 
a system which delivers worse care than Americans currently receive at 
an even higher cost. Americans want reform. But they don't want this. 
And they don't want either of the two proposals we have seen so far.
  Both proposals could lead to a government takeover of health care, 
increase long-term health care costs, and cost trillions of dollars--on 
the backs of seniors, small businesses, and by adding hundreds of 
billions of dollars to the already-staggering national debt.
  The President has said that both of these bills need work. And in my 
view, Democrats in Congress should listen to the President and come up 
with something Americans really want. This may take time. But Americans 
would rather that we get these reforms right than just get them 
written. When it comes to health care, Americans are sending a clear 
message: slow down and get it right. It is a message many of us have 
been delivering for weeks, and it is a message one of the Senate's top 
Democrats in the health care debate seemed to echo yesterday when he 
said that the critical test isn't whether we meet a certain deadline 
but whether we get this reform right, whether it stands the test of 
history.
  We know Americans reject an artificial deadline on closing Guantanamo 
without a plan on what to do to keep us safe from the detainees who are 
housed there. And they regret accepting a rushed and artificial 
deadline on the stimulus. Health care is simply too important to rush, 
just to meet a date someone picked out of the air.
  The arguments we have heard in favor of rushing just don't square 
with reality.
  The administration and some in Congress say that we have to pass 
these bills right away because rising health care costs are an imminent 
threat to the economy. Yet the Democrat plans we have seen so far would 
make the problem worse. According to the independent Congressional 
Budget Office, the Democrat proposals would very likely increase 
overall health care spending, not reduce it. There goes that argument.
  Others say we need to pass these bills right away because people 
can't live under the current system a day longer. Yet many of the 
proposals we have seen wouldn't even go into effect for at least 
another four years. There goes that argument.
  Some say that under the proposals we have seen Americans won't lose 
the coverage they have. Yet independent studies show that millions 
would be pushed off plans they currently have and like. There goes that 
argument too.
  The only possible explanation for passing a bill in 2 weeks that 
could hand over one-sixth of the U.S. economy to the government is that 
the longer this plan sits out in the open, the more Americans oppose 
it. Already, Americans are shocked at the idea of funding a government 
takeover of health care on the backs of seniors through cuts to 
Medicare or through taxes on small businesses in the middle of a 
recession. They are shocked to hear that the final proposal could force 
taxpayers to fund abortions. They have serious concerns about adding to 
the national debt. And they are worried about the prospect of being 
forced off the plans they currently have. These concerns are serious. 
They should be taken seriously, not brushed aside in the service of 
some artificial deadline.
  No one in Washington wants to block health care reform. But many of 
us do want to take the time that is needed to deliver the kinds of 
reform that Americans actually want, not a so-called reform that leads 
to a government takeover of health care that leaves people paying more 
for worse care than they currently have.
  The President was right. The proposals we have seen are not where 
they need to be--not even close. But that does not mean reform is not 
possible, that reform is not coming, or that anyone does not want 
reform. What it does mean is we need to take the time to get the health 
care reforms the American people want. That is what they expect, and we 
should do no less.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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