[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HEALTH CARE WEEK IX, DAY I

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the past 2 months, I have come to 
the floor time and again to talk about one of the most important issues 
we face as a Nation: and that is the need for commonsense health care 
reforms which address the serious problems that all Americans see in 
the system as it is. I have done this in the context of a larger debate 
about a proposed reform that, in my view, could actually make our 
current problems worse. And I have had solid support for that view from 
a number of well-respected sources.
  First and foremost is the independent Congressional Budget Office, 
which has refuted several estimates by the administration about the 
effect its health care proposals would have on the economy in general 
and health care costs in particular.
  The Director of the CBO has said the Democrat proposals we have seen 
would not reverse the upward trend of health care costs and would 
significantly increase the government's share of those costs. The CBO 
says these proposals would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the 
national debt. It says that one section of one of the proposals would 
cause 10 million people to lose their current health plans. And it says 
a so-called Independent Medicare Advisory Council designed to cut costs 
probably wouldn't.
  These findings have helped clarify the debate over health care--and 
they have added to a growing perception that, though the administration 
is trying very hard, economic estimates are not the administration's 
strong suit.
  First there was the stimulus. In trying to account for rising 
unemployment after a stimulus bill that was meant to arrest it, the 
administration said it misread the economy. It also said the stimulus 
would ``create or save'' between 3 and 4 million jobs, though now it 
says it can't measure how many jobs are created or saved. Meanwhile we 
have lost 2 million of them since the stimulus was passed.
  Last week we saw the administration's tendency to miss the mark on 
economic estimates again with the so-called cash for clunkers program.
  We were told this program would last for several months. As it turned 
out, it ran out of money in a week, prompting the House to rush a $2 
billion dollar extension before anybody even had time to figure out 
what happened with the first billion.
  There is a pattern here, a pattern that amounts to an argument--and a 
very strong argument at that: when the administration comes bearing 
estimates, it is not a bad idea to look for a second opinion. All the 
more so if they say they are in a hurry.
  Americans are telling us that health care is too important to rush. 
They are saying it is too important to base our decisions on this issue 
solely on the estimates that we are getting from the same people who 
brought us the stimulus and cash for clunkers.
  The American people want to know what they are getting into when it 
comes to changing health care in this country. And while I have no 
doubt the administration is trying, Americans need some assurance that 
the estimates they are getting are accurate. And if recent experience 
is any guide, they have reason to be as skeptical as the car dealer who 
said this to a reporter last week:

       If they can't administer a program like this, I'd be a 
     little concerned about my health insurance.

  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCAIN. 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.

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