[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HEALTH CARE WEEK XI, DAY II

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Americans have been watching the 
health care debate play out in various committees in Congress, and they 
are wondering where it's all headed. I will make it easy for them. The 
final bill is going to cost about a trillion dollars. It is going to 
include $\1/2\ trillion in cuts to seniors' Medicare in order to create 
a new government program. It is going to raise hundreds of billions of 
dollars in taxes on individuals and businesses. And it is going to 
expand the government's role in the health care of every single 
American, whether they like it or not, limiting choices and leading to 
the same kind of denial and delay we have seen in other countries.
  And then there is the issue of rushing through a bill and denying the 
American people the chance to read it. Imagine that, a trillion dollars 
out of the taxpayers' wallets for a bill that will affect the health 
care of every single American, and the majority has already voted to 
deny a mere 72 hours of public review before voting on it. This is 
outrageous, and hopefully this is not the way the majority decides to 
go forward.
  One group that has become increasingly vocal in its criticism of this 
legislation is our Nation's Governors. Over the course of this debate, 
at least one in three of them have issued statements expressing their 
urgent concerns about a proposed expansion of Medicaid, which will 
force them either to cut services, raise taxes, or both. That is on top 
of the tax hikes that come about on the Federal level as a result of 
this bill.
  One Democrat Governor had this to say of the Medicaid proposal: ``. . 
. it's very scary for governors to be saying as soon as the revenues 
get back there, the Federal Government is going to come in and say 
here's how you're going to spend your new money.''
  Governor Schwarzenegger of California says he won't support Federal 
health care reform proposals that impose billions of dollars in new 
costs on California.
  Governor Crist of Florida says the proposed Medicaid expansion would 
have a crippling effect on Florida's State economy.
  Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii says the proposed Medicaid expansion 
would be tantamount to mandating a tax increase on every resident of 
Hawaii . . . and further harm residents who are struggling to make ends 
meet.
  Idaho Governor ``Butch'' Otter calls the proposal ``an . . . 
irresponsible effort to shift a substantial and unmanageable financial 
burden to the states.''
  Those are just a few of the comments we have heard from Governors. 
They are issuing the same kind of dire warnings about the proposed 
health care legislation that Americans have been sounding for months.
  The fact is, supporters of this legislation know that most Americans 
oppose it. That is why they are not listening. And that is why they are 
trying to rush it through without giving anybody a chance to study the 
details. The American people understand these proposals. They 
understand the strategy. And they are not happy about either.
  I yield the floor.

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