[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24424-24428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
  As the dean of the Democratic Women in the Senate, we wish to tell 
our colleagues and the American people that we want to join together as 
women of the Senate today to talk

[[Page 24425]]

about the compelling issues facing the American people in terms of the 
need for health care reform. We are going to be speaking out and 
speaking up about the need for reform. I will be the wrap-up speaker.
  In order to kick it off, I am going to yield--how much time does the 
Senator from Minnesota need?
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I would say 5 minutes.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. We have nine speakers.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I will need 3 minutes.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from Minnesota.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota is 
recognized.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the 
importance of health care reform to the women of this country.
  Let me tell my colleagues how I got interested in this issue. When my 
daughter was born, she was very sick. She couldn't swallow. She was in 
intensive care. They thought she had a tumor. It was a horrendous 
moment for our family. I was up all night in labor, up all day trying 
to figure out what was wrong with her, and they literally kicked me out 
of the hospital--my husband wheeled me out in a wheelchair after 24 
hours--because at that point in our country's history, they had a rule; 
it was called driveby births. When a mom gave birth, she had to get 
kicked out of the hospital in 24 hours.
  Well, I went to the legislature with a number of other moms and we 
said: Enough is enough. We got one of the first laws passed in the 
country, in the State of Minnesota, guaranteeing new moms and their 
babies a 48-hour hospital stay. My favorite moment of this was at the 
conference committee when there were a number of people who were trying 
to get the implementation of this bill delayed so it wouldn't take 
effect. I went there with six pregnant friends of mine. When the 
legislature said, when should this bill take effect, the pregnant women 
all raised their hands and said, ``now.'' That is what happened. That 
is what the women of America are saying today. They are saying, 
``Now.'' They cannot keep having these escalating health care costs 
that are making it harder and harder for them to afford health care.
  I always tell the people in my State to remember three numbers: 6, 
12, and 24. About 10 years ago, the average family was paying $6,000 
for their health insurance. Now they are paying something like $12,000, 
a lot of them paying even more; small businesses, even more. Ten years 
from now, they are going to be paying $24,000, if we don't do something 
to bend this cost curve.
  Medicare is something that is so important for women in this country. 
It is going to go in the red by 2017.
  One of the things that really bothers me about the current situation 
is this preexisting condition issue. I couldn't believe what I found 
out last week: In nine States and the District of Columbia, women who 
are victims of domestic abuse or who have been victims of domestic 
abuse can be denied health care coverage because domestic abuse can be 
considered a preexisting condition. So they get abused and then they 
can't even get the health care coverage to help them. Maternity, being 
pregnant--these things can all be preexisting conditions, and that is 
something we need to stop.
  That is why I am so glad one of the major proposals in this reform is 
to do something about preexisting conditions. We also need to make sure 
preventive care--so important to women--things such as mammograms are 
covered in our health care plan.
  Finally, one of the things I know the Senator from Maryland has been 
such a leader on is aging parents. People such as myself, we have kids 
of our own and then we also have aging parents. We are caught in what 
they call the sandwich generation: taking care of our own kids and 
making sure our parents get care at the same time. Predominantly, a lot 
of women are in this situation. That is why the CLASS Act, which 
Senator Kennedy proposed and which is in one of the health care 
proposals, which allows Americans to use pretax dollars to pay for 
their health insurance and their long-term care insurance is so 
important.
  So I am glad for American women that we are moving forward on this 
health care reform.
  Thank you very much, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, we thank the Senator for her advocacy to 
end this driveby delivery and other punitive practices.
  I yield 3 minutes to the Senator from North Carolina.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, I am joining my colleagues on the floor 
today to talk about how health care reform will improve women's access 
to care.
  I recently received an e-mail from a woman in Raleigh that truly 
underscores why women need health care reform in America. Julie wrote 
to me about her sister who was uninsured and waited years for a 
mammogram because she literally couldn't afford to pay for one. Then 
she found a lump in her breast. By the time the lump became a mass, 
Julie's sister finally got a mammogram and had to pay for it with cash. 
The mammogram confirmed what she suspected: She had breast cancer. But 
now that she had the diagnosis, she had no way to pay for the 
treatment. Julie's sister lost her battle with breast cancer this 
March. Like thousands of women across America, perhaps Julie's sister 
could have beaten this cancer if she had had access to affordable, 
preventive care and, after her diagnosis, access to either insurance or 
medical care to cover her cancer treatment. In this heartbreaking 
situation, Julie's sister was sick and stuck.
  Unfortunately, I hear about such cases far too often. Inefficiencies 
and discriminatory practices in our health care system 
disproportionately affect women. In all but 12 States, insurance 
companies are allowed to charge women more than they charge men for 
coverage. The great irony here is that mothers, the people who care for 
us when we are sick, are penalized under our current system.
  My daughter Carrie recently graduated from college and had to 
purchase her own health insurance. For no other reason than her gender, 
her insurance policies cost more than they do for my son Tilden.
  Yesterday, a 23-year-old staffer in my office, a female from 
Fayetteville, shopped for health insurance on the individual market for 
the most basic, bestselling plan. It would cost her $235 a month; for a 
man of the same age, $88. That is 2\1/2\ times more expensive, close to 
$1,800 more per year.
  Many women who have health insurance are still stuck. Insurance 
companies don't often cover key preventive services such as mammograms 
and pap smears. Often, the copays for these critical services can be 
out of reach for many women when they range as high as $60 a visit. 
More than half of all women, like Julie's sister, have reported 
delaying preventive screenings. Without insurance, mammograms cost well 
over $100.
  In many cases, the difference between life and death is early 
detection. The Affordable Health Choices Act--which I worked with my 
colleagues on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to 
craft--makes preventive care possible for women across America. It 
eliminates all copays and deductibles for recommended preventive 
services.
  We are also stopping insurance companies from charging women more 
than men or using preexisting conditions as a reason to deny anyone 
health insurance.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kirk). The Senator's time has expired.
  Mrs. HAGAN. I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now yield 3 minutes to the Senator 
from Michigan.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I thank the dean of the women in this 
Senate, Senator Mikulski, for bringing us all together on the Senate 
floor, and I join with my great colleagues from California and North 
Carolina and other colleagues who will be joining us

[[Page 24426]]

 as well, to talk about the importance of health care reform for women.
  Women are the majority of the population. We have the ability to 
benefit from this reform that holds insurance companies accountable and 
creates more opportunity for coverage. We will see a great benefit to 
come from all of this, and I want to speak to just one piece of it. We 
know the majority of people today--men and women, families--have 
insurance, and there are a multitude of bad insurance company practices 
that are occurring today stopping people from getting coverage because 
they have a preexisting condition.
  By the way, we found out just last week, from an article in the 
Washington Post, that some insurance companies treat pregnancy, or the 
intention to adopt, as a reason to reject someone for a preexisting 
condition. I mean that is pretty shocking to me. In fact, the same 
report said that being pregnant or being an expectant father, with some 
companies, was grounds for automatic rejection--automatic rejection--
when it comes to being able to get a health insurance policy.
  So this reform is about making sure everyone benefits; that women who 
have insurance, as well as women who don't currently have access to 
health insurance, can see protections and changes that stop the 
discrimination and create better access to health care because that is 
what this is all about, being able to find affordable health care and 
health care that meets our needs. All women across the country 
certainly are desperately concerned about that. We have 62 million 
American women right now who are in their childbearing years, and I was 
quite shocked to learn that right now, according to the Women's Law 
Center, nearly 60 percent of the individual insurance plans that are 
out there in the marketplace--if you are not getting insurance through 
your employer, but you are going out yourself to find an insurance 
policy for you and for your family--nearly 60 percent don't provide any 
coverage for maternity care or even an option of supplemental insurance 
for an additional cost.
  So for the women in these plans who are attempting to get insurance, 
no amount of money can buy the maternity care that they need. So this 
bill is about changing that and making sure the women of this country 
have the care they need.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Ms. STABENOW. I thank the Chair.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I now yield 3 minutes to the Senator from California, 
Mrs. Boxer.
  Mrs. BOXER. I thank Senator Mikulski for her leadership. Everyone in 
America has a stake in health care reform, even if they are happy with 
their insurance at the moment. The main reason is that costs are 
exploding and health care insurance companies are walking away without 
any penalty. They come up with a reason, and then we all are paying for 
those who have no insurance and wind up in the emergency room.
  Women have even more at stake. Why? Because they are discriminated 
against by insurance companies, and that must stop, and it will stop 
when we pass insurance reform.
  Now, how are women discriminated against? If they have been victims 
of domestic violence, that is considered to be a preexisting condition 
and, therefore, they are told they can't get insurance, and that 
happens in eight States and the District of Columbia. It is a tragedy, 
and it will change when we pass health insurance reform.
  If a woman is pregnant, only 14 States in America require insurance 
companies to cover maternity care. Imagine, a country that puts family 
values first and yet only 14 States will cover maternity. That will 
change.
  Everyone is faced with huge increases in cost, but women 18 to 55 are 
charged nearly 40 percent more than men for similar coverage in my home 
State, and that happens in most States, and health reform will stop 
that.
  Because of discrimination, women are at risk under the current 
system. More than 52 percent of women reported delaying needed care or 
avoiding it completely because of cost compared to 39 percent of men. 
Now, 39 percent is terrible, but 52 percent is deplorable. People are 
walking around sick because they can't afford to go to the doctor. 
Health insurance reform will stop it. There will be no more gender 
rating.
  Women earn less than men, and that is why it is an impossible 
situation. In my home State, over the past 9 years, premiums have risen 
more than four times as fast as earnings. We spend more than twice as 
much as any other industrialized Nation on health care. You would think 
we would have greater outcomes, Mr. President, but we rank 29 out of 30 
industrialized nations in infant mortality. It isn't surprising, when 
so many women are not getting prenatal care.
  Medicare: More than half of those on Medicare are women. If we do 
nothing, Medicare goes broke in 2017. So when politicians try to scare 
our seniors, it is despicable because it is the status quo that is 
dangerous. When we fix Medicare--and we will in health reform--women 
will get free preventive care, mammograms, and annual physicals.
  So in summary, women, children, and men need us to act on health 
reform. We must make our voices heard.
  I thank my colleagues, my women colleagues, for coming to the floor 
of the Senate today to wake up this Nation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now yield 3 minutes to the Senator 
from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I thank our leader, the Senator from 
Maryland, Barbara Mikulski, for organizing this effort on the Senate 
floor this morning. I am pleased to join my sisters and colleagues in 
the Senate this morning to raise some specific and important issues 
relative to this reform debate that is moving forward. They are 
important facts as we press forward with our reforms.
  I would like to begin, just briefly, with reminding all of us that we 
began--as the President called for us to do--to focus on health care 
reform and to reduce cost--cost to our Nation, cost to our States, cost 
to individual businesses as they continue to see these premiums 
skyrocketing beyond their ability to either afford or to control, and 
cost to individuals.
  The Baucus mark in the Senate Finance Committee, which is pending, 
goes a significant step forward in terms of the cost issue. That is 
very encouraging to those of us who believe that health care reform is 
essential for several reasons. But one of the important reasons is to 
get cost under control and to begin to help balance the Federal budget 
and get us back on a sure financial footing, which--as has been stated 
by many experts, Mr. President--is impossible without fundamental 
insurance reform. So that is point 1.
  Point 2, the benefit of moving forward with reform will significantly 
improve outcomes for women, as the Senator from California, Mrs. Boxer, 
stated. It is going to help all Americans, but it is going to be 
particularly helpful for women of childbearing age, who are often 
discriminated against with insurance rates because they have to see 
doctors more often just by the very nature of pregnancy and the care 
they require. Because they have to see their doctors more often, their 
insurance is sometimes significantly higher.
  In fact, the records show that the cost of an insurance plan for a 
40-year-old woman can be up to 38 percent more than a 40-year-old man 
in the same circumstance--same health, same geographic location. Our 
reform efforts will eliminate that bias and make health care more 
affordable for everyone but particularly for women.
  I wanted to take my last minute to talk about a letter I received 
from Denelle Walker, a 25-year-old woman living in Baton Rouge, who 
just graduated from school and went on to get a job.
  Mr. President, 20 percent of Denelle's modest paycheck--20 percent--
is going toward insurance. This bill will help young women such as 
Denelle, middle-aged women, and older women on the issue of 
affordability.

[[Page 24427]]


  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now yield 3 minutes to the Senator 
from New Hampshire.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am very pleased to join my women 
colleagues in the Senate today to talk about the importance of passing 
health care reform for all the women in this country, and I want to 
thank Senator Mikulski for her leadership on this issue.
  Plainly and simply, the status quo is not working. Today's health 
system is simply not meeting the needs of women. For too many women and 
their families today, quality, affordable health care is out of their 
reach.
  It should surprise no one that women and men have different health 
care needs. Despite this difference, it is unacceptable that women are 
not treated fairly by the system and do not always receive the care 
they require and deserve. In cases where women can find coverage that 
is affordable, often it is woefully inadequate.
  A recent survey by the National Women's Law Center found that the 
vast majority of individual market health insurance policies did not 
cover maternity care, and only a few insurers sell a separate maternity 
rider. That isn't that surprising when you consider, as we have heard, 
that only 14 States require maternity coverage and insurance companies 
are all about their bottom line. Defending the practice, one insurance 
spokesman called pregnancy ``a matter of choice.'' To make matters 
worse, many insurance companies consider C-sections a ``preexisting 
condition.'' One insurer simply rejects women who have had C-sections. 
This is unbelievable.
  What is most shocking to me is that insurance companies can deny 
coverage to a woman for having been a victim of domestic violence. 
Domestic violence--something no woman plans for or wishes upon herself 
or anyone else--can be used to deny insurance coverage. Mr. President, 
this cannot be allowed to continue.
  Without a doubt, the current private health insurance framework 
leaves too many women uncovered. For those who are covered, care often 
falls short. It is time to end the insurance discrimination that women 
face. I am pleased that both Senate bills which have come out of 
committee ban discrimination based on preexisting conditions, and I 
also applaud the Finance and the HELP Committees for putting an end to 
gender discrimination in pricing insurance and ensuring that women and 
men pay the same price for the same coverage.
  We must come together to pass comprehensive health reform to help all 
the women of our Nation who are facing high insurance costs just 
because they are women. I applaud the women on the HELP and the Finance 
Committees for the work they have done and reiterate that any 
legislation we consider must level the playing field and make health 
care accessible and affordable for all.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, how much time is remaining in morning 
business?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 5\1/2\ minutes remaining.


                          Order of Proceedings

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that morning 
business be extended for another 15 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I withhold that unanimous consent request. I ask 
unanimous consent for 15 minutes and that it be equally divided. I ask 
unanimous consent that morning business on our side be extended for 15 
minutes and that 15 minutes also be added to the Republican side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I assure my colleagues on the other side 
that all time will be protected. I think there is a little confusion. I 
have not been briefed on the order. I can assure everyone's time 
agreement will be protected at the time they were assured they could 
speak.
  I now yield 3 minutes to the Senator from New York.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of 
health care reform on behalf of greater access to health care for 
women. I am very grateful to Senator Mikulski for her extraordinary 
leadership on this health care debate.
  There are few Americans who are not hurt by the rising cost of health 
care. However, it is shocking to think that in today's America, over 
half of this country could be discriminated against in one of their 
most basic life needs. Women must shoulder the worst of the health care 
crisis, including outrageous discriminatory practices in care and 
coverage.
  According to the data compiled by the National Women's Law Center, 
under the current system, a 25-year-old woman pays up to 45 percent 
more for the same or identical coverage.
  Some of the most essential services required by women are not covered 
by many insurance plans, such as childbearing, Pap smears, or 
mammograms. As a mother of two young children, I cannot imagine how 
awful it would be for a woman who does not have these basic needs 
covered. That is exactly what millions of women and young mothers face 
because of the costs of childbirth.
  A standard in-hospital delivery costs between $5,000 and $10,000 and 
much more if there are complications. In the current system, pregnant 
women can be turned down for health care coverage because insurance 
companies would rather evade those costs. Pregnancy should never be a 
preexisting condition. Such discrimination is unacceptable and is 
contrary to our core American values of equality and equal rights.
  As we address the inadequacies of our current system, we must 
safeguard the women's health clinics that are an essential point of 
care for millions across this country. Their work is being politicized 
as part of this debate. Politicizing health care delivery endangers 
young women, putting them at risk for teen pregnancy, STDs, cervical, 
or breast cancer. Women's health clinics provide critical services to 
women every day.
  In my own State, over 400,000 New Yorkers receive health care from 
Planned Parenthood each year. About 50 percent are working adults whose 
jobs do not include health benefits. Our strategy for reform must 
protect these critical services that clinics provide and expand upon 
their success.
  The health care crisis is a life-and-death issue for so many 
Americans--one that disproportionately affects women in this country. 
We must reform our broken health care system and disparities among race 
and gender and make quality, affordable health care available for every 
single American.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now yield 4 minutes to the Senator 
from Washington State.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator Mikulski, 
and all of the women who are out on the floor today to talk about this 
critical issue because the rising cost of health insurance is hurting 
women and it is hurting our country.
  For the millions of women across this country who open the mail each 
month to see their premiums rising dramatically, who cannot get 
preventive care, such as mammograms, because the copays are too much or 
they work part time or for a small business that does not provide 
insurance for them and their families, who cannot get covered for 
prenatal care or who are forced to stay in an abusive relationship 
because if they leave, their sick kids will lose their health care 
coverage, we are their voice.
  I remember a similar debate such as this on this floor almost 16 
years ago. Senators in this Chamber were debating legislation that 
would allow 35 million Americans to stay home to take care of a newborn 
or sick child, a parent or spouse, without fear of losing

[[Page 24428]]

their jobs. I came to the floor then and I told the story about a woman 
I knew whose child was sick at the time and who was not allowed to take 
time off from work to care for him as he was dying because she would 
lose her income and the health insurance that covered him.
  At the time, as a new Member of the Senate, I spoke passionately 
about that. I told the story. As I was walking off the floor, one of 
our colleagues came up to me and said: You know, here in the Senate, we 
don't tell personal stories. I remember well what I said to him: I came 
here to tell the stories of the people I represent. They deserve a 
voice in the Senate.
  Those stories impacted that debate, and we passed the family and 
medical leave law.
  I am back today to tell the story of a woman whose child was sick. I 
want to tell every one about the story of this little boy, Marcelas 
Owens. I met him at a health care rally in Seattle. He was 10 years old 
and his two sisters who we see in this picture as well have been 
through a lot. Two years ago their mother Tifanny, who is not in this 
picture--that is his grandmother--lost her life because she was 
uninsured, 27 years old.
  How did that happen? Tifanny was a single mom who felt strongly about 
working to support her family. She worked as an assistant manager at a 
fast food restaurant. She had health care coverage for her family. But 
in September of 2006, she got sick and missed some work. Her employer 
gave her an ultimatum: Make up the lost time or lose your job. Because 
she was so sick, she physically could not make up the time, and she did 
lose her job.
  When she lost her job, she lost her health insurance. Without the 
coverage and care she needed, in June of 2007, Tifanny lost her life, 
and Marcelas and his sisters lost their mom.
  Our health care system is broken. It is broken for moms such as 
Tifanny who work to provide for their families and do the right thing, 
and for men who lose their health care in this market we have today. It 
is broken for women we have heard about who have been denied coverage 
or charged more for preexisting conditions such as pregnancy or C 
sections or, tragically, domestic violence. It is broken for their 
families and for little boys such as Marcelas who will never get back 
what he lost.
  Enough is enough. The time is now. The status quo that is being 
defended by the other side is not working. For women across this 
country, for their families, for our businesses, for our Nation's 
future strength that as mothers we care about so much, we have to get 
this right. We have to remember these stories. We need to be their 
voice. That is why we are here today and why we are going to keep 
fighting to make sure that we reform the health care insurance system 
in this country finally and do it right.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, as we wrap up our discussion on health 
insurance reform, I want to say as the senior Democratic woman that I 
am very proud of my colleagues today and how they have spoken up about 
the terrible practices of the insurance companies discriminating 
against women.
  What you heard loudly and clearly today is that health care is a 
women's issue, health care reform is a must-do women's issue, and 
health insurance reform is a must-change women's issue because what we 
demonstrated is that when it comes to health insurance, we women pay 
more and get less.
  We stand today on the Senate floor to say we want equal access and 
equal benefits for equal premiums. We women pay more and get less when 
we do pay our premiums. A 25-year-old woman is charged more than a 25-
year-old man of equal or similar health status. And at age 40, it is 
often up to almost 50 percent. And when we do pay our benefits, when we 
are able to cross that barrier of getting health insurance, we get less 
coverage because insurance companies have certain punitive practices.
  No. 1, we are often denied coverage because of something called a 
preexisting condition. These preexisting conditions are not 
catastrophic. We hear horror story after horror story that a woman who 
has had a baby by a C section which was medically mandated is then 
denied subsequent coverage because she had that. We have heard horror 
story after horror story in some States that victims of domestic 
violence are denied health insurance because they have been battered by 
a spouse and then they are battered by the insurance company.
  This has to change. Coverage for women is often skimpy and spartan. I 
think people would find it shocking, good men would find it shocking 
that maternity care is often denied as a basic coverage or we have to 
pay more to get coverage for maternity care. Often on basic preventive 
care, such as mammograms and cervical screenings, we have to pay 
significant copays in order to get them.
  So we the women are fighting for health care reform. We have very 
basic things we support. No. 1, we want to make sure that Medicare is 
strengthened and saved. We know that Medicare is a woman's issue and a 
family issue not only because there are more women on Medicare than 
there are men, but we know that with Medicare, often without it or if 
it is curtailed or shrunk, it would mean disaster.
  Mr. President, you see that I am speaking from a wheelchair. It is 
because I had a fall coming out of 4 o'clock mass a couple of weeks 
ago. When going through the ER, the OR, the rehab room, if I did not 
have Medicare and my health care benefit, I would be bankrupt today.
  If health care is good enough for a U.S. Senator, it is good enough 
to make sure we have health care for U.S. citizens. So we want to save 
Medicare.
  We also want to close that doughnut hole. The doughnut hole for 
prescription drugs has been very difficult to swallow. It is time to 
change that. We want to end the punitive insurance practices of 
discriminating on the basis of gender--so whether you have had a C 
section or whether you need mental health benefits after you have been 
raped, you can get your coverage.
  Later on this weekend, there will be many in my State who will be 
``Racing for the Cure.'' I think it is great that we are looking for a 
cure for breast cancer, and we salute the Komen Foundation. But we not 
only want to do the research to find the cure, we want to make sure 
women have access to the preventive screening for breast cancer, 
ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer. We are fighting to make sure that 
access is provided for these important screenings and there are no 
barriers for payment.
  In a nutshell, we, the women of the Senate, have fought for equal pay 
for equal work. Now we are fighting for equal benefits for equal 
premiums. We hope that when the insurance debate comes to the Senate, 
we will be able to elaborate. But today, we wanted to say: Let's get 
rid of the mob scene that is going around the debate on health care. 
Let's focus on the important human needs.
  I now conclude my remarks, and I believe this concludes morning 
business. I yield the floor.

                          ____________________