[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11027]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Madam President, following leader remarks, if any, there 
will be a period of morning business until 10 a.m., with Senators 
allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. The majority will control 
the first half, the Republicans will control the final half.
  Upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate will resume 
consideration of the House message which accompanies H.R. 4213. There 
will be up to 2 hours for debate on the Thune amendment, which is 
numbered 4376, with the time equally divided and controlled between 
Senators Thune and Baucus or their designees. If all time is used, at 
approximately noon today, the Senate will proceed to a vote on the 
motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to the Thune amendment.
  As a reminder, last night I filed cloture on the Baucus substitute 
amendment. The managers of the bill will work with Senators on 
agreements to consider amendments so that we can move toward completion 
of the bill as quickly as possible. Senators should expect additional 
votes today in relation to amendments to the bill. Senators will be 
notified when additional votes are scheduled.
  I have spoken to the manager of the bill, Senator Baucus, and he has 
spoken to a number of his Republican colleagues, and we are going to 
try to arrange a number of votes as soon as we finish the Thune matter. 
There are at least three that I know the Republicans want to offer, and 
there are a number on our side, but we will try to get that done as 
quickly as possible. This is not a time for never-ending amendments. 
This is the seventh week we have been on this legislation. They have 
not been contiguous, but they have certainly been spent on this 
legislation. So we hope we can work out a reasonable agreement on the 
amendments that need to be debated and voted on. If we can't work 
something out tonight, this afternoon, we will have to have a cloture 
vote in the morning. I would hope that can be avoided. I don't know if 
it can be.
  The problem we have is that we have asked the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to work to extend the time 
administratively so that the 21-percent cut to Medicare doesn't go into 
effect. We think we have been able to do that, until tomorrow. But we 
are in very perilous times here. Unemployment compensation benefits 
have already expired. These tax extenders, which are so important to 
businesses, have expired. Therefore, it is essential that we get 
something done. Remember, Medicare reimbursement is not just for 
Medicare patients. Even though some doctors have already said they are 
going to drop Medicare patients, it is for more than Medicare patients 
because most reimbursement in our country is based upon Medicare 
levels--insurance companies, HMOs, and veterans programs. So everyone 
on both sides of the aisle should understand that the time to sit back 
and say: We will work something out later isn't going to be here. We 
have to do something today, or tomorrow at the latest, because of this 
21 percent cut. We have cried wolf for the last time. It will go into 
effect over the weekend.
  We also have an important element in this legislation that deals with 
FMAP. The poorest of the poor in our country are able to get Medicaid 
through the State programs, and we assist at the Federal level. Those 
programs, in most States, are in a perilous state. They have cut a lot 
of the programs. A lot of people who are eligible for certain Medicaid 
procedures and office visits and things of that nature have been 
terminated already. I have received calls from at least 20 Governors--
and it is not just Democratic Governors--who are desperate for this 
money.
  So everything in this bill is paid for except FMAP and the situation 
I related to regarding unemployment compensation extension. Everything 
else is paid for. The doctor fix is paid for in the amendment that is 
now before us where cloture has been filed. So I hope we can work 
through these amendments the Republicans have to have and we have to 
have on our side and, if possible, we can go ahead and set up a vote to 
get rid of this piece of legislation today; otherwise, we will have a 
cloture tomorrow, and 30 hours runs after that, and by that time the 
doctors and patients will be harmed significantly, notwithstanding the 
fact that the unemployed have already been hurt.

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