Nancy L. Johnson: “That is true, and one of the provisions in that legislation goes to the heart of what you were saying. It allowed…”

This legislation is nearly identical to H.R. 3146, a bill the House unanimously approved last week. The only change is the addition of a 6-month extension of expiring Medicare payment provisions affecting hospitals in small cities and…

We certainly are willing to accept the gentleman's amendment. It is a very thoughtful and important one.

But we need to do something better than the Senate position, and we certainly need to avoid the additional 2 percent cut that starts every year thereafter.

I claim time to say we accept the amendment. It is a very thoughtful amendment and an important one, and we thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns).