Cliff Stearns: “The bottom line-- this is the bottom line--the Senate language in the health care bill does not protect VA and…”

“The bottom line-- this is the bottom line--the Senate language in the health care bill does not protect VA and Department of Defense health care systems from interference by other Federal agencies, such as Health and Human Services. We need to have the Buyer-McKeon bill part of this package, or you're going to leave out a whole segment of veterans who are under TRICARE, not to mention survivors and dependents who are covered under the CHAMPVA. This is extremely important to American veterans, so I urge you, Democrats who are in the majority, to reconsider Mr. Buyer's simple request to make part of your bill today, immediately, as much as possible, to amend it so that we include the Buyer language which is H.R. 4894. It's not a major thing to do here. We can do that. Mr. Skelton here earlier said that he's against the health care bill. He emphatically said he's going to vote 'no.' I understand that. He feels that the Democrat health care bill is not something he can support. He's chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He understands that passage of this rule that we're going to talk about later will deem passage of the entire health care bill in America. But then here we are, trying in desperation because this is a farce, this health care bill, because it strips TRICARE from the military veterans. It hurts survivors and dependents. Now in a charade here of a farce, they're trying to amend a bill that has never passed. Think of that.…”