Charles Norwood: “We have tried very hard, Mr. Tiahrt, to hear from all people involved in health care. That means the patient, that means…”

“We have tried very hard, Mr. Tiahrt, to hear from all people involved in health care. That means the patient, that means groups represented by AARP, that means the hospital and the hospital administrators. They are involved in health care. They should be involved. They should have some input into this great bill. It certainly means the providers of health care, meaning the physicians. They are involved. This bill affects their lives tremendously. We brought in people and experts to hear what they felt about it. In addition, we also had senior citizens, who are on Medicare, come into the hearings and speak to us. The other side talks about special interest groups. A special interest group is when President Clinton puts 500 people in a room who will do exactly what he wants to try to determine the health care of this Nation. Mr. Speaker, I think we have done this right. We have talked to as many people as we possibly could to have their input. The AMA? Sure. They have had input into this. Of course, they should have had input into this, just as AARP should have had input. We have been very fair with this. We have met with many, many people, and I think that we have come up with a solution to one of the most difficult problems we have to face in the 104th Congress.”