Charles Norwood: “as we close down this debate and come toward the end of what, for me, has been a long time coming, I want you to know I…”

“as we close down this debate and come toward the end of what, for me, has been a long time coming, I want you to know I am not only saddened by the debate but I am exhilarated by this debate also because it is with great pleasure I see each side of the aisle trying to outdo the other on patient protections, and Lord knows that has been a long time coming. It is often asked of me why would a conservative Republican like myself, why would you be involved in something like this? Why would you want to deal with national standards? I think that is a reasonable question, and I think it is a fair question. The answer is pretty clear. What I want to do is take health care out of the ERISA laws that should never have been put in the ERISA laws, that never was about health care but always about your pension plans, but we cannot do that. The other option is to do nothing, and we all know that is wrong, and the other option then is to set some national standards, and that is where I am, and that is where we are in this debate today.”