Tom Harkin: “The Nation's health system is in crisis. There are nearly 44 million uninsured individuals. Skyrocketing health costs…”

“The Nation's health system is in crisis. There are nearly 44 million uninsured individuals. Skyrocketing health costs are leaving more and more people without insurance. We have shortages of health professionals all across rural America. Everywhere, health providers are stretched to the limit. Finally, as the Centers for Disease Control pointed out just this week, obesity will soon match tobacco use as America's No. 1 preventable killer. This is not the time to cut Federal investments in health care. We stand on the brink of fantastic discoveries and breakthroughs in medical research. This is not the time to cut short this vital research, denying hope to tens of millions of Americans with chronic diseases. This is the time to increase our efforts not only to treat and cure illnesses, but also to dramatically increase our efforts to prevent illnesses. We need major new efforts to promote wellness in our health care system. And yet, the President has proposed slashing function 550, the health care function in this budget. This is taking America in exactly the wrong direction.”