Tom Harkin: “while I appreciate the confidence the Republican leader has in the ability of Mr. Enzi and me to get things done…”

“while I appreciate the confidence the Republican leader has in the ability of Mr. Enzi and me to get things done, frankly, we are confronted now with two votes. Which way do we want to go? What they are proposing is that we totally end, totally eliminate all of the prevention and wellness money that we have out there in the wellness fund. What would this do? We have vaccinations for children, immunizations, smoking cessation programs, colorectal screenings, diabetes prevention, breast cancer screening, obesity prevention--all funded by this Prevention and Wellness Fund. Not one of those would be funded from that fund if that amendment passes. The choice is very clear on the two amendments we have coming up. We can either vote to close a tax loophole that allows wealthy tax dodgers not to pay their fair share of taxes--we can close that loophole and keep the interest rates at 3.4 percent--or, as the Republicans want to do, totally eliminate the Wellness and Prevention Fund and end the money that we are putting into diabetes prevention and breast cancer and colorectal screening and all the things I mentioned. I do not think the choice could be more clear to the American people about the direction we ought to go. Close the tax loophole. Keep the prevention fund in there. Keep our people healthy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.”