Political Quotes

“This amendment is very similar to the previous amendment we discussed, so I will be brief. One, as I said before, it is difficult for the Government Accountability Office--almost impossible for them--to perform this study moving forward because there is so much discretion that is given to the Health and Human Services Secretary. And as I said before, the Health Resources and Service Administration does not even anticipate issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on teaching health graduate centers until December. And then again, as a lot of the comments today, I don't think that moving an authorized and mandatory spending program to an authorized and discretionary spending program renders that program meaningless. If it does do that, then all the other programs that I have listed earlier in the debate--training in general hospitals, training in children's hospitals, training in behavioral education and health, training in nurse retention, training in nurse practitioners--that means that those programs that were in the health care act would not have as much strength as well. And so the comment that by moving this from one part of the budget to the other makes it meaningless, to me, is just not accurate. And, second, I also want to stress again that the language of the bill is clear: we do not rescind obligated funds; it is only unobligated funds.…”