On the recordMarch 1, 2012
this is obviously a difficult time in our politics--the polarization. It is a difficult time in the Senate, in particular, because over the years this has been a place where we have prided ourselves on really working to find ways to avoid the kind of polarization we see today and actually to find the common denominator on a number of sensitive issues. I think our friend from Maine, Senator Snowe, spoke for many of us this week when she talked about the ``my way or the highway'' approaches to partisan politics that have made it harder for people to work with each other and actually get things done. I would never speak for her, but I think given her diagnosis of what is wrong with the Senate today, she has made a decision not to run for reelection. I think the amendment we are debating today, frankly, is exhibit A. Two years ago many of us voted to end an era where many Americans felt that women in particular but poor people and others also were put into a position of a second-tier status with respect to access to health care in America. There were so many discrepancies. One example, for instance, that was in error before the reform we passed was where Viagra was covered for men, at no cost, by insurance companies but contraception, which 99 percent of American women use, was not covered. So we addressed this issue in the reform we passed, Congress sent it to the President, and the President signed it. The administration then took the time appropriate.…
