John Sarbanes

As I perceive it, all of these things that are being done--the HMOs, the medical accounts, the limitation on Medicare being able to act directly, and so forth--if this stack of papers on the desk represents the Medicare Program itself…

So that $16 billion could have been taken and put directly to improve the benefit for our seniors, could it not?

Would we not also have been able to not have a donut hole if these moneys the Senator made reference to that are going to the HMOs--the $10 billion, I think you said--

The very able Senator from Illinois, in the course of debate in the Senate, offered a better bill, which I was very pleased to support. That bill would have been a very significant and substantial step forward. Among other things, it did…

In addition to precluding the Government from bringing its weight to bear in purchasing in order to lower the cost of drugs because they would be a very big purchaser and obviously they would have an impact, some have said: Well, let's at…

I also understand there was an effort to clear the path for generic drugs to become available. Of course, generic drugs sell at a lesser cost than brand name drugs. A lot of the pharmaceutical people are opposed to that. It is also my…

I support this amendment. Senator Nelson of Florida has focused on an important issue involving the disposal of consumer financial records. We commend the amendment to our colleagues.

I share the chairman's view. I think the Senator from New York has spotlighted a very important issue, but probably the best way to proceed now is with this joint letter to the Federal Reserve. Then we would have the benefit of their study…

I actually wish to commend the Senator from California because she has introduced some specificity into a provision that is in the committee-reported bill. I am very frank to say I think this will be very helpful, and I join the chairman…

We are happy to take this amendment. I wish to echo the chairman in thanking Senator Cantwell and Senator Enzi for their work on this important issue. This is an issue they have been addressing for quite some time, and we are very pleased…

I want to make sure, as I understand the Senator's amendment, $10 billion of this $87 billion which he proposes as a loan on the reconstruction side, under the very terms of his amendment would be forgiven if 90 percent of Iraq's…

I am prompted to do this by the statement of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. It is outrageous you should suggest you would schedule the judge for tomorrow on a cloture vote and not provide time for debate, which is the issue that…

How is the Congress expected to play its role with respect to appropriations, and overseeing the expenditure of the public moneys, if we are not furnished this information?

But now we are a year later and it seems to me it ought to be possible to make some estimates that would be contained in the budget. It is my understanding that in the past, although we may not have gotten estimates before operations…

Of course, last year we were just getting into this situation. I understand in the past there have been instances in which, prior to actually going into operation, we weren't given figures because it is so hard to estimate them. Then they…

This problem really reaches throughout our society. As the able Senator from North Carolina stated earlier, he is encountering it all across the country. The former military personnel bring another dramatic dimension to this problem and…

That is a very dramatic statement of what is happening out there in terms of the shrinking of the job market and the incredibly difficult situation in which the unemployed find themselves. As the Senator has emphasized in particular, those…

I did not know the exact figures but I knew there has been a very significant increase. That reflects the broader fact that the number of the long-term unemployed has now risen, not just parents, which was the thrust of the Senator's…

That is my understanding, and it is further my understanding that the extensions which have been done thus far in this recession compare very poorly with what was consistently done in previous economic downturns under both Republican and…

Exactly. These people, in effect, will fall off the cliff, and they are hard-working people. They would not have gotten the unemployment benefits to begin with if they had not had a job record, I say to the able Senator from New York.

What are the people to do? They have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits in a labor market that, instead of opening up so there are opportunities for jobs, is actually closing down. The unemployment rate has now risen to 6…

I too am concerned that the language of Section 333 could have unintended consequences. It was my understanding that Section 333 was intended to exclude certain payments.

The unemployment insurance trust funds have surpluses of approximately $20 billion. These moneys were paid into the trust fund for the announced purpose of paying unemployment insurance benefits in an economic downturn. Now we have an…

I simply commend chairman Lugar and Senator Biden, ranking minority member, for their very effective leadership with respect to this NATO enlargement issue. I am pleased to join with them in supporting this very important step forward. I…

I am struck in looking at that chart by the extent to which the cost of these tax cuts explodes, as the Senator says, in future years. For instance, take the year 2023, this is all deficit. But all of this part of that deficit is from the…