Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to make three points in response to the objection that was raised by my friend and colleague from Washington State. The first is timing. According to the Senator from Washington, we have all the time in the world. Regrettably, that is not true. Starting next month, insurers are beginning their calculations on what rates they are going to charge for insurance policies on the individual market next year. They are also making the decision as to whether they are even going to sell in particular counties across this country. There is already not much competition, so the time is urgent for us to act. Those rates get approved by the State insurance commissioners, and they are published on October 1. So the idea that we have tons of time to take care of this problem is just not accurate. Indeed, as Senator Alexander just said, the chairman of the HELP Committee, the HELP Committee has spent months on these concepts, has worked really hard on these issues, and has had extensive hearings and roundtables and discussions. The one thing we do not have is time, and that is why the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has urged us to act on this bill. The second is the concept that somehow this bill has brandnew concepts in it. The only thing that is new is the amendment that was just filed by the Senator from Washington State. I have no idea what is in that. It was not shared with me. To my knowledge, it was not shared with the Senator from Tennessee.…”