Debbie Dingell: “this is a bad bill. It is going to be vetoed. It ought to be defeated. Today, we are voting on a conference report which…”

“this is a bad bill. It is going to be vetoed. It ought to be defeated. Today, we are voting on a conference report which provides significant relief only to a favored few health care providers from cuts enacted in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The majority has turned its back on the bipartisan Committee on Commerce bill, choosing to strip out Democratic priorities and is rewarding its fat-cat industry friends instead. This should come as no surprise, though, that the Republicans would choose to devote billions to the insurance companies and to the wealthy, leaving working Americans, disabled children, seniors and immigrants with little, if anything, at all. The Republican leadership has spent all year fighting its Medicare prescription drug benefits, against the strong enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights, and against meaningful expansions of health care for working families. Why should we expect any less at this hour? At every turn, the Republican leadership has blocked meaningful health care legislation; yet, now they are passing a bill that gives only massive tax cuts for the rich, without any financing for Medicare prescription drug coverage that seniors desperately need. It gives billions of dollars for HMOs, more than one-third of the money, $30 billion over 10 years going to HMOs, with no guarantees that seniors will see increased access to plans or increased benefits.”