Debbie Dingell: “the Stark Amendment takes direct aim at part of the Bush Administration's pattern of cover ups, clandestine policy…”

“the Stark Amendment takes direct aim at part of the Bush Administration's pattern of cover ups, clandestine policy making, and concealment of critical information from the Congress. I urge all my colleagues to support it. We had Dick Cheney's secret energy task force. We've seen military records concealed. We had no-bid contracts for Halliburton. We've seen government reports doctored--like the one on minority health disparities. And we've seen more games played with numbers during this Administration than you'd get from an Enron accountant. Tax cuts-- they're free! (Yet we've got the largest deficits on record.) Employment--it's up! (Yet, we still have 1.2 million fewer jobs now than when the recession started and more workers than ever looking for work.) The uninsured--we're covering them! (Yet, 5.2 million Americans have been added to the ranks of the uninsured under President Bush's watch.) The recent HHS Inspector General and the GAO reports on the unsavory activities of Mr. Tom Scully, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), during the Medicare debate give us one more example of the Administration's deception of Congress and the American people.”