Byron Dorgan: “If I might ask an additional question, this is about health care. Health care is not a luxury. When you or your kids are…”

“If I might ask an additional question, this is about health care. Health care is not a luxury. When you or your kids are sick, particularly in the circumstances where you have been the victim of a significant disaster, you have been displaced and lost everything, health care ought not be a function of whether you have money in your billfold. I ask the Senator from Montana, is it the case that your legislation will not break the bank? You have suggested other ways to pay for it. It is bipartisan. You are coming to talk about something that is an essential for people. This is not some luxury. We are talking about health care. When we talk about the five most important things for people here, there, or wherever, health care is right near the top. If you do not have health care, if you do not have your health, you do not have much. The Senator from Montana has been here a number of times. My hope would be that our colleagues would not object and that the Grassley- Baucus proposal would be accepted and we would move on. This ought not be a point of contention at all. This ought to be easy for this Congress.”