Frank Pallone: “the election is over and we know the results: The Republicans retained the majority in the House of Representatives and…”

“the election is over and we know the results: The Republicans retained the majority in the House of Representatives and actually will now have the majority in the Senate; in fact, will control the Presidency and both Houses of Congress for quite a while. I want to congratulate the Republican Party and the President, but I want to also point out that now that they are in charge of everything in Washington, they have a heavy responsibility, and one of the responsibilities they have is on an issue I talked about a great deal here on the floor of the House of Representatives and that is on health care reform. There is absolutely no question that during the course of the campaign, and well before that, that I heard from my constituents about the need for a Medicare prescription drug benefit, about the fact that so many who now have health care insurance are losing their insurance and are afraid even if they have a job about whether or not that health insurance will continue to be affordable. And I also heard from a number of my constituents, and I know my colleagues did as well, about the need for HMO reform and a Patients' Bill of Rights.”