Frank Pallone: “I know that we only have a couple of minutes left, if that, and I just wanted to thank all of you for joining with me…”

“I know that we only have a couple of minutes left, if that, and I just wanted to thank all of you for joining with me tonight. Other than me, it was all new Members, and I think that gives us new, fresh insights into what we need to do that is really so crucial. Thank you. If I could just say, Madam Speaker, in summing up, that, number one, we do commend the President for prioritizing health care in his State of the Union address, but essentially what he has suggested as a way of dealing with the problems is not a good start. In fact, it is very much the privatization and ideological answers that I don't think are going to work. Democrats do have alternatives. We certainly intend, now that we are part of this majority, to move forward on those alternatives. But I know that with the input from the new Members we are going to make a difference. ____________________”