On the recordFebruary 2, 2011
if the American people want to understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans, it is my suggestion that they pay attention to what is happening on the Senate floor this week. The two parties simply have different priorities. Democrats are fighting to modernize our Nation's air travel. Republicans are fighting to repeal the health care reform law, ignoring the 80 percent of Americans who want them to leave it alone. In other words, Democrats want to get passengers the rights they deserve. Republicans want to take away patients' rights that they already have, rights that are saving lives, saving money, and saving Medicare, just as we promised when we wrote this law. What Republicans refuse to understand, or at least what they hope the people do not realize, is that in America we give our citizens rights; we don't take them away. That principle comes first and inspired the country's founding and has directed our evolution and defines our promise. We as Senators have a choice. We can move forward or we can look backward; we can make progress or we can stage a futile fight with the future. It is clear this week that while the American people and Senate Democrats are looking ahead, Senate Republicans are looking for a way to distract the American people. This is what moving forward looks like: Our bill to modernize our Nation's air travel will protect consumers. It is a passengers' bill of rights.
