Harry Reid: “I know the Senator is in a rush. I just want to make two brief comments. First of all, to make it plain English so…”

“I know the Senator is in a rush. I just want to make two brief comments. First of all, to make it plain English so somebody from Searchlight, NV, where I was born, understands it, the Congressional Budget Office says S. 1052 would result in a premium increase of only 4.2 percent over 5 years. The cost of the average employee would be $1.19 per month. This would be 37 cents per month more than the legislation that really gives no coverage at all on the other side. I want to say one last thing to my friend. We were here on the floor earlier today. We know one of the things that is trying to be injected into this is that this is a terrible thing for small business. That is what this amendment is all about--that the Kennedy-Edwards-McCain legislation is bad for small business. I read to the Senator earlier today--and I am going to take 1 minute to read a communication I got from a small businessman in Nevada today: As a small business owner-- Less than 50 employees-- and as a citizen, I urge you to support the upcoming bill commonly known as the ``Patients' Bill of Rights.''”