On the recordMarch 25, 2010
The American people are asking: Where are the jobs? But as we see today, the issue of government-run health care will continue to be the focus of this body. It will remain the focus of this body because of the unilateral, secretive, rushed process that's been used to force this bill on the American people. Today we're passing legislation to correct major errors in the massive bill that was signed less than 72 hours ago. It removes some, just some of the special interest deals that were loaded into that bill as it moved through Congress. And to meet the majority's targets for deficit reduction, it adds more tax hikes on the American people and cuts more money from Medicare to pay for a new entitlement program. We could have given the American people a more commonsense bill that lowers the cost of health insurance in America without all of this mess. If you had wanted to pass reforms to ensure coverage for Americans with preexisting conditions and ensure that parents can keep their children on their health plans through age 25, you could have done so in a bipartisan fashion. Instead, you decided to jam through more than the system could handle, leaving us a sloppy mess that the majority of the American people believe should be repealed and replaced. And mark my word, we will be back to this bill over and over again in the next 6 months.
