Joseph T. Burns: “this morning the leader touched on a lot of problems we have before us as we come back from Easter break. I know most of…”

“this morning the leader touched on a lot of problems we have before us as we come back from Easter break. I know most of us have been home and listened to the folks at home. Most of us have probably come back with more challenges than when we left. Here are a couple of issues. I was glad to hear the leader bring up the situation on insurance premiums, especially for small businesses and the self-employed. Senator Enzi of Wyoming and I have been working on the small business health plans for almost a year now. That is nothing new. It is not a new idea. Ever since I joined the Small Business Committee and even under the chairmanship of my good friend from Arkansas, Senator Bumpers, prior to 1994, we were working on the same issue, but we were unsuccessful then and have been unsuccessful up until now in striking a balance. There is broad support for the approach being taken by the chairman of the HELP Committee. If you talk with folks engaged in small business, Montana businesses with 10 employees or less have little or no leverage when it comes to buying group insurance or trying to broaden their pool to keep their insurance premiums at a minimum. I look forward to that debate when the bill comes to the floor, and I look forward to final passage and getting it to the President for his signature. I took a drive across the State of Montana over Easter Recess, all by myself. I just jumped into my pickup and took off and talked with rural Montanans.…”