Don Nickles: “Just a couple of comments. My colleague said that the President's Commission on Quality endorses these proposals, but…”

“Just a couple of comments. My colleague said that the President's Commission on Quality endorses these proposals, but they specifically did not endorse legislation. There is a big difference. Do we want to encourage the private sector to improve quality and access and information? You bet. But when you come up with a 68-page bill and say here is what you must do, there is a difference. The President's commission did not say legislate. The Senator's sense-of-the-Senate says legislate. The underlying sense-of-the-Senate resolution provides for enactment of legislation to establish a patients' bill of rights which was just introduced 2 days ago that will increase health care costs. I think that is a serious mistake.”