Political Quotes

“All members of Congress agree that the status quo in health care is unacceptable and that we must act to make affordable, quality health care accessible for all Americans. The legislation before us today, however, is the wrong solution. Simply put, it is bad public policy. Throughout the debate on health care reform, I have emphasized that Congress must be certain to adhere to the physician's principle of 'First, do no harm.' Unfortunately, the Senate-passed health care bill (H.R. 3590) and reconciliation legislation (H.R. 4278) that we are considering today will do significant harm. A primary focus of health care reform must be on bringing down the rapidly rising cost of health care and health insurance. Instead, the legislation before us today costs over $1 trillion in the first 10 years. When fully implemented, the proposed plan's costs will total more than $200 billion per year. That's $2 trillion in additional health care-related costs over the course of the plan's first full decade of implementation. Once the budgetary gimmicks are stripped away, the legislation before us will increase the overall budget deficit dramatically.”