Political Quotes

“today I rise to speak for a few moments about health care and to recognize the extraordinary work four Members of this body have done to promote an integrated, interoperable health information technology infrastructure in this country. Senators Kennedy and Enzi on the HELP Committee, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Senator Hatch, along with their talented staffs, have balanced a tremendous number of interests to put forward a very promising first step in our long journey toward reforming our ailing health care system. I commend their tremendous effort in drafting the Wired Act. I look forward to working to see strong health information technology legislation passed in the Senate, in the House, and signed into law by the President. Adoption of health information technology is a vital part of saving lives and lowering costs in our health care system. The RAND Corporation estimates, in its most conservative estimation, that a national, interoperable HIT system could save $81 billion per year. As Senators Kennedy, Enzi, Clinton, and Hatch are so aware, America's health care information infrastructure is decades behind where it should be. We are losing billions and billions of dollars--I sound like Carl Sagan: billions and billions of stars--billions and billions of dollars to waste, inefficiency, and poor quality care as a result of that failure.”