Political Quotes

“I am honored to join several of my Senate colleagues today in expressing opposition to the inclusion of an employer mandate in any health care reform bill adopted by Congress. In short, an employer mandate would cost jobs and reduce wages. My opposition to an employer mandate does not mean I do not support efforts to reform our health care system. We must take steps to reduce medical costs and to make insurance affordable and available to everyone. However, an employer mandate is not the best solution. The National Federation of Independent Business [NFIB] recently studied the impact of the employer mandate as proposed by the Clinton administration. That study reveals the following: 850,000 U.S. jobs would be lost; 1,700 jobs in my home State of South Dakota would be lost; some 23,000,000 U.S. jobs would be negatively impacted with an average annual wage loss of $1,200 each; and the cost of the subsidy to smaller firms would be $81 billion during the first year. As ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee, I am concerned about the impact of escalating health costs on small businesses. Between 1980 and 1990, employer health costs nearly tripled. The primary reason many employers do not provide medical benefits to their employees is excessive cost. The primary goal of health care reform should be determining how we can best reduce insurance costs, not the imposition of another mandate.”