Steve Cohen: “Sir, I appreciate your leading this. You have been an outstanding Member; and your first vote, I think, was for this…”

“Sir, I appreciate your leading this. You have been an outstanding Member; and your first vote, I think, was for this bill. You have a lot of experience of this issue. You were commissioner of insurance, if I am correct, of the largest State in the country, California. So you have knowledge here. Mr. Pallone worked very hard on this bill, too, as I did; but Mr. Pallone was in a senior position. As I think back on the passage of this bill, I remember a lot of criticism; and the other side and the people who were critical said we didn't take enough time to pass the bill. We only took a year, a year and a half to pass the bill. And they are going to take 2 days to repeal it. Take enough time? Where are the people who think we should take enough time for the legislative process to work, to have hearings, to have thoughtful discussion, to have analysis of expert opinion today? Two days and it is going to be voted on, and that's it. And the old mantra which we heard from so many people, 'read the bill.' And yet so many people think it is a government takeover of health care. I say to them: read the bill. And people who think Congresspeople are going to get something special, we get the same as everybody else. Read the bill.”