Steve Cohen: “as the 104th Congress opened, it did so with a great deal of fanfare this month. Much of the discussion has been devoted…”

“as the 104th Congress opened, it did so with a great deal of fanfare this month. Much of the discussion has been devoted to congressional reform, tax cuts, the balanced budget amendment, unfunded mandates, and welfare reform, but on one issue our colleagues have been notably silent. I say that with one notable exception, my colleague from Illinois, who has just spoken rather eloquently on the whole subject of health care reform, which is what I would like to talk about this afternoon. Health care reform was a dominant topic on everyone's mind during the last Congress. As I mentioned just a moment ago, today it is barely a whisper. I believe that this is a mistake. I think it is time for the Senate to put the issue back on the front burner of the public agenda. Health care reform may not be a major clause in the House Republican's Contract With America, but rising health care costs and expanding gaps in coverage are still very much on the minds of the American people. In fact, postelection polls conducted for the Health Care Leadership Council and by the Washington Post and ABC News show that health care remains a top priority--as important even as cutting taxes, passing a balanced budget amendment, or enacting welfare reform. Abraham Lincoln once observed that ``with public sentiment nothing can fail, and without it nothing can succeed.'' I think the American people wisely rejected the big-government approach advocated last year by the administration.”