Bill Archer: “Again, it would be very good if we could stick to the facts. What this motion to instruct does is it takes a whole…”

“Again, it would be very good if we could stick to the facts. What this motion to instruct does is it takes a whole Senate bill, dumps everything in the House bill, takes the whole Senate bill, except for one thing, help for the mentally ill. It says, no, the mentally ill can be thrown overboard, but everything else that is in the Senate bill, you have to accept. It says no to small-business pooling that will let them compete with major corporations. That is what it says no to. That is in the House bill, not in the Senate bill. It says no to paperwork simplification. It says no to fraud and abuse. We cannot attack fraud and abuse. We got a very touch good provision in the House bill; the Senate does not. Says no to long-term care facilitation so people can protect themselves in that way. It says yes to the trial lawyers; no malpractice reform. This will likely be the only health care bill that passes the Congress this year. Why should the American people be kept waiting for things that they want, that are so popular with them? The American people need this bill. For the first time, working Americans will be able to leave their jobs without having to worry about losing their health insurance due to a preexisting condition. We should move quickly to enact a conference report that powerfully fights fraud and abuse in the health care system.”