On the recordMarch 17, 2010
I do have to point out, Ranking Member Barton is exactly right. This SGR problem is not an emergency. Everyone in this body knew this was going to happen. What this signals us is perhaps the Democrats don't have the votes to pass their health care bill because, otherwise, the fix would be included in their health care bill. The fact that we are having to provide yet another month signals to me that they don't have the votes to pass their larger underlying bill. There is no other Member in this body that wants this SGR fixed more intensely than I do, but this is not the way to go about it. It is not an emergency. It should not come to us at the 11th hour. That is an insult to the Nation's physicians. They can't run their businesses when we always do it in this fashion.
