Orrin Hatch: “I think it is time for people to wake up and say, hey, look, this is an idea whose time has come. We must take care of…”

“I think it is time for people to wake up and say, hey, look, this is an idea whose time has come. We must take care of these kids who cannot take care of themselves. The problem in this body, and the problem with the Federal Government, is that oftentimes we provide programs for all kinds of people who can take care of themselves, but will not. Yet, we do not take care of people who truly cannot take care of themselves, but would if they could. Children's health care should not be a political issue. This is not a Democrat issue. It is not a Republican issue. I admit that when I first read the Kennedy-Kerry bill, I could not support that bill as drafted. The bill provided a new Federal bureaucracy along with $50 billion in new entitlement spending. That bill provided extensive Federal mandates along with extensive Federal accountability and review provisions imposed on the States. It was simply unacceptable and provided far too much Federal intervention.”