Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to join my colleagues. We can see there are numerous colleagues on this side of the aisle who are speaking, just as my colleague from Vermont just did with great passion or my colleague from Massachusetts did with great passion and as I am sure my colleague from Minnesota will. We have all been home for the weekend talking to our constituents. We are all back here now with the CBO news, and we are here because we are very concerned about the next steps the Senate might take in this healthcare debate. When I was at home, I heard some unbelievably positive stories about healthcare. I was at a hospital in our State, Virginia Mason, which has been one of the leaders in reducing healthcare costs by utilizing new efficiencies. They have improved the return time of getting lab results to patients by 85 percent; they have increased productivity in some areas by 90 percent; they have reduced liability insurance premiums by 76 percent. They have innovated. They have innovated. They have innovated. They talked about the direction healthcare should go, and not once did they mention cutting or capping Medicaid as a solution. I also talked to a community health center which, under the Affordable Care Act, was actually able to expand in a community. They literally cut in half the uninsured, and they are delivering great adult dental access to thousands of people in a county that didn't have good access to dental care. They are making great progress.…”