Mike Enzi: “I am disturbed at this attempt to derail a conference committee that has been working months on end. If this bill were…”

“I am disturbed at this attempt to derail a conference committee that has been working months on end. If this bill were easy, we would have done it in a few minutes. If this bill were easy, both versions would be the same. We have a system of government that is based on both bodies considering, to their greatest capability, every problem. When legislation is different on one side from legislation on the other side, there is a conference committee. This conference committee has probably put more time into trying to resolve the issues, rather than to jam one side against the other, trying to get an understanding of what is trying to be achieved and reach a conclusion that incorporates both bills. There has been a lot of progress. The amendment before the Senate does not include the compromises that have been made to date, some very important ones. This bill has a big city approach to it. Wyoming doesn't have any big cities. Our biggest city is 50,008 people. I have one city in Wyoming, the biggest city in a county the size of Connecticut, and they don't have a hospital or emergency facilities. They drive themselves in an emergency an hour to get to a doctor. What works in Massachusetts won't work in Wyoming. The bill has to serve both areas. It has to serve the cities and the rural areas. We have to have compromises to do that. We can't force one method on everybody. That is what happens if we go to the bill that the House passed.”