Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the chairman for his remarks and wish to be associated with them. It has been a very bipartisan process that has resulted in this bill coming to the floor, and I am hoping there will only be relevant amendments and that there will be few of those. Every amendment has the potential for disrupting the entire bill. This has been a very inclusive process that has led to this legislation. Over a year ago staff began to meet with stakeholders on the policy issues that are addressed in S. 3187. Starting in the spring of 2011, staff from Republican and Democratic offices on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee began a series of standing meetings. The groups proceeded to meet every week for several months. They met with stakeholders and discussed policy solutions that each member thought would solve the problem. After much discussion of the benefits, costs, and possible unintended consequences, members agreed to a list of policy concepts. If it was not a consensus on a particular policy, then it was not included. The chairman mentioned the importance of consensus, and that is what we worked on. As this process progressed, my staff met with the Republican staff on the HELP Committee for at least 2 hours every week to keep them informed of everything that was happening. I personally met with the members of the committee before the markup to make sure I understood their priorities. No one office got the entirety of what they wanted.…”