Senate Proceeding on Jun 10th, 2009 :: 5:45:50 to 5:55:25
Total video length: 9 hours 45 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:89 Duration: 0:09:35 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

5:45:39 to 5:46:00( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: quorum skepb is en the presidin senator from mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vacated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous

5:45:50 to 5:55:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Roger F. Wicker

5:46:01 to 5:46:21( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: business for up to 15 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: of all the complex issues the united states senate will deal with in congress, none will be more important than health care reform. of all the momentous decisions over the next few months none will be more lasting than the vote we may take r one-sixth of the american

5:46:22 to 5:46:43( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: economy which comprises our health care system. if we get it right, mr. president, we can devise a program that mak health care more accessible and affordable, provides heah coverage to millions of americans who are currently without health insurance, relieves americans

5:46:44 to 5:47:05( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: changing jobs will have on their health care, saves lives through an and wellness, saves money by curbing the out-of-control growth in government health care programs, keeps families in ctrol of their health care choices, and makes doctors the decision-makers on

5:47:06 to 5:47:27( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: treatment options. we have a great opportunity before us to improve the american health care we run a perilous risk if we do not act wisely and carefully. we can fix our broken health care system by making it more accessible and affordable for

5:47:28 to 5:47:50( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: americans, and we can do so without jeopardizing quality, individual choice, and personalized care. the american people need us to act on this issue, but they do not need or want us to act rationally. we do not need to enact a washington takeover or a scheme

5:47:51 to 5:48:11( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: that would inevitably lead to a government takeover of one-sixth of our gross domestic product. i recently talked with a resident of a country that is a major united states ally. he espoused the benefits of his country's government health care program, explaing in particular detail how the

5:48:12 to 5:48:35( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: program works there. but then i posed the question: what happens in your country if you get cancer? he smiled and said, "if i get cancer, i'm going to the united states." he's going to the united states, mr a very telling answer that

5:48:36 to 5:48:59( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: points up a profound truth. there are many things we need to fix about american health care, but there are a number of things we number of things right about our system, and we don't need to today give americans the highest-quality health care system in

5:49:00 to 5:49:24( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: nine out of ten middle-aged american women havead a mammogram. 90% of american women. compare that to less than three-fourths of canadian women. more than half of american men have had a prostate test compared to less than one in six canadians. nearly one-third of americans

5:49:25 to 5:49:46( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: have had a colonoscopy compared to less than 5% of canadians. these are statistics we need to be proud of as compared to our western allies. in addition to this focus in america on spend less time waiting for care

5:49:47 to 5:50:08( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: than patients in canada and the united kingdom. canadian and british patients wait about twice as long, sometimes more than a year to see a specialist. we don't need health care reform that moves us in that direction. 827,429 people today, at this very moment, are waiting for

5:50:09 to 5:50:29( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: some sort of procedure in canada. 1.8 million people in england are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment. they're having to wait for that in england. we americans also have access to new technologies like medical imaging than patients in cada or the united kingdom.

5:50:30 to 5:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: and americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. the top five united states hospitals -- only five top united states hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country.

5:50:52 to 5:51:13( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: only the top five outrank any other country in the world in clinical trials. we ought to be proud of that. we ought not to enact program that would jeopardize that type of innovation. since the mid-1970's the nobel prize in medicine or physiology has gone to american residents more often than recipients from

5:51:14 to 5:51:36( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: all other countries combined. we get results innovations and our research in the united states of america. all these numbers translate into one very important fact. americans have a better five-year survival rate than europeans for common cancers.

5:51:37 to 5:52:02( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: for of:cancer, we have a the area of colon cancer we have a 6 five-year survival rate in america compared to only 60% in the united kingdom. for prostate cancer, 9 survival rate for five years in the united states. only 77% in the united kingdom.

5:52:03 to 5:52:26( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: in breast cancer, 90% of americans who suffer from breast cancer have a five-year survival rate. only 82% in the united kingdom. and for thyroid cancer that figure is a 94% five-year survival rate and only 75% in the united kingdom. put another way, breast cancer

5:52:27 to 5:52:49( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: mortality is 52% higher in germany with their government-run system than in the united states. and breast cancer 88% higher in the united kingdom with their government-run health care system. prostate cancer mortality is 604% higher in the united

5:52:50 to 5:53:10( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: kingdom and 450% higher in norway. is there a genetic predisposition for the people of norway to die of prostate cancer , or of german women to have breast cancer? i don't think so. i think these stubborn fac reflect that our

5:53:11 to 5:53:33( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: american system of innovation and detection and treatment is a good thing. and as we improve and fix our system, we need to be careful to intain that type of quality. there are broken parts of our system, to be sure, but my point today is to urge this body to consider the consequences of all

5:53:34 to 5:53:56( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: the options we will consider. there's no question we need to make health care more affordable and we need to expand access. republican support providing affordable access coverage for every american, and we can do that without a washington, d.c. takeover of health care.

5:53:57 to 5:54:19( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: what we cannot afford to of doing is erogued the -- is eroding the quality of care in pursuit of our goals. the surest way to erode quality is to hand the reins over to the federal government. i recently had the opportunity to discuss health care with a

5:54:20 to 5:54:40( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: member of the british house of commons. that member of parliament said whatever y do, do not do what we did in the united kingdom. a washington takeover of health care would result in a stifling and i'm convinced it would

5:54:41 to 5:55:02( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: result in long waits. as we consider a so-called public option, public plan, we need to ask ourselves will it lead, as i believe it will do, to a one-size-fits-all washington takeover of health care and inevitably mean that our citizens will be denied and delayed the health care we need?

5:55:03 to 5:55:26( Edit History Discussion )

Roger F. Wicker: we neeto be careful as we answer that question, mr. president. i regret to say the plan that i see side of the aisle would result in either a politician or a bureaucrat making your health care decisions instead of you and your doctor.