1:51:54 to 1:52:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business and the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso:republicans and democrats agree that we need and want health kay refume. having practiced medicine for two decades in wyoming, i know that doing nothing is simply not

1:52:17 to 1:52:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: an option. but let me tell you from experience the devil is always in the detaissmen we must be careful, thoughtful and deliberate about the changes that we make. health care is a very complex and an intensely personal issue.

1:53:00 to 1:53:22( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: friends, and our coworkers. these americans are children, the nation's most precious resources. we must act, but still at issue is whether congress will act without sacrificing care system's greatest strengths. and what are those strengths? the freedom to choose your own doctor; the freedom to choose the hospital that you want; and

1:53:45 to 1:54:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: coverage that they currently have. still others can't afford health insurance at all. this is what's wrong with the current health care system. this is when we need to fix -- this is what we need to fix. wyoming families want to purchase health insurance coverage at an affordable price. they do not want to be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions.

1:54:28 to 1:54:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: hospital, and the health care plan that they want. no washington bureaucrat should ever be allowed to deny that right. some in congress continue focusing solely on government solutions. they want washington to take over health care. some in congress want to create a government-run health care plan.

1:55:13 to 1:55:33( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: unlimited access to taxpayer money. they use the known tempo susubsidize the cost of services. according to the lewin group, 119 million americans would lose the coverage that they currently have if they have a government-run system.

1:55:55 to 1:56:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: their workers from the private insurance that they currently have and may like to this now washington-run government plan. so where's t personal choice? at this point, the individual has no option. the government-run plan is their option, is their plan, unless that person changes jobs to an employer who afford to offer private

1:56:39 to 1:56:59( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: that the government will never, ever compete on a level playing field with private business. washington will never let its health care plan go bankrupt -- never. it'll lose money. it'll hide costs. and uimately taxpayers will pay the difference. private plans will not enjoy

1:57:22 to 1:57:42( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: supporters of a government-run takeover of health care says the plan will keep costs low. how? by paying hospitals, doctors, nurses, home health agencies, care facilities less than private insurers pay. this so should sound familiar. this is what already happens with medicare and with medicaid.

1:58:05 to 1:58:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: we see it every day. a government hft run plan will not encourage it will take away your access to private health insurance. the private plans that millions of americans have program this they lirk the one tha--the program that they like, the one they want to keep, will be gone.

1:58:47 to 1:59:09( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: government treatment because it's too expensive or because you are old. it means washington restricting your or your child's access medical equipment, it means preventing testing dlairks it means diagnosis dlairks it means treatment delays. delayed care is denied care, and

1:59:31 to 1:59:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: they made a decision that they said, hey, we're going to arbitrarily lower the number of cataract oppose rigs that we pay for. they just arbitrarily said we're going to pay for 2,000 fewer cataract operations this year in alberta than we did last year. so what does had a pean for the people there?

2:00:13 to 2:00:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: concentrating their efforts only on the patients who are about to go bnd. not the people who have a hard time seeing, the people who are about to go blind. patients in alberta have to almost go blind to get cataract surgery. is that the kind of medical care that we want for americans? absolutely not. americans should strive to offer

2:00:56 to 2:01:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: the doctor-patient relationship. currently the senate "help" committee has been debating a health reform plan that has been put forth by senators kennedy and dodd. well, the nonpartisan congressional budget office told us -- first it told us that the kennedy-dodd plan increases

2:01:38 to 2:01:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: the congressional budget office still has additional policies to score, to come up with a price tag on. clearly this estimate does not reflect the bill's true cost because they left out medicaid, something th've been forcing on to the states. and governors around the country have been crushed by these medicaid increased fees and

2:02:20 to 2:02:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: finally the congressional budget office indicates that about 15 million people would actually lose the insurance that they have now, be forced off their employer-paid for insurance under this trillion dollar plan. well, this, to me, this kennedy-dodd plan suffers from

2:03:02 to 2:03:22( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: simply not worth doing. i disagree. government bureaucracy that has given us the department of motor vehicles, do not want those people controlling our medical decisions. americans do not bureaucratic hassles, we don't want long waits and we don't want restrictions on our medical

2:03:44 to 2:04:05( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: about a health care bill is if they actually get to read the bill. whether or not we should reform our health care system is no longer in question. americans have answered with a resounding yes, and they don't want to continue to wait. they want simple, practical, affordable changes now.

2:04:28 to 2:04:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: fering premium breaks making healthy lifestyle choices. changes like the same tax breaks for people who buy their own insurance that the big companies get when they pay for insurance for their employees, we need families to have the same tax breaks. we need changes like allowing people to shop across statelines to look for better deals on

2:05:11 to 2:05:33( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrasso: we cannot simply put government in charge of health care and put bureaucrats in between patients and their doctors. with that, madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the the presiding officer: the clerk