Senate Proceeding 10-14-09 on Oct 14th, 2009 :: 3:32:25 to 3:52:25
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3:14:10 to 3:32:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Judd Gregg

3:32:18 to 3:32:27( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: especially in the area of pharmaceuticals, which is where most of the great research is being done today that's making health care -- better health

3:32:28 to 3:32:49( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: care outcomes more available. i would be honored to respond to a question. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i'd like the senator, you mentioned a little bit earlier about the previous attempt to slow the growth of medicare. i rember ding my house days -- it's probably been a decade or more ago when the senator from new hampshire was on the budget committee on the senate side.

3:32:30 to 3:33:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:32:50 to 3:33:10( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we were looking at a rapid growth of medicare at in the 7%, 8%, 9% rate. and what you're talking about is that in order to try to achieve a balanced budget and to make reforms in medicare, instead of it growing at that rate, we were going to reduce the rate of growth.

3:33:11 to 3:33:31( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: not reduce the amount of money, just reduce the rate of growth to about 5% per year to help achieve a balanced budget and at the same time continue to provide the services under medicare that we do now -- that we did then. i'd like to ask the senator: what do you think's going to happen here if we're not reducing the rate of growth?

3:33:32 to 3:33:50( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: but we in this plan that's ming out of the finance committee that will be on the floor and the one that came out of the health committee that will be melded together with that, there's going to be a reduction in medicare spending by about $500 billion over ten years. will we be able to provide t same services under medicare

3:33:51 to 3:34:12( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: that we do now if you reduce the amount of money spent on medicare? mr. gregg: the senator from georgia asks a very appropriat question, because the practical effects of the reductions which are being proposed is that people who are on medicare advantage, which is a program that many people, seniors like, will be eliminated.

3:33:55 to 3:35:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Judd Gregg

3:34:13 to 3:34:33( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: they will no longer have the opportunity to use medicare advantage or it will be contracted so much that it will be a shell of its former self. this is being done not to make medicare solvent. it's being done in order to move that money over and start a new entitlement for a new group of

3:34:34 to 3:34:54( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: people who are not seniors and who have not paid into the h.i. trust trust fund, and who have no relationship at all to medicare. mr. chambliss: been here a lot longer than i have, both from the hse and your service in the senate. have you ever seen a mandatory

3:34:55 to 3:35:15( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: program created by the federal government reduced in spending stphe. mr. gregg: you know, the senator asks another good question. no is the simple answer. i mean, we all know that oe you start a mandatory program, it always grows and grows significantly. and that, of course, is why we're in such trouble here as a

3:35:16 to 3:35:28( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: nation, because we have a number of mandatory programs to which so much has been added that we simply can't afford them any longer under our present structure of a government. now we're going to take that

3:35:29 to 3:35:49( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: problem and compound it by $1.8 trillion, which is pretty irresponsible ofs and fiscally irresponsible. but it's also irresponsible in the sense of stewards of our children's future because our children are going to inherit a gornment that can't be afforded and they're going to ge devalued dollar.

3:35:30 to 3:37:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:35:50 to 3:36:11( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: mr. chambliss: if the chair would allow me, i'd like to ask you another question about medicaid. the proposal coming out of the finance committee to the floor of the senate has a huge effect on my state and i'm similar effect on your state, and that is this: that the eligibility for medicaid will move from 100% of poverty level

3:36:12 to 3:36:32( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: to 133% of poverty level, which will add to the a significant number of additional individuals all across america. in my state, where the federal government will pick up the tab for the first three years, there's going to be an

3:36:33 to 3:36:53( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: for those additional medicaid-eligible individuals in georgia. now, beginning in the fourth year the state of georgia is going to have to pick $1.2 billion. and let me tell you, we have and i assume w hampshire probably has a balanced budget requirement, as we do.

3:36:54 to 3:37:16( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we are furloughing today. we are furloughing state employees. we're having schools that are operating four days a week instead of five days a week. we arew? doing everything we can to decrease spending at the state level and even below that to try to make sure that we achieve that balanced budget. if we as georgians are asked to

3:37:17 to 3:37:26( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: come up with another $1.2 billion to fund a health care program, we simply don't have the money to do it. i'd ask the senator if you have

3:37:27 to 3:37:47( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: any kind of similar situation in new hampshire. mr. gregg: the senator from georgia is expressing a which i think most state governors are extraordinarily worried about, whether they're republicans or democrats, which is this bill as it starts up, it covers the additional people who would be pushed to medicare,

3:37:30 to 3:38:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Judd Gregg

3:37:48 to 3:38:08( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: which is about 20 million nationally. but, that coverage drops off in the out years. and it will put many states in dire straits. you talked about the numbers in georgia. new hampshire will have the exact same problem, only we don't have a balanced budget. we're not that foresighted.

3:38:09 to 3:38:29( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: wraoe already have a problem. we're already running major deficits in the state of new hampshire. if you put these medicare costs on, you're going to make it very difficult to do things like spend on your school especially in new hampshire in our mental health care systems, which are key to our quality of life in new hampshire.

3:38:30 to 3:38:54( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: so, this will be a massive unfunded mandate. i saw the number $33 billion as being what the states will end up picking up here over the ten-year period. that's a big number for states to pick up. it will put massive strains on state budgets. it is another example of the federal government saying here, look at the wonderful things we've done for everybody and

3:38:55 to 3:39:15( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: then sending the bill to the inappropriate. mr. chambliss: lastly, if i could ask one more question include the chair, as we reform health care, and members of the senate agree that we need to reform health care. we have the best delivery system in the world, but it can get better.

3:38:55 to 3:39:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:39:16 to 3:39:37( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we can have a better delivery system in the world. we have the best insurance system in the world but it needs reforming. it can be made better. does the senator from new hampshire, which i know is familiar with the details of the plan that finance committee, know provision in that bill that is designed to reduce the costs of health care delivery in this

3:39:38 to 3:39:41( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: country which will help make that system better, which will help make the insurance system

3:39:42 to 3:40:02( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: better by surance more affordable for folks who can't afford it mr. gregg: the senator from georgia leads in the way i want to disclose this discussion. there are ways to reduce the cost of health care in this country and to make it better. make it better. let's take, for example,

3:39:45 to 3:41:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Judd Gregg

3:40:03 to 3:40:25( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: malpractice reform. abusive lawsuit reform. none of that is in the finan committee bill. we should have something there. the president says he's for it, we should do something in that area. c.b.o. scores it as a $64 billion savings. that is not chicken feed. that's a big number. so we should have malpractice reform.

3:40:26 to 3:40:47( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: we should have proposals which basically incentivize employers to have healthier lifestyles. it's called hipaa reform. that is not in the finance committee. it's very easy to do. u just give people the incentive and you give peopl the ability to say to someone if you stop smoking, if you live a healthier lifestyle by reducing

3:40:48 to 3:41:10( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: your weight, if you te the test you need to take in the area of health care like colonoscopies. you can't do that in the finance bill and only to a lesser degree under the kennedy-dodd bill or the harkin bill. there are specific diseases which we should target.

3:41:11 to 3:41:31( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: you know, such as obesity alzheimer's. there are a whole series of healthy lifestyle. there are things we can do in a step-by-step manner which will get us much farther down the road toward quality health care this massive expansion of health care through massive expansion of an entitlement which will

3:41:32 to 3:41:45( Edit History Discussion )

Judd Gregg: lead inevitably to a huge debt ing passed to our children. three groups are going to pay for this bill. one is senior citizens who are going to pay for the cuts in medicare. two are small businesses who are

3:41:46 to 3:42:06( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: going to have to give up a lot of coverage of their people. and three are children who are going to have to pay here. and so i appreciate the senator from georgia's thoughts and questions. they are right on point. i thank him for getting involved in this in fact, i'll yield the floor to

3:41:50 to 3:42:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:42:07 to 3:42:27( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: himight now. mr. chambliss: i appreciate the comments of the senator from new hampshire. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: -- who has been at the forefront of trying to make sure, number one, that the budget of this country is in a very positive situation as we move forward and we don't leave our children and grandchildren burdened with a debt that they

3:42:28 to 3:42:49( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: simply can't pay. as he has said, theare the ones who at the end of the day along with senior citizens and the small siness community that's going to wind up paying for this bill if it comes out crafted the way that it's presented in the finance committee and the way it appears it's going to come out of the committee to the floor of the senate.

3:42:50 to 3:42:55( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: mr. president, i'd like to ask consent to speak for five minutes on another subject.

3:42:56 to 3:43:16( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i, i -- i've been waiting to come here for a little bit, but i have no problem. five minutes, i'm patient. i just want to alert the senate as to what's going to be happening the rest of the day. i'll wait until my friend from georgia completes. mr. chambliss: if the majority leader wishes to go ahead and do that, that's fine. mr. reid: go ahead.

3:43:00 to 3:43:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Harry Reid

3:43:17 to 3:43:21( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: i'm happy to do that. i want everyone to know what's happening here tonight.

3:43:22 to 3:43:43( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: i'll do that when you finish. mr. chambliss: okay. it won't take me have five minutes. thank you. -- take me five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. sham slam mr. president, it is with -- mr. chambliss: it is with great pride and regret that i stand here to recognize a good friend and long time servant of american agriculture who is retiring from public service. through nearly 25 years of rving in various capacies on

3:43:25 to 3:46:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:43:44 to 3:44:05( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the house and senate agriculture committees, bernie hubert has exemplified tremendous character andnfectious personality and astute knowledge for the law for which i admireably respect and thank him for. i would like to issue a special thanks to his wife kathleen and daughter mary phillips for allowing us to have him in washington for the past three

3:44:06 to 3:44:26( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: years while they have lived in texas. i'm eternally grateful for his dedication to agriculture and his encyclopedic knowledge and valued input will certainly be missed. what began as an internship in the house agriculture committee for bernie in 1982 has since blossomed into a distinguished

3:44:27 to 3:44:48( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: agriculture law career. before entering law school, he earned a bachelors degree in biomedical science at texas a&m university and served as first lieutenant in the united states army medical reserve service corps after graduation. upon graduation from saint mary's university school of law in 1985, bernie returned to his

3:44:49 to 3:45:09( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: beloved south tex stint as an assistant prosecutor in brazos county. though his heart has always remained in texas, bernie returned to the house agriculture committee to work with then-chairman de la garza and charlie stenholm where he served for almost 20 years in

3:45:10 to 3:45:30( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: various roles as associate counsel, staff director, and legislative director. in 2004, i was fortuna in luring bernie to the senate where he has served as chief counsel on the senate agriculture committee for me since then. we were successful in passing a farm bill last year and a big

3:45:31 to 3:45:51( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: reason for that success is due to the tireless diligent efforts of seeing that t 2008 farm bill was the fifth farm bill that saw passage during bernie's tenure, it goes without saying that his experience in negotiating agriculture policy is not going to be easily replaced. in fact, mr. president, it's

3:45:52 to 3:46:13( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: impossible to replace a person like bernie not only for his wealth of knowledge but also for the richness of his character. in the years i have known and worked with him, hay remained a loyal -- he has remained a loyal confidant and has always kept america's -- american agriculture's best interests at heart. bernie, you will sincerely be

3:46:14 to 3:46:20( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: missed by everyone that has had the pleasure of working with you, and i wish you nothing but the best in all your future en

3:46:21 to 3:46:43( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: with that, mr. preside

3:46:25 to 3:55:20( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Harry Reid

3:46:44 to 3:47:05( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: would yield back. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i appreciate my friend from georgia, his usual courteous. mr. president, there will be no more votes today. i want to say a word about the statement made by my friend, the senior senator from new

3:47:06 to 3:47:26( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: hampshire. he talked about c.b.o. saying that there would be $54 billion saved each year if we put caps on medical malpractice and put some restrictions -- tort reform -- sound like a lot of money,

3:47:27 to 3:47:47( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: mr. president? the answer is "yes." but rember we're talking about $2 trillion, $54 blion compared to you can do the math. we can all do the math. it's a very small percent. now, i've said in meetings before, mr. president, that

3:47:48 to 3:48:09( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: people who practice medicine are negligent. what does that mean? the presiding officer is a lure. my friend from -- the presiding officer is a lawye my friend from illinois who is next to me is a lawyer. my friend standing in the hall here is a lawyer. we learned on early in law school what the definition of "negligence" s if someone runs

3:48:10 to 3:48:33( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: through a stoplight or a stop sign and hurts is they've been negligent. in our system of justice carried over from the common law in england, allows people to seek redress for the injuries that they receive as a result of someone's negligence. doctors are negligent. they're human beings, and they make mistakes, and they hurt

3:48:34 to 3:48:55( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: people. mr. president, i've said before -- and i will a just be very quick lite story. my friend dr. coburn is on the floor, a medical doctor. i was -- i used to spend hours and hours on the floor. one day i felt in my left foot up on the botto

3:48:56 to 3:49:17( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: i felt, what's wrong with i don'tnow what that is. and i went into my office took my just fine. to make a long ory short, aid problem with my foot. as some know, i've run thousands of miles on my feet, and one of them reacted when it was tired of running those thousands of

3:49:18 to 3:49:38( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: miles, i guess, and i was diagnosed with having a morton's neuroma on my foot, which required surgery. they tried all the other things but it didn't work. so i go into the hospital to have this surgery. remember, it is my left foot. i'm on my gurn knee in the hospital, the bed, whatever it is, and they're getting ready to

3:49:39 to 3:50:01( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: do the surge rhode island i look down. i have a great, big magic marker on my right foot. i look down and say, why is that big mark on my foot? and the doctor, the person says, we're going to operate on that foot. that's why we put that check -- i said, "the wrong foot." if i hadn't said something, they

3:50:02 to 3:50:23( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: would have operated on my good foot and left my bad one for surgery later on. that is negligence. now, mr. president, i said something about that. but as i have se i have said before, my wife was born should shy, and she will die shy. she would have been on that surgical table and wouldn't have

3:50:24 to 3:50:44( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: said a word about that magic marker mark on her foot. i know her. she wouldn't have said a word. that's negligence. that's why we need medical malpractice. we need to protect people who doctors commit negligence -- now, the great report that my friend from new hampshire talked about, he failedo mention one

3:50:45 to 3:51:06( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: thing, but it is important -- important to meevmen me. if this went into effect, 4,853 americans killed every year by medical malpractice, over a ten-year period, 48,000 americans over a ten-year period would d because of medical malpractice.

3:51:07 to 3:51:32( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: so, that's not a -- i would suggest people not waive that aroundecause i don't think that's -- the american people want to be part of 4,800-plus people being killed every year because of medical malpravment that's by doctors, not other person now, mr. president, we haven't done a thing today. why? because the republicans won't let us.

3:51:33 to 3:51:53( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: we had cloture invoked on an important piece of legislation, and they're using postcloture 30 hours. for what? for nothing. for nothing. no one is coming here from the other side saying how important it is they have the extra time to talk about this legislation. it's wasted time. the republicans have made the

3:51:54 to 3:52:14( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: political calculation that they would rather have no progress made, no suffering american help. they would rather do that than work with us to move forward on the most pressing issues in this country. it's not just limited to the health care debate we've heard about for months on entsdz. because they refuse to move

3:52:15 to 3:52:37( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: forward, they insist on holding up the legislative process for no reason, we're wasting the american people's time and money p. we could be working on extending unemployment benefits at time when unemployment is virtually high in every state. some states are higher than others. unemployment benefits are running out in some states. we could be supporting the