Senate Proceeding on Oct 29th, 2009 :: 6:28:00 to 6:33:25
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6:27:58 to 6:28:18( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: interior appropriations which the cler the clerk: the committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two houses on the amendment of the senate to the bill h.r. 2996 making appropriations for the department of interior, vierntle and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2010, and for other purposes, having met, have agreed that the

6:28:00 to 6:33:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lamar Alexander

6:28:19 to 6:28:39( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: house recede from its disagreement to the senate and agree to the same with an amendment, and the senate agree to the same signed by a majority of the conferees on the part of both houses. mr. alexander: mad president? the presiding officer: the senator from tenton. mr. alexander: thank you, madam president. before we proceed to the interior appropriations bill -- i know senator feinstein will be

6:28:40 to 6:29:00( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: here shortly and i'll be joining here and? i senators who wish to speak on it should come over, i have an important announcement to make on another subject which i believe will be of interest to the american people. it is this: the era of the 1,000-page bill is over. we have a 2,000-page bill, a new health care bill introduced in

6:29:01 to 6:29:22( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the house of representatives today by speaker pelosi. it will be doing on the republican side -- and i hope our friends on the republican side will be doing as well -- what every american expects us to do and that is to read all 2,000 pages and to know exactly what it costs before we begin to vote on

6:29:23 to 6:29:45( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: democrats' health care bill. for example, while we just know a few things about the bill, we know that the price tag is likely to be more than $1 trillion. 2,000 pages, more than $1 trillion. we know that the physicians reimbursement, which is important to all of us to be

6:29:46 to 6:30:06( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: included, is scheduled t treated separately then. well, it wasn't treated separately here on what was the first vote of health care a week ago, or maybe it was earlier th democrats -- a number of democrats. 13 democrats, i belve, joined with 40 republicans to say we're

6:30:07 to 6:30:27( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: not going to increase -- we're not going to begin the health care debate by increasing the deficit by $250 billion. that was an important statement to the american people. and so one of the questions we'll be asking is: how is the physicians reimbursement plan, which is an essential part of any plan for health care over the next ten years, how is it paid for?

6:30:28 to 6:30:50( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: does it add to the debt? we'll be looking -- and i know the distinguished senator from new hampshire, who is the ranking republican on the budget committee, already is looking at not just what happens in the first five years of this proposed bill, but in the second five years and the ten years after that. because our goal is to reduce the cost of health care, the cost of premiums to each of us,

6:30:51 to 6:31:11( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: and the cost of our government. and a preliminary look suggests that while the cost might go down to the government in the first five years, it might go up in the second five years as the plan is implemented. third, we want to look at t new taxes on small businesses that we've been told about. next, we want to look at the

6:31:12 to 6:31:33( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: provision in the bill which seems to say that an employer might have to pay 8% of his payroll as a penalty if the employer doesn't provide health care to his employees. does that mean all employees?

6:31:34 to 6:31:54( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: does that mean full-time employees? does that mean part-time employees? we want to read the bill. we want to know exactly what it says. we want to see a congressional budget office estimate, a formal estimate of what it costs. there is in the bill a new government-run insurance company.

6:31:55 to 6:32:15( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we have said before that our view on the republican side -- and i know some democrats have concern about this as well -- is the effect of a government-run insurance company, some call it the government option, is really no option. because if you're one of the 170 million or 180 million americans who have health insurance

6:32:16 to 6:32:38( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: through your employer, the combination of a bill like this is y're likely to le your insurance, and the government option is likely to be your only option. we'll be asking that question and see what it costs. there is a provision in the bill that expands medicaid. this is the government-run program we already have, that

6:32:39 to 6:32:59( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: has 60 million americans in it and the state and federal government share the cost of it. my preliminary understanding of this is that it increases the cost of the medicaid expansion which governors all across the country are deeply concerned about. and it adds a provision to require that they be reimbursed,

6:33:00 to 6:33:22( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: physians be reimbursed at the level of medicare, which would basically double the cost of the medicaid expansion. how much will the states pay of this? so, madam president, there are a number of questions to be asked, but the news of the day is this: the era of the 1,000-page bill is over.

6:33:23 to 6:33:26( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we have a new 2,000-page health care bill.