Senate Proceeding 11-03-09 on Nov 3rd, 2009 :: 0:30:30 to 0:46:50
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0:30:15 to 0:30:35( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: with that, mr. chairman, i thank you and yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator yields the who seeks recognition? the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, how much time do i have remaining? the presiding officer: there's actually no order on time, so the senator is free to proceed. mr. alexander: thank you,

0:30:30 to 0:46:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Lamar Alexander

0:30:36 to 0:30:57( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: mr. president. i notice the senator michigan was on the floor a little while ago with a big chart that said 85 times "no." i think she should have turned it around and faced it to the democratic leader because what that means is that 85 times the democratic leader says "no" to republicans, you can't offer amendments. and we're going to cut off debate.

0:30:58 to 0:31:20( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we've had this fippletimes here. the senator from west virginia, senator wired, is the expert on this. what makes this senate unique is -- there are two things that make it unique. one is virtually unlimited debate, virtually unlimited amendment. so if you're from a smaller state like tennessee or delaware

0:31:21 to 0:31:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: or anywhere in this country, your citizens can send you here, and even if you're in the minority, you're allowed to speak, your voice can be heard, and you're allowed to offer an amendment. and we have procedures for cutting that off, but we only do it on rare occasions. what she's basally saying -- i don't if i were her -- is 85 times

0:31:43 to 0:32:04( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: he's cut us off and said, we're not going to hear from you. so i think that argument is an argument that we should have at the appropriate time. but i have a different point i'd like to make. i'd like to continue the health care discussion, because i think wee making some progress. one of the most eloquent and effective speakers on the democratic side of the aisle is the assistant democratic leader,

0:32:05 to 0:32:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the senator from illinois. a good friend and a person i admire a great deal. yesterday he came to the floor and asked, where is the republican alternative on health care? and how many pages does it have? he had heard me say the other day that the error of the 1,000--- that thera of the

0:32:26 to 0:32:46( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: 1,000-page bill is over because weave a 2,000-page bill from the house of representatives on health so he says, well, where's the republican health care plan? how many pages in it? the senator from illinois was quite proud of the fact that i couldn't say how many pages were

0:32:47 to 0:33:09( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: in the senate democratic plan, but of course i hadn't seen it. i mean, almost no one has it. it's being written behind closed doors. i mean, this was supposed to be we would all know what was going on. president obama to his great credit said, we'll have all this on c-span so you'll know if the

0:33:10 to 0:33:31( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: drug companies or if the insurance companies or in the lobbyists are in their riding the bill. and so -- are in there writing the bill. so what do we have? we have the majority some people from the white house writing the health care bill. we don't know how many pages it shall have, because we're not

0:33:32 to 0:33:54( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: let in the room. we can't see the bill. we can't count the lobbyists, if they're there. we can't count the companies with whom deals might be made, if they are there. we just don't know. but here's what we do know, mr. president: we do know that the "help" committee on which i serve passed an 839-page health care bill.

0:33:55 to 0:34:16( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we do know that the house of representatives is working on a 15 -- well, we know the senate finance committee passed a 1,502-page bill. and we know that the house of representatives is working on a,1990-page bill, not counting

0:34:17 to 0:34:39( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the physicians reimbursement fix, which is bound to push it over $2,000. the pages in these bills are going up faster than the national debt. and it's an issue with the american people. so until the various writers emerge from behind closed doors, we're going to have to go with

0:34:40 to 0:35:00( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: what we have, which is a 2,000-page congressional democratic health care bill that "the wall street journal" editorial said yesterday when fully implemented would cost $2 trillion over a 10-year period of time. here's what else we know about the 2,000-page bill.

0:35:01 to 0:35:22( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: it will raise premiums. the senator from idaho just spoke to that. it will cut more than $400 billion in medicare, and it will cut it from medicare to spend it on a new entitlement program, even though the medicare trustees say medicare is going

0:35:23 to 0:35:43( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: broke in 2015-2017. the senator from kansas said, it's like writing a check on an overdrawn bank account to buy a big new car. the banker wouldn't let you do t the american people shouldn't let us do it. there will be higher taxes. everyone understands that the $9

0:35:44 to 0:36:04( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: $900 billion fully implemented in higher who's going to pay those? not the medical device companies, not the insurance companies. they're going to pass them right on -- to who? the american people, 2950 million of us who have -- the 250 million of us who have health insurance premiums. so our premiums will go up.

0:36:05 to 0:36:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: there will be more debt. fortunately, on the first vote on health care that we had the other day, eight democrats -- maybe it was 13 democrats -- 13 democrats voted, no, we're not going to start off this debate by adding a quarter of a blion dollars to the national debt, even for the worthy purpose of

0:36:26 to 0:36:47( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: fixing the physicians reimbursement problem, which we all want to fix. we're going to stro find some way to pay for that within the health care bill, within the spending that we have. then we know that we now have a government-run plan. i've always thought that was a little bit like president obama saying, well, to keep, you know,

0:36:48 to 0:37:08( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: ford motor company honest, i'm going to put the government into the consider business. well, we merely v that usually isn't the way we do things in the united states. but we're going to have a government-owned, government-run health-care plan. of course we already have two. one is medicare for seniors. we have a government-run plan that states can -- quote -- "opt

0:37:09 to 0:37:29( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: out of" called medicaid. the governor of delaware and i both know that from our previous experience, and it is a big problem. i mean, the medicaid and medicare have been going up at the rate of% or many years. state budgets dealing with medicaid only go up 2% or 3% for

0:37:30 to 0:37:50( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: schools and roads and universities, and so what happens is when the government of governor, the governor of tennessee, the governor of california s there going up the budget, we don't have any money left for higher education because we all put it into medicaid and so tuition goes up or services go down. with a government-run plan --

0:37:51 to 0:38:11( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: and this american people are just now beginning to realize -- millions of people who now have employer insurance, who get their insurance from their employers, are going to lose it. they're going to lose it their employer is going to look at this big, new bill and say, i can't afford this. i'm going to pay the i'm out of the health care

0:38:12 to 0:38:32( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: business, and you go into the government plan. so all 177 million peopleho have employer health care insurance run a risk with a government plan under this framework that we're discussing, that we haven't been able exactly to see yet, that an increasing number of employers would say, i'm out of here. we'll let the government provide

0:38:33 to 0:38:53( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: the insurance and suddenly you'll find yourself in the government-run plan. now, what happens in the government-run plan? some things are good about medicare, the government-run plans. some things are bad about medicaid, which is the larst government-run plan. one thing that is bad about it

0:38:54 to 0:39:15( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: is that 50% of doctors won't see new patients, because their physian reimbursement is a the about 60% of what physicians make when they go to through private insurance k and in medicare, not as bad as that it's about 83% or 84%, doctors are paid of what they would be paid if they saw patient with private insurance.

0:39:16 to 0:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: so i you lose your insurance and end up on the government-run plarntion you may end up in a plan like the medicaid plan, a government-run plan 50% of the doctors won see new patients. then the governors of states are in a state of apoplexy would be

0:39:37 to 0:39:57( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: about the only it. because here we are dor -- in the state of tennessee, there are a billion dollars of cuts. everything is being cut. prices are going up. people are being laid off, even though we have a very well-managed state. one of ways to pay thor this bill is to shift some of the costs, about $37 billion at least, to states, to governors

0:39:58 to 0:40:21( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: who are democratic and republican are going to say, please don't do that to us. we can't afford that. we don't have the money for it. we have to balance our budget. and washington wants to medicaid -- if washington wants to expand medicaid, washington should pay for medicare. so, mr. president, higher premiums, medicare cuts, higher

0:40:22 to 0:40:42( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: taxes, more debt, plan, millions losing coverage, inevitable rationing, states complaing, some going bankrupt, a $2 trillion cost -- that's not health care reform. what the assistant democratic democratic leader asked question. he said, what is the republican plan? our plan has 2,000

0:40:43 to 0:41:04( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: how many pages does your plan have? well, i would say, with all respect for him, if he is looking for someone with a wheel barrow wheeling into chamber a competing 2,000-page republican bill costing $2 trillion, he's never going to see it. he'll be looking in vain,

0:41:05 to 0:41:25( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: because that's not what we propose. we have been saying over and over again on the senate floor and other places that we're going in the wrong direction, that we need to start over, that our goal should be to reduce costs, costs to each of us who pay premiums, costs who have to pay the federal

0:41:26 to 0:41:46( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: government debt, and we should set a clear goal, reducing costs, and move step by step toward that goal of reducing costs to reearn the trust of the american people. americans instingly distrust -- distrust these comprehensive,

0:41:47 to 0:42:07( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: change the world, never mind the cost 2,000-page risky schemes. onef which is the health care plan that's coming toward us. we have proof in this chamber we don't do comprehensive well. we had our best senators of both si on immigration, senator kennedy, senator mccain, senator kyl,

0:42:08 to 0:42:29( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: senator martinez, and what happened? it fell of its own weight. we bit off more than we could chew. the economy-wide cap and trade. surprises, derkts and more washington takeover. we're scaring the daylights off the of the american people with these proposals.

0:42:30 to 0:42:50( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: instead of that, we believe -- we on the that we suld have health care reform, its goal should be to reduce cost and we should go step by step toward that goal, going step by step in the right direction is one good way to get our country where it needs to go so instead of a 2,000-page

0:42:51 to 0:43:11( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: congressional democrat health care plan, here is the republican plan, and i've counted the pages. one, small business health care plan. this leverages the dollars in small businesses, allows them to pool their resources and offer health care to more americans. 88 pages, proposed by senator

0:43:12 to 0:43:32( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: enzi. allow americans to purchase health care across state lines, to encourage competion. 30 pages, proposed by senator demint. to reduce junk lawsuits, mel malpractice lawsuits, drivi up the cost of health care. there's some question how much it drives it up, but there's no

0:43:33 to 0:43:53( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: question it drives up the cost. senator gregg's bill and that 19 pages. equal treatment -- tax treatment for health care, sen bennett's bill, 21 pages. health information technology, a subject we should be able to agree on in a bipartisan way; 13

0:43:54 to 0:44:14( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: pages by senator coburn, burks and enzi. health care exchanges, another subject, creating more of those for people to look for the lowest-cost insurance. that takes eight pages in the bill propose and burr. and senator lemieux, one of our bill on the subject of waste, fraud, and abuse.

0:44:15 to 0:44:36( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: we know that's a scandal, particularly with medicaid and medicare. the government accountability office has said one out of $10 in medicaid is waste, fraud, and abuse every year, $32 billion a year. $320 billion over ten years. there's seven steps in the right

0:44:37 to 0:44:58( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: direction over reducing costs. taking just one of those steps -- the small business health plan, s. 2818, leveraging strength in numbers. here's what the congressional budget office says about the small business health plan: 750,000 more americans would be covered. these would be people working for small businesses. it would lower the premium costs

0:44:59 to 0:45:19( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: for three out of four employees. it would reduce medicaid spending -- this is the program that's causing the states so many problems -- by $1.4 billion. why don't we pass that? why don't we pass it? towards reducing costs and then take a second step and a third

0:45:20 to 0:45:41( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: step and a fourth step, and gradually as we reduce costs, as the small business health care plans will do, add uninsured people to the rolls? that would reearn the trust of the american people. that would be something we could actually get done. and that would be something that would be bipartisan, have confidence and reach the goal

0:45:42 to 0:46:02( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: that we have set for ourselves. so we have clear choices. twaoef 2,000-page bills or the -- we have 2,000-page bills or the bills i added up proposed by republicans, many democratic choices as well. 200 pages or 2,000 pages. reduce premiums or increase

0:46:03 to 0:46:24( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: premiums, reduce debt or increase the debt. reduce medicare or make medicare solvent. higher taxes or no tax increase. the american people want real health care reform. they want to reduce costs and add coverage as we can afford it. they are properly skeptical of grand and risky schemes that claim we in the senate and the house are wise enough to solve

0:46:25 to 0:46:45( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: everything at once. they know if we try to do that, we are more likely to mess up everything at once. they know about the law of unintended consequences. to re-earn the trust of the american people, we should set a clear goal. that goal should be reducing t cost of health care. the cost of health care, when you pay your premium and the

0:46:46 to 0:46:51( Edit History Discussion )

Lamar Alexander: cost of your government, the cost of its debt. and we should move step by step