reform, but the republicans have come up with for over 19 days. i would like for them to try to explain in their states what i found in my state. and instead of soaring rhetoric and abstractions, let's get down to specifics. this is a gentleman who lives in evanston, illinois, named david buckley. evanston is a great town north of chicago. i enjoy going up there and have a lot of friends there. david had insurance when he needed it, but it ended up costing him his financial health. he's a freelance videographer.

he was paying $4,500 a year for health insurance when he was health insurance when he was $4,500 a year for health insurance when he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 48. david buckley had a surgery followed by chemotherapy radiation. he managed to rid his body of cancer. but that battle ended and another battle began. david's insurance company agreed to cover his cancer treatment but only after three solid months of investigations of his application for health insurance to determine whether they could find in that application a pre-existing condition, which would eliminate any responsibility to pay for david's bills. they couldn't. after covering his cancer treatment costs, they did the next thing that insurance companies do, they raised his

premiums and they didn't just raise them a little bit. in the year following his cancer diagnosis, dave its insurance rates went up 80%, and that was just the beginning. within seven years david was paying $28,000 a year in premiums. he had gone from roughly $400 a month to more than $2,000 a month in seven years, and he had a $2,500 deductible, not to mention out of pocket expenses. he's self-employed, makes a decent living about $75,000 in year. but imagine taking $2,000 out of your paycheck every month just for health insurance. he tried. 12 days after his surgery, incidentally, david, who is not easy by any measure, flew into a war zone to shoot video. he was still wearing a chemotherapy pump when he arrived for work. he pushes himself to pay his bills but it's been a losing

battle. what started as a 5,000-dollar debt in the year 2000 grew to a 70,000-dollar debt by 2003, and a large portion of it came from medical bills. david said but the point of having insurance was to keep you out of bankruptcy, not put you in it. it's a valid point. insurance is meant to be a promise of protection, but for too many people it isn't enough. for david taha costs and ballooning debt led him to drop his health insurance last year. think about that. he battled cancer and one. and you know once you've been through that life experience you were always vigilant. you need the best care to make certain that anything the real curse is caught early. but david had to walk away from health insurance coverage because he couldn't afford it. he decided it was health care or saving for retirement or meeting the cost of living. he's in his late 50's and he's worried about the years he won't be able to work.

health reform is going to help people like david, people who have insurance but still find themselves vulnerable to financial ruin. it will stop insurance companies from running their rates up sky-high when you get sick. for those with employer sponsored large group coverage it will provide access to a broad insurance pool where costs big pool spreads. health and form will hold insurance companies to annual caps how much they can charge for out of pocket expenses. think about the battle this man went through and won over cancer and then went to battle with his health insurance company. it's not unusual. it happens every day he read this bill, which has been criticized by those on the other side of the aisle, will give david and others like him a fighting chance. let me tell you about another person. this is an interesting story. valerie, this beautiful young woman, is from arlington heights, illinois. she's a student, a doctoral

student, studying biochemistry, cambridge university in england. when she was 4-years-old, valerie was lead most with type one diabetes. she decided early in life that she wasn't going to let her diabetes stop her career ambitions. she couldn't become an artist or entrepreneur. she knew she needed a stable job because she always needed to have health care. she had diabetes. now, at 24, this brilliant young scientist, the stock for all candidates, worries that her diabetes and what she calls the broken insecure u.s. health system will keep her from returning to the united states from england and using her skills to help her home country. to control her disease, valerie needs a lot of medical service including regular doctor visits and insulin shots for most of her life her medical care was paid for by her parents, but those of us to have three children know what happens next. most plans we have for our

families cut off our kids at age 24 and that is valerie's age. however, valerie is going to school in england, and if you listen to some of the criticism on the floor about england and canada and others, other nations that approach health care differently, you might have an impression in your mind about what that means living in a country like that. salary, because she's a student at cambridge england receives free health care through england's national health service that she says is as good or better than anything in the united states. in addition to free doctor visits, insulin and syringes her care includes regular contact with a dietitian, endocrinologist also free of charge. these medical professionals encouraged valerie to take a more active role in managing her own dietetic disease, and she is in better health now and she has been in years. eventually she hopes to open her own laboratory where she can use her grade education and skills to continue research and

mitochondrial biology and develop a cure and treatment for diseases. she worries about whether she will be able to do that if she came back to the united states and here's what she said as long as the same broken in secure health system remains in place i see little incentive to come home to the united states with my talent and experience. we can't afford to lose talented scientists like valerie, who won they might find a cure for a disease like parkinson's. we are the only industrialized nation in the world where people can buy for lack of health insurance, and that's a fact. 45,000 a year. they can't get the care they need to stay healthy and they lose their lives. if we don't change this system, if we don't reform it, we stand to lose talented people, and we also stand to lose valuable lives. the last person i want you to see is a friend of mine, dale. dale lives in blue mound,

illinois. his family is well known in my part of the world. they are a big, big family. over the years i've visited with them in their homes and in their home towns. blue mound is a little town just south of decatur illinois, 1100 people. everybody knows one another. they are all neighbors and friends, most of them go to church together and have community picnics, great small-town midwestern america. there are a lot of farmers, a retired factory workers from the caterpillar plants up in decatur, and a lot of folks who just like living in a small town. this used to be a thriving area. it struggled with changes in manufacturing and changes in our economy but it is a close-knit community. dale lives there. she was born in l1 mac 0621 years ago. hard worker at the plant in decatur for 32 years. she decided to retire 11 years

ago based on simple calculation he was told he would have a modest pension and his health care costs would be covered in his union contract. in the time since he retired his expectations have not been met. a difficult economy, new contract negotiations of indicator have resulted in the erosion of dale's union health care coverage as a result he now has to spend more attention to when the gaps in his reduced health care coverage. his monthly premiums have skyrocketed from nothing when he first retired almost $400 a month, and that's 20% of his pension check. in addition to his premiums, the quality of his coverage has gone down. what was once a generous health care plan has such high out of pocket costs that dale really questions whether he can afford to stay with this. he's like most americans. she doesn't worry about his health until he needs to do something about it. and during the leaders' seventh retirement when his insurance coverage was rock-solid he

considered himself healthy and never needed to use it but we all will older, our bodies are not be used to be and things have changed for dale. a few weeks ago he noticed a pain in his chest, dizziness to noticeable to ignore. he saw his doctor who told him to go to the emergency room. he fretted about what this was going to cost him what went anyway. thankfully, he's okay. but economically and emotionally it's another story. last week dale received his bill for his visit to the er, his own personal pocket expense, $600. she now has to figure out how he's going to pay that bill as a pensioner. what other expenses will he the lake with and what about the basic mortgage utility bills and he has to worry about the cost he will incur next time. dale and his wife, doris, or on a fixed income. as i said, he's 61-years-old. the money that comes each month is accounted for and there isn't a lot of wiggle room. he's contemplating coming out of retirement after 11 years

primarily because he cannot make ends meet because of medical expenses. and this isn't a very good economy for a 61-year-old retired factory worker to look for a job. he's one of the many early retirees who found health care costs threaten the financial stability. the unlucky ones lost their health insurance coverage completely perhaps because their employers have gone bankrupt but even those like dale who still have coverage are finding themselves in a much more precarious situation than the expected. mr. president, i want to tell these stories because they are life stories and people live either met or have come to know because they've contacted our office. i listen to the minority leader come here and say stop the press, stop the the date, stop moving forward in this effort to have real health care reform in america. the minority leader from kentucky said we need to start over. we've been starting over on health care for decades and

we've never reached the finish line because there are always obstacles in our path. right now the obstacle in our path is just bringing this matter to a vote. why were we in session at 1 a.m. this morning casting a vote? because the republican side of the aisle has determined that regardless of the issue they are going to stop us from bringing this matter to debate and vote. they don't want us to have a vote on this. they don't want us to make a decision. they don't want to be on the record and that is unfortunate. the bill that the have chosen, not a filibuster, the one that is actually before us in the senate is a bill that should have no controversy whatsoever. it is a bill to fund our troops, the department of defense appropriations bill and can you imagine in the midst of the war when the bravest men and women in the nation are risking their lives at war the republicans are filibustering the bill to pay their salaries?

the bill to pay for the equipment they need to stay safe? the bill to pay for the medical care of these soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and families? it is unthinkable. this is a bill that passed over in the house of representatives overwhelmingly. i think the number was 394 to 35. 164 republicans voted for it because we want to stand behind our troops. but last night only three republican senators out of 40 would step up and say we should go forward on this bill. only three. the rest of them, led by the minority leader and the minority whip said we will stop this bill if this is the only way we can stop the healthcare debate. why did they take this bill of all bills? a bill where we should be standing in solidarity behind our troops. we now have split into partisan camps. there is nothing partisan about standing behind our troops and

the vote early this morning unfortunately was very partisan. there's also a provision in the bill that deals with unemployment in america. we want to go home, i want to go home. called my wife this morning. i've been here now three straight weeks and it looks like there's another week to follow before the holidays and christmas. i don't like this. you give up a lot in this job and think there's certain pieces of my family life i hold dear and this is one of them, to be back home for christmas not just at the last minute, but to be there and it does not look like we will be able to because the republicans decided they will accuse every political and parliamentary device possible to delay this vote. and so we will do nothing today because we are running the clock out on the procedures of the senate and then we will meet 7:40 tomorrow morning and have several votes on this department of defense appropriation bill

which said have been passed instantly when we received from the house of representatives. then we will start the clock running again to move toward a vote on health care reform. let's be honest we have to bring this matter up for a vote and see if we do have 60 votes on this side of the ogle. i hope we do. the reason the majority leader is not as he's working at this moment to bring the 60 votes together. instead the republicans have said we are going to do everything possible including members to stay here christmas eve and christmas day in order to stop this vote on health care reform. that is unfortunate. because let me tell you at the bottom line of this bill does for america. this bill not perfect and notes will we ever consider is, this bill first is the biggest deficit-reduction ever introduced in the senate floor because if we bring down health care costs and not only helps

families and businesses will help governments, even our federal government. as we bring down the increase on the cost of health care medicare for seniors costs less to the government. the same is true of medicaid. the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. so first and foremost the congressional budget office tells us this bill at a time we have great national debt will actually bring down america's debt, $130 billion in the first ten years, $650 billion more in the next ten years. so it is a fiscally irresponsible bill. that is what president obama challenge to do. if you're going to pass health care reform, don't do it at the expense of the next generation. before it. we do. we more than pay for it. we've reduced the cost of government in the process to read the second thing this bill does is start to bring down health care costs. it does it in a variety of different ways. i wish it were bringing down faster.

i want to commend the presiding officer of the senator from virginia, senator warner. he joined a group of freshmen democrats and the introduced cost-containment amendments to this bill which was part of the manager's amendment would have been heralded by the major business and manufacturing groups of america. a thoughtful amendment which addresses the core issue here, how to bring down health care costs. they will up their sleeves and went to work and made an amendment. you cannot see the same i'm afraid for the other side of the aisle. their amendments have not been as constructive as the amendment i just described. they've tried to stop this bill rather than improve this bill and senator warner of virginia and his freshman colleagues have taken a more constructive and positive approach. so bringing down costs of health insurance and making it more affordable is a job number one for this health care reform. this bill extends the coverage of health insurance in america. currently there are 50 million

americans who don't have health insurance. they are people who've lost their jobs. they are folks who work for small businesses and can't afford health insurance. they are people who've tried their best but they just can't get health insurance. 50 million of them. imagine if you will, to sleep tonight if you were a father or mother with a sick child and have no health insurance. imagine thinking for one frightening moment waking up tomorrow morning to face a diagnosis from a doctor of the serious illness or to be involved in an accident that requires medical care and having no health insurance. 50 million, one out of every six americans has no health insurance. this bill will change it. 30 million americans are going to be covered with health insurance that currently don't have coverage. 50 million in the lower income categories, the working poor and lower income folks will go into medicated the state level 15 million will go into private health insurance.

30 million the end of this bill 94% of americans will have health insurance that has never happened in history, ever. 94% will have the peace of mind of having health insurance. and something else this bill does it goes back to my illustrations. this bill says to the health insurance companies it's over. the we've been mistreating people who pay premiums is going to come to an end. we are not going to allow you to fly speck applications for insurance to find pre-existing conditions. we are going to make sure those with pre-existing conditions have an opportunity for real health insurance coverage and not be denied when they need that kind of coverage. we are going to also make sure that when you really get sick the health insurance company cannot cut and run as so many do and we are going to extend that coverage for young people through the ages 24 and 25. this is all good and positive and it will mean the patients' bill of rights, which former senator kennedy and lead senator kennedy, and even senator

mccain work for will be part of all of america. now there are critics of this health insurance plan for short. we saw them come out at town meetings and protests and so forth. some don't want to change in the system that like the system. they fear government whenever it may be their motive is to stop this. they are also critics who say this bill doesn't go far enough. it doesn't go as far as i would like to go. i think they're ought to be a public auction. we ought to have diman -- not-for-profit plan to compete but the reality of politics and the senate make it impossible to do that in this bill at this time. i hope we can reach that point. but when the senator from kentucky, the republican leader comes to the floor and say so many people may oppose this bill some may oppose it because they want to do nothing. others oppose it because they don't think it does enough. that's the nature of this process. i've been around long enough to know it is hard to satisfy all the fuel. here's the bottom line. we have to ask is america better if this passes or not and the

answer is overwhelmingly it is better. howard dean is my friend and medical doctor and former governor and he said he would vote against this bill but i would say to dr. howard dean, don't you believe the 30 million americans with health insurance is worth the effort? i think you do. i think most people do. we can do better in short and we will work to improve this bill both with the house and later. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> before he leaves the floor i want to commend the distinguished senator from illinois for his statement and also make sure that the body recognizes that it has been senator sanders who has championed the cause relentlessly making the case dollar for dollar the is no better investment in american health care than these community health centers, and i was going to spend my time this morning talking about the opportunities for democrats and republicans to continue to team up on this

health reform issue, and i think it is worth noting senator sanders, who has championed it this effort in this bill is actually picking up on work that a number of the most influential republicans in this country have been interested in for years. george bush, president george bush was a great champion of community health centers and bernie sanders now in this bill is making sure that we get a very significant increase, thousands of new clinics. so there are opportunities for democrats and republicans to work together and i'm going to talk about a way we can create a new market place in american health care through these exchanges and get more value for the health care dollar, and focusing on the opportunity that we see with community health centers for democrats and republicans to team up, and i thank my colleague for his statement. mr. president, and i know because of our work together on health legislation, you share my

view that we can continue this effort to bring the senate together on both sides around the key principles of health reform, and i want to do that again this morning by focusing on of one of the most transformational and least understood parts of the health care debate, and that is the question of the health insurance exchanges. my guess is across the country people are still trying to figure out what in the world these are and is this yet some other kind of health care window. but i think it's fair to say, and it just basic english, this will be like farmers' markets. this will be an opportunity for people to go to one place and to do what you can't do in the dysfunctional health care system today and that is actually a shop and be in a position to

compare various kinds of products and services, and when you invest wisely you can put the savings in your pocket. and the reality is that has not been possible in our country since the middle of the 1940's during the 1940's when there were wage and price controls, judgments were made about the delivery of american health care. it made sense back then, when people went to work somewhere and stayed put for 30 years until you give them a gold watch. but today's economy is very different. people change their jobs 11 times by the time they are 40. and we need to make sure that no longer is the consumer insulated from the health care system. no longer most consumers incapable of being rewarded when they shop wisely, and we make

sure people even understand the lose out in terms of wages if health care costs continue to rise as a result of inefficiency so these health insurance exchanges are the key to making health care markets work in affect for the first time since the middle of the last century. now, and the merged bill, senator reid in my view has played an important foundation. and there are three fundamental principles in a senator reid's merged bill, and of course we are going to continue to work on this. in the managers package this bill gets out of the united states senate. we are going to be working on this for quite some time, mr. president. we are going to be working on this longer cable 24/7 td has

worked on to other topics. but on the bill there are three important features of exchange. the first as it is going to be possible for consumers to make apples to apples comparisons of various health care plans. consumers will be able to see one plan will cost them $20 co-payments for a physician visit but perhaps another plan will cost them $30. it will be much like you can do a store, kosko, grocery store where consumers look at products on a shelf, look at a price, look at the various offerings and choose the best product for themselves. the second feature in the bill the democrats and republicans alike should appreciate is it will be possible to keep low quality plans out of the marketplace. this is especially important at the outset, mr. president and i learned this in the days i was the co-director of the organ

panders senior citizens group. one of the things the country learned in the early days of medicare is a lot of the policies sold to supplement medicare for junk. they were not worth the paper they were written on and people with light tan, 12, 15 policies literally wasting money the seniors could have used for food and fuel and paying rent and it took until the mid 1990's to drain the swamp and finally we were able to do it standardized those packages, stopped ripoff of older people with products that literally were not worth the paper they were written on, and the consumer protection provisions senator reid has put in the merged bill as it relates

to exchanges or queen to keep low quality plans out. this is going to offer customers the peace of mind knowing when they look at the plans they can be certain that they will have to meet minimum consumer protection standards. this is an important message to send in a new marketplace, and boy, it will be an opportunity to have a very different start than we saw with medicare during those early days when seniors were sold these policies to supplement their medicare private insurance policies that were a lot of junk. finally under the merged bill you're going to be able to see the value that you are getting for your health care dollar in an important respect through what are called lost ratios that insurance companies would have to make public. what this means of course, mr. president, is consumers want to know that when and they put out a dollar for premiums that

they get a significant portion of that dollar backed in actual benefits and services and benefits and with the exchange it is going to be possible to finally get this kind of lost information in one place and make it public. so now what i would like to do is talk about the steps from here, particularly build on principles that the president talked about earlier this year in terms of ideas that bring democrats and republicans together, and that is more choice and more competition in the health care marketplace. and what we are pointing to, mr. president, is the day when every consumer in america can see to their insurance company i'm giving you an ultimatum. you treat me right or wrong in taking my business elsewhere.

that is what we are pointing to, and here are some of the steps that it is going to take in the days ahead to build to that future. first, you've got to have a big enough pulled people as soon as you can, so as to maximize their clout in the marketplace. you've got to make sure that the exchange's are open to more than just folks who have been uninsured. if you open it just folks who are uninsured, who haven't seen a doctor, who have chronic illnesses, haven't been able to get the preventive care you have coming to the exchange's folks that are six, and of course they are more expensive in terms of getting good health care, and it is harder to hold costs down now once you have a big enough pool where the risk is spread across

a large group of people, who have a wide range of health conditions, you will be in a better position to force the insurance companies to compete and drive down cost for everybody. so in affect in the days ahead we will be in the position to put in place a cycle in the health care marketplace that will get more value for the american consumer. more and more people will come to the exchanges because the premiums are lower. more insurers will come to the exchange because they see that's the place you have to go in order to get business, and you have announced to the beginning of a revolution in the health care marketplace. get as many healthy people into the exchange, make it impossible

for insurance companies to find loopholes and use marketing campaigns to cherry pick just the youngest and healthiest, force them to compete on the basis of price benefit and quality, and then you are on your way, mr. president, to taking a dysfunctional american health care system and getting the choice in competition that will finally pay off for the american consumer. now there are some additional interim steps i want to mention briefly, mr. president. the majority leader, senator reid and german bachus and i have come to agreement that will also provide the opportunity to get more choice and competition into the health care marketplace. what we have agreed is folks who spend more than 8% of their income on health care but are

not eligible for subsidies, in effect folks with what are called the hardship waiver, they would be able to get a voucher and go into the marketplace, and with that kind of approach which would be tax-free to them, our estimate is that will be only about one-third as expensive in terms of getting health care for those folks as the alternative, the traditional system of subsidies. so again, we get more people covered in a more affordable way building on these time-honored principles of choice and competition. finally, senator collins, senter by and i have a proposal that has been endorsed by the national federation of independent businesses that would say that employers who are

in the exchange if the employer voluntarily says that they want to give their workers more choices they could do so. in effect it would say to those small employers in the exchange you and your workers will have a choice to have a choice. no employer is required to do anything but should they want to concentrate on making their bridget's rather than being in the health insurance business they would have the opportunity to do it. what they would give their workers would be tax-free to the employer, tax-free to the worker and once again, you bring the principles of choice and competition into the health care marketplace, move us closer to that day when the consumer can give the insurance company the ultimatum might envisioned which

is treat me right or i go elsewhere. mr. president, i close by saying that in my view the majority leader has laid the foundation for a new health care marketplace. i would certainly like to do more distinguished senate and president know is this cosponsor of our bipartisan health the americans act. i would like to do more and i would like to do it faster. but make no mistake about it this is leading a foundation to create a new marketplace and american health care where that concept has been for him. to let people make apples to apples comparisons keep crummy products out in the exchange to make sure people can get information about loss ratios. that is a real foundation. then we seek to go further, and we've had the council and some of the country's leading thinkers about american health care, let's get more healthy people and to the exchanges.

let's make sure we have these big pools and make sure that the insurers can't try to steer the marketplace because we know that they are going to try ingenious ways through advertising and market promotion strategies to still find the best risks. let's build on what senator reid has laid out with respect to the exchanges in the days ahead. we are going to be at this of long time, mr. president. you are not going to fix a dysfunctional american health care marketplace in a matter of weeks. we are going to be at this the rest of this week, next week, well into 2010. i've been a part of this debate since i was co-director of the great panthers going back 30 years now. i continue to believe there is an opportunity for democrats and republicans to work together. our party has been right on the

issue of coverage. you cannot fix this on less all americans have good quality affordable coverage because otherwise there will be too much cost shifting. but as i have said to my colleagues on the other side of the ideal, i see senator bunning, and he and i have worked together on the finance committee to get our colleagues on the other side of the all making important points with respect to choice, with respect to markets, with respect to competition this is an area where we can work together. there is nothing partisan in my view, mr. president about creating a new health care marketplace through these exchanges. this bill lays a foundation and there will be opportunities for democrats and republicans to build on that foundation in the days ahead. mr. president, i yield the floor >> for those keeping score following the senate you may wonder what we are doing here in

the middle of a filibuster which is an attempt to stop legislation from moving forward. it is a filibuster inspired by the republican side of the law and the bill that they are filibustering and joining to deily is the department of defense appropriation bill. this is the bill that funds our military. it is the bill that funds our soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines at war in iraq and afghanistan. it is a bill that almost without fail passes overwhelmingly with bipartisan majority in the senate and house each year, and has passed the house of representatives with a substantial vote of about 394-35, 164 republicans voted for it over there. there was no controversy associated with it, yet when it came to the senate, the republicans announced they were going to filibuster the defense appropriations bill. why do they disagree with any of the content? i get to hear aside from senator

mccain and senator colburn who went to two or three provisions of the bill they disagree with and i have yet to hear anyone say we shouldn't on our military. we certainly should. some have come to the floor and argue the reason we are in this predicament is because the democrats in control have waited too long to bring this bill to the floor. but that statement fails to acknowledge the reality with this calendar year has meant because they after day and week after week and month after month with very few exceptions the role and strategy of the minority, the republicans and the samet has been to slow down and stop consideration of important legislation. for me? >> with my friend and colleague the yield? >> only for a question. >> only for a question. >> i just want to assure him and the form of a question if he were asking me in my

filibustering that is not the case. the problem was as i see at, and i'm asking the distinguished senator i've known for a long time and respect what would he think about the response and this is a question, where we've only had seven amendments that have been allowed in this bill i have one on the medicare advisory board, one on c er, the rationing on had another one in regards to a tax matter. all of which have been considered in the finance committee all defeated by a party-line vote, so i know where it was headed but i felt it deserved some dee dee and consideration on the floor, too. a bill of this size, healthcare bill to seven amendments would seem to be very on toward and

showing a lack of comedy in regards to a bill of this size. the defense bill has the fix and and and as such i think that if we could fit into the problems doctors' fees and at least have an opportunity to talk about this is the first time i have had ten or 15 minutes to talk about anything about health care. it's not that i would choose to do it when we are considering the defense appropriation bill. i've served on the armed services committee, the intel committee as the senator knows there is no person stronger for the warriors and men and women in uniform and they will get their money. this bill was going to pass. that's not the issue. the issue is we haven't had enough time and i was asked the senator to comment on my comments and tommy if i'm wrong. >> i would say in response to the senator from kansas to the kansas he has a grievance with consideration of this bill. the health care reform bill, 2000 page bill that i will address in a moment but i would

say to the senator from kansas we are considering this bill, department of defense appropriations bill and because of a grievance under the consideration of this bill, the republicans have filibustered the department of defense appropriations bill and are trying to slow down as much as possible the passage of the department of defense appropriations bill. many of us think that that is on fair to the coo -- on fair when we have our best and bravest young men and women at war that we would somehow make the bill funding their effort and funding the things the need to protect themselves the center of a political and it is a filibuster. twice last night on this floor early this morning i should say in the early hours of the morning i made a unanimous consent request on a bipartisan basis we found our troops. i offered on the floor and twice it was objected to the last time by the republican leader and

republican whip and the well of the senate. they had a chance to pass this bill. now the funding for the troops runs out at midnight tonight. we are going to come in at 7:30 tomorrow morning because the republicans insist on this deily and we are going to fund the troops. i believe when push comes to shove we will. i hope we do. i will be voting for it and i hope the republicans will join me. so i don't understand why the republicans are holding the part of defense appropriations bill for our troops hostage to their anger or frustration over health care reform and then let me address health care reform. i would say to the senator from kansas we have been on this bill for 19 days. do you know how any substantive amendments have been offered by the republican side in 19 days? four. not even one a day. and six amendments or i should say motions were made to this bill to send it back to the committee and start over. so if the senator has

substantive amendments and they do where have they been? 19 days, four amendments. it appears to me that when the decision was made several days ago on the republican side to order the reading of an 800 page amendment it was very clear that this had nothing to do with the debate and voting on amendments. it was all about slowing things down and stopping them. and they tried and couldn't on the reading of this bill and now they are trying as best they can when it comes to an unrelated bill. there comes a point i would say to the senator from kansas where there has to be a vote. we are here to vote. let's get on with it. we either win or lose, you either win or lose and we have to go forward. you don't support this i know from what you've said. i do. i may prevail, and you may prevail but it simply don't we await to the american people to take a vote? and unfortunately this deal a tactic that's been going on is

postponing, and it's doing it at a time of year i have to tell you i always say at least when i informed the house if you don't like this job don't run for it and if you get the job don't complain about it. i'm not going to complain that most of the members of this senate would like to be home with their families for christmas and we may not be able -- >> to allow me to respond to your question? >> i can yield for a question i would yield to the center of kansas for a question. >> weld you can go for it and yield on the floor and see what happens. i think that question the senator asked me and i will reformate back in the form of the question is that week, i was taking part in a filibuster in. i was here to talk about rationing and have the rationing amendment friday along with a medicare advisory board and along with several others and all of a sudden was told there were not in order.

why are they not in order? we are going to move on this bill and consequently i of four amendments sitting on my desk waiting to at least talked about them and i don't think it is a listing to be buying taking advantage of whatever time we have to at least talk about these amendments certainly on the health care bill on the defense appropriations bill i can assure you i don't think there will be one republican will vote no and it wasn't too long ago i would ask the gentleman if he can remember on your side of the aisle at an earlier time the president said the war is lost we oppose the surge we are going to help the bills etc. etc.. well i didn't like it then and i don't like it now. it's on a fortune in this situation has developed. but i want to assure the gentleman and a good friend i am not here trying to hold anything out, and one other thing isn't it true that there is a bill out there but nobody has really seen

it. especially the managers and men that will be combined with what came over from the house and we do not have a score. if that is the bill i would like to get it up on the web or something so we can take a look at it also have a score. we keep talking about the bill. i would ask the gentleman is that the bill. is that the bill of the score? >> i would say to the senator from kansas there will be a manager's amendment offered tomorrow and will be considerably smaller than this and will have specifics that have been reviewed by the congressional budget office and that is under way. it will be introduced i hope tomorrow morning and will be up for consideration for a procedural votes early monday morning and then the remainder of the week as long as the republicans want us to stay. it's your decision whether we will be here for christmas and we are prepared to stay if necessary to get it done if that's what it takes.

but it is true that there is a manager's amendment coming and it is also true that the congressional budget office may be one of the most powerful agencies the federal government because it literally can stop the congress in its tracks while the people who work there portrait these bills and try to make some estimates as to whether they're going to add to the deficit and whether they will in fact reduce health care cost. the good news for all of us is they took a look at our bill, the democratic health care reform bill and concluded it would in fact reduce the deficit $130 billion the next ten years and $650 billion beyond that. it's also true this is the only bill that's been brought before, the democratic bill, which would expand coverage of health insurance to 94% of americans. there's been a lot of talk here about rationing in other countries. senator kyl of arizona speaks about england and canada, rationing and waiting in line and how unfair it is and there is a fundamental and fairness waiting in line when a doctor says you need medical treatment.

but keep in mind that there is rationing in america. 50 million americans have no health insurance. that's rationing and many americans have health insurance policies not worth anything. that's rationing. we know that more and more people filing for bankruptcy in america because of medical bills because they don't have the out of pocket money for medical care that the need in america and that's rationing. and in the developed world, which america certainly leads, we are the only nation on earth where a person can die for lack of health insurance and that is rationing and that's the current system. some say these reforms are too complex, 2,000 pages. i would defy anyone to take 2,000 pages and a write-down and describe the current health care system in america. they can't. it is much more arcane, complex and bewildering than this bill itself. this bill also and i think it is critically important to note is going to give people an opportunity to fight the health

insurance companies who consistently turned down the request of doctors and patients for care saying they are not covered by the paul was your the person failed to disclose everything they should in their application for health insurance. we take them here and it's about time we did. these health insurance companies make a fortune. the ceos are paid a fortune, and they have created a situation which rations care to americans today. i've seen it firsthand. i know friends who are going through it. people write my office and anyone listening to their constituents back home knows this is true. there's also one other element mentioned before yielding to the senator from minnesota. we will dramatically expand the community health care clinics in america with this bill and if you are aware of these clinics to the clinics and should be in your community you know the bar of the clinics and medical professionals, doctors, nurses, dentists who provide basic primary care to people who are

not wealthy. they provide care at a fraction of the cost to people going into a hospital or emergency room for a fever which deal with an earache and the dewitt well. they do it in chicago, springfield, all over my state and we are going to expand it. you will see after this bill passes in a dramatic change in primary care in america. more and more primary care physicians, cost being brought down with quality care at a local level. we need more of that. and this bill does it and there's nothing coming from the other side that even matches it. i'm prepared at this point to yield to the senator from minnesota for the balance of the time until 4 o'clock. >> the center of minnesota has the floor. >> i will yield to the senter of kansas. for a question, yes, for a question. you again. [laughter]

>> just a personal aside, well, when we get through with the defense appropriation bill which will be soon, and that issue will be settled and i am not going to talk about it anymore with the exception this is the only time i've had to speak to several amendments i feel very strongly about but as i say i don't know whether for is that accurate number being subjected or not. i think the three amendments i have on my desk i will scan the it down to 3i offered in the finance committee i would say to the senator argue going to -- the senter is surely not shifting his position. i would say to the senator when we take up health care again with the senator gave me an assurance i can offer these amendments one would be medicare of vantage report and one would be to cut out the cuts in regard

to the hospitals, that's 1.5 billion to kansas alone in it than what we are talking about here is the rationing task forces board when i was making my speech. if i could have some assurance i could offer those -- >> the senator from minnesota has the floor. >> pc elving free questioned the senator from kansas -- the senator from minnesota has the floor, the senator from illinois. >> if he could give me some assurance that those would be considered, that would be fine. but with that hasn't happened. >> -- in the situation we are. >> thank you, mr. president. the senator from minnesota, yield the floor. a kind of question. i would like to ask the senator from minnesota is he aware of the fact we've been debating health care reform 19 days on the floor and at a period of time there have been for amendment offered by the

republican side of the ogle to change the bill, six motions to come at the bill back to the committee, stop the debate on the floor and that is a sum total of all of the effort on the republican side to date, and we don't choose the amendments the leadership chooses it on the republican side of the aisle. i ask the senator of minnesota are you aware of that? >> i am now. i was aware of the general shape of things, which is the sort of a dearth of the substantive amendments offered and the sort of delay. yes, that i'm aware of. thank you. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to the consent to speak ten minutes as if in morning business. >> mr. president. >> is their objection? >> reserving the right to object, and i will not object to my good friend, i can't -- i can't let this stand when the distinguished senator from

illinois indicates there is only been four amendments and i have to be on my desk i tried -- >> is the center of kansas have an objection? >> i'm reserving the right to object and under my reservation i would point out to my distinguished friend i would like to invite him to my office and he can see these amendments were ruled out of order by that leadership. i don't think that's right. i had to set the record straight. thank you, mr. president triet now conference on senate health care legislation as minority leader mitch mcconnell and senator john mccain. following that, democrats jack reid and mark begich talk with reporters about defense spending. >> well good morning, everyone. the majority leader signaled that he is going to unveil tomorrow morning the most significant piece of domestic legislation in memory.

and his goal after introducing the measure in the morning presumably would be to force a vote. some 36 hours after that. what we know for sure at the moment we have seen the pelosi bill and reid bill but none of my constituents are his constituents, not senator mccain's constituents, none of you, in fact no one who couldn't be collected in a phone booth has seen -- if i can find it. here it is. have seen the missing bill. [laughter] which is a mystery to virtually everyone apparently up to and including the assistant democratic leader of the samet. so dismissing bill will be

strong presumably. we will see some time in the morning. and in 36 hours we will begin to run. as we've pointed out repeatedly, this massive piece of legislation that seeks to restructure one sixth of our economy is being written behind closed doors without input from anyone in an effort to janet past not only the senate but the american people before christmas an artificial deadline. every american will be affected by this missing bill. every single american will be affected by this, and no one will have had an opportunity to read it and understand. with that, let me turn to senator mccain. >> i want to thank senator mcconnell and our leadership and all of our republican members

who have spoken out so strongly and so steadfastly and with such solidarity. let me just mention how far we've come here. look how far we've come from october a year ago. october 9th, 2008, when the president of the united states said on the issue of health reform i will have republicans and democrats sit down together with c-span cameras in the room so the american people will know who is on the side of the pharmaceutical companies and who is on the side of the american people. so where have we ended up? in a bizarre situation, where even the number two senior democrat, senator durbin in a colloquy with me says he doesn't know what is in the bill either. remember the commitment that legislation would be on line for

72 hours before we would take up the legislation? what ever happened to that? you talk about change coming to talk about change, it is interchange you can believe in. it's change that is astonishing. we all know promises are made in political campaigns. but this is a complete reversal. there is no change. this is business as usual. tomorrow there is going to be a snowstorm and we will be coming and our feet and everything will be paralyzed as the nation's capital is when there is a snowstorm. [laughter] but the fact is that there is a firestorm of there in america. that firestorm say is stop this, stop this. we want to know. we want to know what's in this legislation. we want to know about what is going to happen to one seventh of our gross