qualify for tax credits to help them pay for health insurance, easing the burden of premiums, deductibles and co-payments. it will make tax credits for up to 50% of health care premiums available to over 100,000 small businesses in new jersey. it will also put an end to the hidden tax that is passed along to everyone in my state to increase premiums and costs to pay for the over $1 billion spent on uncompensated care in new jersey. this legislation includes a health insurance exchange that would provide portability, security and choice for 1.3 million new jersey residents who presently don't have any health insurance whatsoever. it will increase the number of doctors and nurses and den teufrts -- dentists for the 150,000 new jerseyans, 2% of the population who live in areas who do not have access to primary care because of a shortage of health care providers in their communities. and yet, there will not be one

single vote for this legislation on the other side. not a single vote for any of these health reforms in my state or states across the country. mr. president, this is the politics of no, pure and simple. i suppose it's nice to say no to health reform when you have the full protection of health care yourself. but it's wrong to say you are unwilling to afford the same protections to others. it's nice to say "no" to health care when you and your family will not be denied coverage because of the privileged position you hold, but wrong to let even one mother, one father hear that their child has been denied the medical treatment they desperately need. i say to my friends how dare you stand in unison on the other side of the aisle and deny to others that which you so fully enjoy yourself? how can you deny to others that

which you so fully enjoy yourselves? it is inconceivable to me that when all is said and done, when our differences have been aired and the debate has ended, that not one of my colleagues on the other side will see the historic nature of this legislation. we can be proud of this legislation and i know when the dust settles and the provisions of the bill become clear, america will be proud of it as well. this landmark reform legislation includes state basic insurance exchanges, creating a fair, open, competitive marketplace for affordable coverage. it includes an amendment i proposed for long overdue consumer protections for emergency services whe. when you're getting sent to a hospital, you're not thinking about calling your company and saying, is this the right hospital, am i going to be covered, without regard to prior authorization. it requires insurance plans to provide behavioral health treatments for those of our children who are autistic as part of the minimum benefit standards. it encourages new benefits for

therapies to diagnose and treat acute and chronic disease with a tax credit for innovative biotechnology research. it ensures that minor children qualify as exchange eligible and provides for the availability of child-only health insurance coverage in the exchanges. it stops insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions, health status, or gender. and it ends the medical benefits shell game tha that insurers hae played with people's lives. bottom line is this legislation helps new jersey and it helps america. it is fair, balanced and fixes a badly broken system. it is truly an historic piece of legislation and will be remembered as such, and yet every one of my colleagues on the other side will vote no. they will stand against all of it, all that i've talked about, firmly once again on the wrong side of history. so let me conclude, mr. president, by saying i've said it before and i'll say it

again, history calls on us to stand up on rare occasions for what is fair and just and right for the american people, and this is one of those occasions. this is a time to look into your heart, a time to see beyond your own political interests, your own hard ideology and look into the lives of millions of americans. think about the millions of families on main street in every community where a child wakes up in the middle of night to a parent who cannot afford to get them basic care they need. and ask yourself what's the right thing to do. this is the time to do what's right for america. it requires more than parliamentary maneuvers to slow the process. it requires more than shrill voices raised under the banner of free market values at the expense of fundamental human values. it requires doing what's right for the millions of american families who have lost their jobs and their health care, those who have suffered from the economic policies of the last eight years and now find themselves hurting.

this is a time to remember them, a time to remember every mother who cries herself to sleep at night because she lost her job, lost her health care for herself and her infant, and could lose everything she struggled for in her life if she gets sick. i say again to my friends, how dare you deny to her the protections that you so fully enjoy yourself. how dare you turn this into a parliamentary game of delay, deny, and defeat. those who have continuously said no to any attempt at health care reform and yes to the needs of the insurance industry believe that the business of government is business. but for all of us who know the business of government, what it really is, it's about people, those who send us here. it is their lives, their hopes, their dreams for a better life for themselves and their families. this is an opportunity to stand up for them. this is an opportunity to take

care of their health care. this is an opportunity to show on whose side you're on. are you on the side of those families or are you on the side of the special interests they woulinterests thatwould have yoe ideological interests that would have you vote no against these families. this is historic legislation, and i'm afraid that our friends on the other side will once again, as they did on social security and medicare, find themselves on the wrong side of history. mr. president, i intend to be on the right side of history and to vote yes for this legislation. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution 382, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: senate resolution 3 382, supporting the goals and ideals of observing the national slavery and trafficking prevention month from january 1 through february 1, 2010, to raise awareness of and opposition to modern slavery. mr. durbin:the presiding officee objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, may i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate resolution 383, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 3 383, designating january 2010 as national mentoring month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous

consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and my statements related to the resolution be placed in the record at the appropriate place as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the controlled time be extended for an additional 30 minutes under the control of the republican side and that all additional time, including that already utilized by senator menendez with postcloture time continue to run during this period. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 7:00 a.m. tuesday, december 22. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, that the senate then resume consideration of h.r. 35890 with postcloture -- 3590, with postcloture time continuing to run during the overnight adjournment and that the time until the expiration of postcloture time be equally

divided and controlled between their leaders or their designees. that upon the exexpiration of tiench the majority leader be recognized to move to table amendment number 3278. that upon disposition of amendment number 3278, that amendment number 3277 be withdrawn, that the senate then proceed to vote on adoption of amendment number 3276. that upon disposition of amendment number 3276, the senate then proceed to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on amendment number 2786. that if cloture is invoked, the majority leader then be recognized and that the time until 9:30 a.m. then be equally divided and controlled between the leaders or their designees. further, that the senate begin alternating one-hour blocks of time beginning at 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with the republicans controlling the first hour. that at 12:30 p.m., the senate stand in recess until 2:30 p.m. and that upon reconvene, the senate resume the alternating blocks until 5:30 p.m., with all

postcloture time counting during any recess period and until 5:30 p.m. i ask that the -- let me stop at that point. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask the senate adjourn following the remarks of senator voinovich of ohio and senator demint, if he chooses to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. voinovich: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. voinovich: mr. president, i want to take some time today to talk about the health care bill before the senate. which the majority leader is anxious to get passed before christmas. i expect that he knows if this bill sees too much light of day, he could lose one or two of his 60 votes and that's why his managers' amendment was kept under wraps so that really no one knew anything about it until the last minute.

on our side of the aisle, w we'd like to hold off until after christmas to give all members of the senate and the american people a chance to review this legislation, and obviously this isn't going to happen and i think that's unfortunate. when you compare the number of days we've spent debating this bill to other major pieces of legislation that have come before this body in recent yea years, the democrats' haste is obvious. for example, in 2002, i was very much involved in legislation that created the department of homeland security. we spent 19 days over seven weeks on the floor debating this bill. we took 20 votes on amendments during the debate. the final result was bipartisan. 90 members of the senate voted for it. tragically for the american people, unlike other important health care-related bills, like the medicare modernization act that garnered wide bipartisan

support, this bill is nowhere near bipartisan and didn't receive a single vote for cloture at 1:00 a.m. this morning and only one republican in the house of representatives supported it. in my humble opinion, the way this bill was negotiated, behind closed doors and without the input of members from both sid sides, will sour relations and bipartisan discussion on other major issues to come before the senate, like debt and deficit reduction, notably bipartisan legislation that i've been working on very closely with senator gregg and conrad, a comprehensive energy bill, reauthorization of the surface transportation bill, climate change legislation, and a very important jobs bill. the problems facing our country are too serious for business as usual. each side one-upping the other for political advantage with the

2010 elections casting shadows on what we should be doing for the benefit of our country at a time when this nation is as fragile as i have seen it in my entire life. our future and the future of our children and grandchildren is in our hands. our constituents and the world are watching. our credibility and credit are on the line and so is our economic and national security and, quite frankly, our leadership position in the wor world. we need fewer partisans in this body and more statesmen. mr. president, last week i came to the floor to remind my colleagues and the american people about the fiscal realities that face our nation and explain how this health reform legislation, which is now likely to pass based on this morning's cloture vote, would make an unsustainable fiscal situation even worse. let me remind you as we stand

right now, our nation's debt has exceeded $12 trillion for the first time in our history. in fact, from 2008-2009 alone, the federal debt