baucus for mr. kerry proposes amendment number 2926. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, we are beginning our fifth day of consideration of the health reform bill. we'll be in a period for debate only until about 11:30. pending now is the amendment by the senator from rhode island, senator whitehouse, on fiscal responsibility. also pending is a motion to commit by the senator from utah on medicare advantage. it would be my hope that the senate would vote on these matters today. mr. president, i ask consent that the following staff be allowed on the senate floor for the duration of the debate on the health care bill: cynthia alan, ryan naulty. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i suggest further proceedings under the quorum call be dis

baucus: mr. president, the republican leader just a few moments ago says that this bill raises costs. with all due respect to my good friend from kentucky, that statement is false. just this week the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the organization that analyzes legislation, both sides, both bodies depend on it -- a very professional outfit, i might add -- said that our bill would reduce premiums, not increase, but reduce premiums for 93% of americans. and for all americans, it would make sure that better quality insurance is available. let me state that a little bit differently. the congressional budget office said that for 93% of americans, premiums would be reduced. it is true that for 7% that's not the case. those are americans whose incomes are too high to qualify for subsidies. that is, the tax credits, buying insurance in the exchange. but those 7% would get a lot better insurance, a lot higher-quality insurance than they get today because of the insurance market reforms that are

baucus: mr. president, i wonder if the senator from wyoming would be available to answer a question? mr. barrasso: mr. president? mr. baucus: mr. president, i -- i'm very thankful to my good friend, neighbor in my state. is it true that the c.b.o. letters say that the senate bill will extend the life, extend the solvency of the medicare trust fund? is that true? mr. barrasso: i don't have that letter with me, but by everything i look at, this is going to gut medicare, it's going to make it go broke sooner, and it's going to be bad for the seniors of america. mr. baucus: i don't have the exact letter in front of me but in all deference and respect for my good friend from wyoming, the c.b.o. says the exact opposite. the conclusion of the congressional budget office is that this legislation will help seniors by extending the solvency of the medicare trust fund by i guess four to five years. that's black and white. and if i had the letter in front of me, i'd read it to him. but that's a fact. this le

baucus: mr. president, i noted that the other side the last couple two, three days has tried to make the case that seniors' medicare benefits are in jeopardy because -- quote -- "this legislation cuts medicar medicare." i've heard that statement over and over and over and over again. in fact, the last speaker on the other side made that same point. i'm co confounded. i'm very surprised when i hear those statements. why am i very surprised in because it's totally, patently false. it's false. it's untrue. there are no benefits cuts here, none. one could say that the private plans, the medicare advantage plans, which are vastly overpaid -- the nonpartisan medpac organization states that they're vastly overpaid by 18% -- one can say those private plans -- it is not medicare -- those private plans, medicare advantage -- those aren't medicare plans, those are private plans, private insurance plans -- they may be overprescribed some nonguarantee the benefits for beneficiaries, something like eyeglasses

baucus: mr. president the? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, pending unanimous consent request reported by the two leaders, i yield now such time as the senator from massachusetts desires. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts is recognized. mr. kerry: mr. president, thank you. i ask consent to speak as if in -- mr. kirk: mr. president, thank you. i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business and the time be counted postcloture. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. kirk: thank you, mr. president. i know all my colleagues share an indebtedness to the many staff members who worked so tirelessly behind the scenes each and every day. they assist us in serving the public and in responding to the needs of our constituents. today i am honored to pay particular tribute to the contributions of one truly outstanding member of the senate staff. she will retire at the end of this session of congress after 47 years of

baucus: thank you. mr. barrasso: and i also heard the majority whip come to the floor and say the republicans have only offered four amendments. mr. president, i offered 19 amendments, and so i ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside and that i be allowed to call up my amendment number 3148 to protect individuals facing skyrocketing premiums. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. baucus: reserving the right to object. mr. barrasso: well, the purpose of this amendment, mr. president -- mr. baucus: reserving the right to object. i have not yet objected. we will object. mr. president, we have been debating this bill for -- mr. barrasso: regular order. mr. baucus: mr. president, i -- the presiding officer: is there objection to the request? mr. baucus: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: we have an amendment read on the floor yesterday, that i worked my way through, along with my staff, 383 pages, and the minority -- the maj

baucus: mr. president, may i ask how many minutes i have remaining? the presiding officer: 15. mr. baucus: mr. president, i yield myself minutes to my good friend from iowa, who i think is going to be speaking against my position, but he is a good fellow, so he should have five minutes. mr. grassley: this is typical of the comity of the united states senate, and i thank my good friend for doing that. i have a little different view on some of the things he said about taxes here, and i respect his giving me some time because we don't have time on this side. so it is nice of his doing that. republicans and democrats are working off of the same data provided by the joint committee on taxation. for some reason, my friends on the other side of the aisle seem to want to read this data selectively, so i'd like to look at this data. and i want to stress that this data is from the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation. they're experts. they're nonpolitical people that tell it like it is. so, i -- my frie

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i yield ten minutes to the senior senator from michigan. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: thank you, mr. president. first let me thank the senator from montana for the extraordinary work that he has put in on this bill for so long, so many months, so many years. thanks also go, of course, to the democratic leader, our majority leader, senator dodd and others who have worked so hard to get us here. we are at a pivotal moment in the long fight to reform our health care system. everyone should by now be well aware of the history, of how presidents of both parties have tried and failed to achieve reform. and of how, after months of painstaking review, we've arrived at this instant, closer than ever to health care reform. it would be impossible to fashion legislation on an issue so massive and so complex on which all could agree on every detail. those seeking perfection will have to look outside this chamber or, for that matter, in any piece of comple

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i have one unanimous consent request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask this request be agreed to and this request be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, i now yield to senator murray from washington -- i suggest she be recognized to speak for seven minutes. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the health insurance system in our country has been broken for a very lone time. for far too long, families and businesses across my home state of washington have been forced to make some tough decisions, spending nights struggling or whispering after their kids go to bed about how to pay the bills and praying they don't get sick. i'm proud to say, mr. president, that's about to change. over the c

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i yield to senator klobuchar ten minutes. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i ask unanimous consent to peek for up to 12 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: i rise today to speak about true health care reform. the way i look at this in my state is it's a matter of affordability and cost. we have one of the highest percentage of people covered in the country, mr. president, in minnesota. but the issue is it's becoming more and more expensive for the people of our state to afford health care. i try to remember three simple numbers of all the numbers we're going to hear in the next few weeks. those are the numbers 6, 12 and 24. ten years of cola costs $6,000 for an average family to pay for their health care a family. now it's $12,000 with a lot of people paying a lot more. ten years from now if we don't do anything, it'

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, under current law, the estate tax disappears next year. that is in 16 days. but then snaps back to a 55% rate the year after. i believe clearly that is not sound policy. the estate tax should not be zero in one year and then snapped up to a very height hi rate the subsequent year -- a very high rate the skwraoerpbt. the current law has the rates slowly declining and the exemptions slowly increasing. individual exemption now is $3.5 million. and if congress takes no action, beginning january 1 next year the estate tax will be zero. zero tax on the estate. another consequence will occur taofplt that is all -- too. that is all heirs of the estate will find the property they receive will be subject to a carry-over basis. currently today property received by heirs is subject to a step-up basis. the heirs get the benefits as of the date of the decedent's death. if this law expires, not only will there be

chairman baucus had to move. in my heart i feel he'd rather not have that sort of pressure or make that decision. but that was not our deadline. it was a deadline imposed by the white house. the senate democratic leadership, they pulled the plug on the talks. go check the public comments and the press reports -- in the press reports. they pulled the plug, senator kennedy and senator enzi and i could not agree to a product at that point because of the substantive issues that were very much involved. i want to make it very clear for this are senator of the three republicans that were negotiating, kind of in summary, that republican leadership, i think, had questions about a lot of things that were going on in those negotiations. but never once did senator mcconnell, my leader, say to me, get out of there. that's the impression that was left this morning. and i can only say that i think i've established a -- a reputation in the united states senate, particularly while i was chairman of the senate finance committee,

baucus: mr. president, it's been nearly five weeks since the majority leader moved to proceed to the health care reform bill before us today, and it has been more than two months since the finance committee reported its bill, a great deal of which is reflected in the bill before us today. it has been three months since the finance committee publicly posted the 564 amendments that senators filed for consideration in the committee, and it has been seven months since the finance committee convened three bipartisan roundtable discussions on each of the three major areas of reform. delivery system reform, insurance coverage, and options for financing reform. it has been seven months since the finance committee issued three bipartisan policy papers detailing the options from which their committee chose to craft its bill, and 18 months since the finance committee convened a bipartisan day-long health care summit at the library of congress. it has been 19 months since the finance committee began holding

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: just a couple three points here, and then i see the senator from ohio wishes to speak. several times during this afternoon, senators on the other side of the aisle, in my judgment a little demonstration of trying to offer amendments. they repeatedly ask consent to suspend the normal working of the cloture rule to offer amendments. earlier, i just note for the record, they slow walked the process when an amendment was in order and wanted the whole amendment read. and now they are offering amendments again to slow down the process. this is clearly a tactic to slow the process. it's not part of the regular order. that's clearly what's going on here. those were not -- despite their protestation to the contrary, serious amendments. now, normally senators offer -- when a senator offers unanimous consent, he is allowed to speak briefly on the subject, at least under the reservation, the right to object. my colleagues hav

baucus: absolutely. mr. mccain: all the senator had to do was have it authorized, bring it up on the floor as an appropriation and i'm sure that the senator's arguments would have been far more cogent than jamming it into a bill which has to do with health care reform. mr. baucus: this is health care. mr. mccain: of policy of health care reform. and this bill -- this legislation and this cause of the senator from montana has been turned back several times. mr. baucus: reclaiming my right to the floor. mr. mccain: i'm responding. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: i'm reclaiming the floor because he doesn't want to deal in good faith with this issue. the second point -- second poi point. it is disrespectful, it is unseemly for senators in this body to invoke the names of ted kennedy and jack kennedy in opposition to this bill. it is disrespectful and unseemly and i, frankly, am very much surprised that senators would go to that level and try and invoke the names of ted kennedy and ja

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, for the benefit of all senators, let me lay out today's program. there's been nearly three weeks since the majority leader moved to proceed to the health care reform bill, and this is the tenth day of debate on the bill. the senate has considered 18 amendments or motions. we have conducted 14 roll call votes. today the senate will debate the amendment by the senator from north dakota, senator dorgan, on the prescription drug re-importation. at the same time we'll debate the motion by the senator from idaho, senator crapo, on taxes. under the previous order, the time until 12:30 p.m. today will be for debate only with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. following remarks of the ranking member of the finance or his designee, the majority will control the first hour, the republicans will control the second hour. we are hopeful that the senate will be able

baucus: absolutely. mr. whitehouse: and right now our payment system is driving them away from having that kind of simple discussion. it doesn't adequately support the electronic describ prescribt would let you know they are not picking up their meds anyway. but president obama did a great job on this with the electronic health funding that he put through. but this question of doing what you're paid to do, if all you're paid for is procedures, then the hospital doing the discharge summary, if they couldn't get paid for that, but they did get paid when the person came back and was readd militar readmittee $40,000, $50,000 a day, it doesn't take too long to figure out where their effort is going to be. and it is not glg to be in those areas that save -- and it is not going to be in those areas that save money. we've set up the payment system with all these perverse incentives. mr. baucus: sometime ago i noted that senator hatch wanted to speak at 5:00. i'm just trying to be a traffic cop here. mr. dodd: i want

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i have ten unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. and they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. and i ask consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. baucus: mr. president, just -- i'm just going to speak very, very briefly on the pending subject and then let the sponsor of the amendment, that is, the mikulski amendment, finish up here. i think it's very. i know this point has been made before but i think it bears repeating. the american heart association, the american stroke association has a written -- released to the senate and i'll just read the -- the most important parts here. basically they say they strongly support health plans to provide first coverage for clinical preventive services that are evidence based and necessary for th

baucus: reserving the right to object. mr. baucus: reserving the right to object. za&d&,vg@@@@@ á@ b not $438 billion taken out of medicare and put into -- in to create a new entitlement program of $2.5 trillion. mr. mcconnell: i ask my friend one more question. is this the same bill that back in 2005 that my counterpart, the majority leader, decried as immoral? mr. mccain: as i recall, that's exactly it. i think the senator from new hampshire recalls that debate. mr. gregg: if the senator will yield. absolutely. i was chairman of the budget committee at the time. as the republican leader is alluding to, we attempted to reduce the rate of growth of medicaid by $10 billion on a a $1 trillion base over five years. less than .1% i believe it was. it was opposed aggressively by the aarp and it was opposed by the other side of the aisle. not one member of the other side of the aisle voted for that. and do you know what that change was going to be? it was going to require that wealthy people who benefited from the part-d drug benefit would have to pay part of their premi

max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and just persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what blog was thrown in the way. chris dodd who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing the good thing and reaching for the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representati

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. baucus: mr. president, reserving the right to object and i hope my colleague would let me just say a word or two under my reservation. the underlying bill, i might say while i'm reserving the right to object, is crafted in a way with the guidance of c.m.s., the office of inspector general, h.h.s., and the justice department for stronger antifraud provisions. it would give c.m.s. new screening authority to provide resources to the c.m.s. for new screening authority. also limit providers in other ways by more oversight when fraud is suspected, like limiting the number of durable medical equipment providers because we know that d.b. is fraught with fraud. we also require under the bill to require providers to have compliance programs to make sure providers know the rules. also, increase penalties for fraudulent activity. that's in this bill too. but most importantly, this bill would give c.m.s., h.h.s., o.i.g., more tools at their proposal to protect the integrity. so the bill does a lot to protect

max baucus never gave up.started out early and persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what lock was broken away. christopher dodd kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing a good thing and return to the highest about use of of this country. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we will go home and hear our constituents or elegances bel pre i don't believe that. i believe that the negativity that leader mitch mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor has peaked. now, when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america, good for the american people, and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. [no audio] >> after the senate passed the health care bill, the president spoke briefly with reporters at the white house. >> members of the senate voted to pass a health care bill that was revolutionary purposes a c

. >> senator baucus. >> thank you senator reid and dr. wilson. this is an historic moment not only because the legislation is about to be passed in the senate, but also because of the statement we just heard. there are many organizations who are endorsing this legislation because they know it's the right thing to do for america. hospitals know that, hospice, home health, pharmaceutical industry, they all know this is good for our country. but it's also historic because there is another endorsement, despite the american medical association. that's very important to me. the american medical association is not pose an legislation, but rather supports it. and they're supporting it in a way where once to keep working with the senate on issues that concern. he mentions the payment for

controlled between senators baucus and mccain or their designees. at 2:45 there will be two votes. all four votes today will be subject to a 60-vote threshold for adoption. mr. mcconnell: would my friend yield before making opening remarks? i was wondering since it is thursday, my colleagues plan to be here saturday and sunday but would phraoeubg to know whether there will be an opportunity to go to church sunday morning? mr. reid: i think we would come in somewhere around noon on sunday. i indicate to my friend that it appears that we have the -- the next opportunity for amendment will be when we complete this. it's my understanding that senator ben nelson is ready, has an amendment. i think we've given it to your staff. this may be one where it's

baucus: mr. president, i yield nine minutes and how many seconds? the presiding officer: nine minutes an 11 seconds. mr. baucus: i yield nine minutes and 11 seconds to the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: i'm sad to see that our republican colleagues have resorted to fear tactics in a desperate attempt to preserve a dysfunctional, costly status quo medical system that we have in this country today. republicans in their attempt to strike fear in seniors across the country are trying to convince people that they've changed from the party that's always opposed to medicare to being medicare's staunchest defenders. we all know if it was up to our friends on the other side of the aisle, there would be no medicare. they fought it's very creation. don't take my word for it, take one of their standard bearers who ran for president when he ran for president. senator bob dole, who is a good friend of mine, i have a lot of admiration for senator dole, i just don't agree with him. he said, "i was there, fighting the fight, voting against medicare, one of 12, becau

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i understand that we're now under the order where the half-hour is allocated to the majority side, is that correct? the presiding officer: that's correct. we have 30 minutes, senator. mr. baucus: mr. president, i reserve myself ten minutes. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. baucus: mr. president, i just want to just help people understand this legislation. i'm sure many do, but i'm sure there are some who don't with respect to the choices that people will have. we have a uniquely american system of health care in america. it's roughly half public, half private. and the goal of this legislation is to retain what we have. it is basically that same balance of public and private. it's worked pretty well for america, it's uniquely american. we're not canada. we're not great britain. we're not switzerland. we're the united states of america. i think it's just good to build on our c

baucus: just maybe three minutes.e presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized for three minutes. mr. baucus: i understand the senator is saying, like everything around here, there is a kernel in truth in everything, and it is true that health care expenditures are going to go -- i read that samuelson article and what i take from that is the guy is pessimistic. people love health care -- but the main point is this, you mentioned how quality of care is so good intermountain. mr. bennett: there are other agencies that have done a good job. mr. baucus: basic integrated systems. there is one in montana called the billings clinic. generally in these areas, this integrated systems which i think quite well, a lot of doctors are salaried. a lot of them -- the incentives are there to focus on health care on a patient, is coordinated care in contrast with other parts of the country. in this bill, in addition to wellness and prevention -- i ask the senator if he agrees -- the delivery system reforms will help move

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, as i understand it, there are a couple three senators left besides myself, senator sessions and senator burr. there may be others, but that's what i see at the moment. mr. president, america's health care system is in a crisis and it's a crisis not just for the 46 million americans who lack health insurance. it's also a crisis for those who have health insurance but are worried they can't afford to keep it. also a crisis for those who are underinsured, those who have poor health insurance. rising health care costs affect families and american business businesses. that we know. health insurance premiums continue to outpace wages and inflation by a large emergency in. between 1999 and the year 2008, premiums for employer-sponsored health benefits more than doubled. in that nine-year period, they increased 117% for families and individuals and they increased 119% for employers. that is, each case both for families and for employers, health insurance premiums doubled. clearly o

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, it has been somewhat -- it's been a very listening discussion listening to the senator from new hampshire. several points here. one, this is -- the underlying bill is clearly not a net increase in government spending and health care. the numbers are bandied about by those on this side, one trillion, two and a half trillion, et cetera. i do acknowledge and thank the senator from new hampshire for saying yes, that is all paid for. he did say that and he did agree that this is all paid for, so i just hope when other senators on that side of the aisle start talking about the big cost, one trillion, two trillion, whatever, that they do admit it's paid for. the ranking member of the budget committee flatly said yes, it is all paid for, and i would hope that other members on that side of the aisle heed the statement of the senator from new hampshire, the ranking member of the senate budget committee saying it's all paid for. but don't take my word for it either or his word for it.

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask -- i ask further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, it's so ordered. mr. baucus: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that we extend the period for debate only until 2:00 p.m. with the time equally divided with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each with no amendments in order during this time. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. ensign: mr. president? mr. baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. mr. baucus: mr. president, the senator from texas and others talked about premiums so i'd like to discuss the effect on premiums of health care reform. affordability is at the crux of this debate. in fact, reducing costs and making health care premiums more affordable and predictable while improving quality is the impetus for this bill. and i must underline

baucus: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: this is very simple. a vote for the johanns amendment is a vote for the status quo. that means seniors continue to pay higher premiums, higher cost sharing due to wasteful overpayment. a vote against johanns means we can extend the solvency of the medicare trust fund that helps seniors and helps benefits. a senator: the senate is not in order? mr. enzi: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. please take your conversations out of the well and outside. mr. enzi: senator collins. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, home health care is a compassionate, cost-effective alternative to institutional care. it allows our seniors to receive care just where they want to be in their own homes. under this bill, home health care would take a disproportionate cut. madam president, let me quote a home and health care director in my state who sums up what the approach will be, what will happen if this motion is no

baucus baucus: madam presid? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: madam president, the senate's not in order. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: madam president, the gregg amendment is a killer amendment. the gregg amendment would kill tax cuts in the bill, it would kill assistance for co-pays, it would kill the medicaid expansion for the lowest-income americans, it would kill the bill's additional funding for the children's health insurance program. the proponents of the gregg amendment advertise it as protecting medicare. that's false advertising. the gregg amendment would kill health care reform. health care reform would extend the life of medicare trust fund by four to five years. health care reform helps extend the life of medicare by making commonsense changes like decreasing hospital readmissions, decreasing hospital acquire acquired infec, paying doctors and hospitals to work together. health care reform will not reduce guaranteed medicare benefits but health care reform would extend the life of the medicare

baucus: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, this has been an interesting discussion that we've heard in the last 15, 20 minutes. one can do anything with figures, numbers. they're not going to cite the oft used phrase, you know, so many can figure -- some category of people can figure it, other category of people can do something else. but anyway, one can do anything with -- with numbers, anything whatsoever. and, frankly, this is really an effort to confuse by just pulling different figures out from one document to another and concoct what they -- put a board up here. it's -- it's just an effort to confuse. one can do anything with numbers. but the real question is: what are the facts? a senator: would the senator yield? mr. baucus: no, i want to first make a point and i'll yield later to the senator. the congressional budget office stands by its analysis. i have before me an e-mail sent today dated today's date, 2:56 p.m. and

max baucus who never gave up. he started out early and just persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted. no matter what blog was thrown in the way. chris dodd who kept the flame of ted kennedy and the spirit of doing the right thing and doing the good thing and reaching for the highest values of this country alive. this is a happy day. mitch mcconnell said on the floor that we are going to go home -- i do not believe that. i believe that the negativity that ms. mcconnell and others have continually displayed on the floor and now when people learn what is actually in the bill and all the good it does, it will become more and more popular because it is good for america and good for the american people and the true symbol of what we can do if we all pull together. >> over at the white house, president obama reacted having the latest departure -- having delayed his departure for hawaii until the senate passed the health-care package. >> members of the senate joined their colleagues in the house of representati

baucus: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. baucus: mr. president, i have a unanimous consent request that i understand has been cleared by both sides. i ask consent that after senator ensign raises the point of order, that the reid substitute amendment 2786 is a violation of the constitution, that the point of order be set aside to reoccur on wednesday, december 23, at a time to be determined by the majority and republican leaders. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. a senator: so, mr. president. mr. ensign: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. ensign: i rise to make a constitutional point of order against this bill on the grounds that it violates congress's enumerated amendment, powers in article 1 and that it violates the fifth amendment of the constitution. i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: pursuant to the unanimous consent, the point of order shall be set aside until a time tomorrow to be determined by the majority leader and the minority leader. mr.

so did the distinguished senator from montana, senator baucus.among other things, this law created the medicare advantage program. when conference committee members were negotiating the conference report, several of us insisted that the medicare advantage program was necessary in order to provide health care coverage choices to medicare beneficiaries. at that time, there were many parts of the country where medicare beneficiaries did not have adequate choices in coverage. in fact, the only choice offered to them was traditional fee-for-service medicare, a one-size-fits-all government-run health program. by creating -- i might add, which didn't really work. by creating the medicare advantage program, we provided beneficiaries with choice in coverage and then empowered them to make their own health care decisions as opposed to the federal government. we gave them the empowerment to make their own decisions. that's unique around here. there won't be any empowerment if go with this bill. in fact, there's almost 2,000 decisions that the secretary of h

but for max baucus, we would not be here.months of the time spent with that committee when we did not have 60 votes, efforts were being made to attain that, as so i have said before but i say again, the leadoff for this whole venture has been max. chairman baucus. he hit the leadoff sometime he could hit from the left or right. had he speed. he had power. and that's chris dodd. a great -- if you look at some of the great players that batted third, who are some of those players? how about lou gehrig? lou gehrig was a setup man for babe ruth. the reason they had lou gehrig there is that they knew that they had to pitch to him because if you got past him you have babe ruth. that's what managers look for. and so for me, for once in my life, i'm batting cleanup. because when i played baseball i couldn't bat cleanup. but by the time it got to me, through baucus, dodd, and harkin it was pretty easy. so i appreciate the nice words everyone said to me. by the time this thing got to me, most of the hard work had been done. every one of

baucus: mr.sident, for the benefit of all senators, i'd like to take a moment to lay out today's program. it's been more than two and a half weeks since the majority leader moved to proceed to health care reform. this is the ninth day of debate on it. the senate has considered 18 amendments and motions. we conducted 14 roll call votes. today the senate will debate the amendment by the senator from nebraska, senator nelson, on the women's right to choose. at the same time we'll debate the motion by senator mccain on medicare advantage. the time between now and caucus lunches is for debate only. the majority will control the first hour of debate this morning. republicans will volume the second hour. we are hopeful the senate will be able to conduct votes on or in relation to the nelson amendment, a side-by-side amendment to the mccain motion and the mccain motion sometime this afternoon. thereafter we expect to turn to another amendment, likely to be an amendment from senator dorgan on drug re-impo

baucus: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. sessions: well, mr. president, i think i would be remiss if i didn't ask that -- unanimous consent that the amendment be set aside and that the -- the -- to extend to my state of alabama, which is also in a serious condition financially, and whose governor has absolutely expressed unequivocal opposition to the burdens under the state medicaid program that passing this legislation would impose on the state. so, therefore, i would ask that the same benefit that provides 100% federal funding to the state of nebraska for their expanded medicaid program apply to the state of alabama. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. baucus: mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. sessions: well, mr. president, i would just ask a little bit here, why are we here and voting tonight at 1:00 a.m., and probably voting all the way to christmas eve? and i think the answer fundamentally is on the health care matter, that after much talk about a bipartisan health reform effort and some wor

senate proceed to a series of stacked votes in relation to the following amendments or motions -- a baucus sense of the senate amendment related to taxes, the pending crapo amendment, which i might add parenthetically has been out there since last tuesday, the crapo motion to commit the bill related to taxes. then the dorgan amendment which is on the drug importation issue, number 2793, and then a mccain amendment number 3200 on the same subject. i ask -- further ask consent that the above referenced amendments be subject to an affirmative 60-vote threshold and that if they achieve that threshold that they be agreed to. further, if they do not achieve that threshold, that they be withdrawn. finally, i ask that no amendments be in order to any of the mentioned amendments in motion. and before the chair rules, i would just like to make a quick point. the majority leader has been proposing a series of votes which regretfully has not held to our pattern of alternating back and forth. we have many people interested in the pending amendments and under the agreement i just put forward, each side

unlike what senator baucus said last week, that senator mcconnell's statement, that this bill raises costs was -- quote -- "a false statement." this bill does, in fact, raise health care expenditures, and all you need to do is go to -- to the actuary's statements to determine that. actuary's report goes on to provide, the new fees for drugs, devices and insurance plans in the rebill will increase prices and health insurance premium costs for consumers. this will increase national health expenditures by approximately $11 billion per year. well, mr. president, we know that this bill is going to raise money on the backs of patient consumers. this is going to happen in my state. it's going to happen in every other state and it's going to be done by taxing the industries that provide us with a prescription drug, the medical devices, like the tongue depressors, the medical thermometers, x-ray machines, and the like. and whether you agree or not on -- on taxing these industries, what the c.m.s. actuary is telling us is that these additional taxes are going to be passed on to the patient con

baucus: mr.president? mr. baucus: let me lay out today's program. it has been more than 3 1/2 weeks before the majority leader moved to proceed to the health care reform bill. this is the 14th day that the senate has considered it. the senate has considered 18 amendments. we've conducted 14 roll call votes. today the senate will continue debating the dorgan amendment on prescription drug reimportation and the lautenberg alternative amendment to that amendment. and we will continue debating the crapo motion on taxes, which i have filed a side by side amendment as well. under the previous order, there will be five hours of debate with each of the following senators controlling one hour: senator from idaho, senator crapo, senator dorgan, the senator from new jersey, senator lautenberg, the republican leader, and this senator. the senate will recess from 12:45 until 3:15 for party conferences. upon the use or yielding back of the five hours of debate, which is likely to be between 5 clock an 6:00 thi

baucus: madam president? mr. dodd: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: madam president, i just want to agree with my friend, the majority leader, that we must close this doughnut hole. i think it's something all of us appreciate, and i second his commitment to doing so with this bill that we send to the president. as most seniors live on modest incomes, as we all know, it is imperative that we can afford -- rather, they can afford the prescriptions that they need. and as the majority leader has noted, seniors who have trouble paying for their prescription drugs are more likely to skip doses or stop taking their medication says altogether -- medications altogether which can lead to more serious health problems and higher long-term costs, beth for them and our -- both for them and our health care system as a whole n. my home state of connecticut, 25%, a quarter of all part-d enrollees fall into the doughnut hole. and so i understand the significance of delivering on the commitment to fixing thi

senator baucus made expanding access to primary care a righty as well as expand -- priority as well asding residency for a primary care practitioner. under the majority leader reid's helped to combine the "help" committee and finance committee provisions to expand our health care workforce, especially our primary care workforce. let's see what this does. first of all, the bill will train an additional 24,000 primary care physicians, via the hlt services. it provides loan repayment, scholarships and higher reimbursement for primary care providers in underserved areas. it increases the supply of public health workers at the tribal health agencies. we provide new resources for more community health centers and nurse managed health centers. we expand primary care residency and training initiatives at hospital and community health centers. our bill, mr. president, will improve health care providers' ability to serve the increasingly diverse population by providing training in cultural competency, in working with individuals with disabilities, in providing care within the medical home model.

let me underscore the point made by senator breed and max baucus and dr.ll support a suspect that if you could only have one organization or group people to support this bill, the choice we would probably make is the one you are hearing today. while it is important to have other organizations be supported, there is up more fundamental than the relationship between a patient and their doctor. that is at the most fundamental level. whether or not you have access to that doctor and the resources to compensate that dr. for their services. all the organizations and individual groups that have supported this bill, i read this one as the most important because it speaks to that relationship between patients and doctors. there are a number of provisions in this bill. some have been articulated. one provision that senator tom harkin and i've worked on and that senator kennedy cared deeply about was making it possible for young men and women who desire to become a physician be able to do so by reducing the term as costs. the scholarships, the grants, the loans in th

baucus: mr. president, with respect to the last debate, let's just be clear that the underlying bill keeps the three decades-old agreement that has been implemented -- that has implemented the hyde amendment to separate federal funds from private funds when it comes to reproductive health care. the nelson-hatch amendment is unnecessary. it is discriminatory against women. and women are the only group, let's remind ourselves, of people who are told how to use their own private money, and that is not fair. madam president, another matter. i'm referring now to the mccain amendment. let me just explain a little bit about medicare advantage and how it works. essentially, the medicare advantage program is insurance companies. they are insurance companies that have their own officers, directors. they have their own marketing plans. they have their own administrative costs. they were concerned about the rate of return on investment, clearly, and their stockholders. these are plain and simple, garden vari