i do support the mikulski and the mikulski approach. her amendment requires all health plans to cover comprehensive women's preventive care and screenings, at no cost to women. i just wanted to come to the floor for a minute and point out why this is so important. when the economy is hurting, women on the whole tend to think of caring for their families first and not caring for themselves. they take care of their children, their spouses first, and they end up delaying or skipping their own health care in order to take care of their families. in fact, we know that in 2007, a quarter of women reported delaying or skipping their health care because of cost. in may of 2009, just two years later, a report by the commonwealth foundation found that more than half of women today are delaying or avoiding preventive care because of its cost. that's not good for the women. it's not good for their families. it's not good for their ability to be able to take care of their families and to take care of themselves. so senator mikulski's amendment is ex

i do support the mikulski and and and and the mikulski approach. her amendment requires all health plans to cover comprehensive women's preventive care and screenings at no cost to women. i wanted to come to the fore and point out why this is important. when the economy is hurting, women on the whole tend to think of caring for their families first and not caring for themselves. they take care of their children, their spouses first and the end of the fleeing or skipping their own health care in order to take care of their families. in fact, we know that in 2007 a quarter of will women report skipping their health care because cost. may 2009, just two years later, a report by the commonwealth foundation found that more than half of women today are dealing avoiding preventive care because of its cost. that isn't great for the women, that's not good for the families, it's not good for their ability to be able to take care of their families and take care of themselves. this, senator mikulski's amendment is extremely important especially in this economi

the mikulski amendment would not do that. it costs $940 million over ten years, as opposed to the the $24 billion to $30 billion in the murkowski amendment. the mikulski amendment i believe is the best way to expand access to preventive care for women while keeping this bill fiscally responsible. we often like to think of the united states as a world leader in health care, with the best and the most efficient system. but the facts, madam president, actually do not bear this out. the united states spends more per capita on health care than other industrialized nations, but, in fact, has worse results. according to the come commonweah fund, the united states ranks 15th in avoidable mortality. that means avoidable death. this analysis measures how many people in each country survive a potentially fatal yet treatable medical condition. the united states lags behind france, japan, spain, sweden, italy, australia, canada, and several other nations. and according to the world health organization, the united states ranks 24th in the

mikulski: mr. president, as we debate health care reform, we need to recognize in the united states of america that health care is a woman's issue. health care reform is a must-do women's issue. and health insurance reform must be a must-change women's issue. too often when we look at when health care is even available to us, we face discrimination. we face continuing the punitive practices of insurance companies that charge women more and give us less in a benefit. a 25-year-old woman pays more in health insurance than her male counterpart of the same health status. a 40-year-old woman pays almost 35% more of her insurance than a male of same age, same health status. we want to change that in health reform. we want to end the punitive practices of the private insurance companies in their gender discrimination. we are concerned -- we, the women of the senate, are concerned that even being a woman is being viewed by the insurance companies as a preexisting condition. now, we have the opportunity her

the mikulski bill changes that as well. the last thing, and i will turn to my colleague from minnesota, just to remind our colleagues, again, what senator baucus has done with his committee and the finance committee, when we did in the "help" committee to provide some really meaningful advantages and help to people across this country immediately. one, our bill will provid provide $5 billion in immediate federal support to provide coverage to uninsured americans with preexisting conditions. coverage under this program will continue until the new exchanges are operated in the next few years. secondly the bill creates immediate access to reinsurance for employer health care plans providing coverage for early retirees. again, this will help protect coverage while reducing premiums for employers and their retirees. the bill also reduces the size of the doughnut hole immediately by raising the ceiling in initial coverage by $500 in 2010, immediately. this will guarantee a 50% price discount on brand named drugs and biologics pur

amendment should now reflect the mikulski amendment as amended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent 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 366, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 3 366, extending condolences to the families of sergeant mark riner, officer teen that griswald, officer ronald owens and officer greg richards. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid on 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.

amendments both offered, mikulski, murkowski and mccain and bennet, so i would object because i believe we have the basis for a fair agreement at this point. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there okay to the original request? mr. vitter: mr. president, reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. visitor: again, -- mr. vitter: again, i'm very disappointed to hear that. senator murkowski has incorporated similar language. i was hoping we could come together 100-0 to actually pass this onto the bill whichever alternative tomorrow is voted up and maybe they both will be, but which ever is voted up or which ever is voted down, i think it's very important to come together and state that we don't want these new task force recommendations to have any force and effect, so let me propose a third and final alternative unanimous consent request that at any point after

now, we have an amendment before us known as the mikulski amendment. this is more of government-centered health care. we had a report out based on prevention that said mammograms shouldn't be required -- or shouldn't be paid for basically for women under 50 years of age, from 40 to 50 years of age, and women in the medicare population age, we don't need annual mammograms for them. well, this was based mainly on cost. and if you look at that time from a cost standpoint, that's probably correct. but just think about it. if you're a woman and you get cancer and you could have had a mammogram diagnose that a lot earlier, well, i'll tell you what, you would have sure rather had that mammogram than had that mammogram denied. so the senator from maryland has proposed an amendment to try to fix the problem. the problem is that instead of one government entity determining whether somebody's going to get coverage, she turns it over to the secretary of health and human services. another government bureaucrat will determine whether something like this would be pai

one of the most important votes on the floor, in addition to senator mikulski helping women get preventive health services, was senator michael bennet of colorado. he offered an amendment that basically said any of the savings that come forward out of of this medicare change in here has to be put in to giving sound financial footing for medicare, more services for the elderly, and making certain that we protect the services that are already guaranteed. that passed100-0. my friends on the other side of the aisle know that. they all voted for it. we're protecting medicare. we're going to put it on sound financiafooting. footing -- sound financial footing. and for the 100 million currently receiving it and for those in the future, this bill is going to make medicare stronger. slow down? no, we're not slowing down. this time we're going to pass health care reform. this time we're going to make america a healthier country with quality, affordable health care for everyone.. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i yield myself such time as

mikulski: thank you. madam president, i rise to speak on the bill and also in opposition to the nelson of nebraska amendment on the subject of abortion. first of all, madam president, i truly believe that health care reform is the most important social justice vote that we will cast in this decade. why? because we are talking about providing universal access to health care, which i believe is a basic human right and should be a fundamental american right. that's why health reform is so important. providing universal access to health care and in this bill ending the punitive practices of insurance companies against women, particularly in the area of gender discrimination, where we pay more and get less in our benefit package, and also where simply being a woman is often treated as a preexisting condition. eight states consider domestic violence a preexisting condition, and you can't get insurance. one woman who had a medically mandated c-section was told she couldn't get insurance again unless she had a st

that's what voting for the mikulski amendment will do. expanding preventive health care is just one of the ways this bill benefits women. again, our health care system is broken, it's expensive, and today, less than half of women have access to employer-sponsored insurance coverage. think about that. less than half of the women in this country have access to employer-based insurance coverage. now, again, many of these women work for very small businesses. we know that. very small. and they can't afford to provide that kind of insurance coverage. in most states, it's legal for insurance companies to charge women more than men for the same policy. women can pay more than double than men do at the same age, for the same coverage. each year, thousands of women are denied coverage from health insurance companies for preexisting conditions. in many states, a history of hospitalizations from domestic violence is considered a preexisting condition. think about that. a battered woman lives through domestic violence and now can't get health insuran

, dodd, dorgan, feingold, feinstein, harkin, inouye, kerry, kohl, senator lautenberg, leahy, 11, mikulski, murray, reid, and senator specter. i would hope these members would continue to support senator kennedy's amendment from 1995 today. clearly the issue of medical liability reform is even more pressing than it was back in 1995. we, as americans, spend more money on lawsuits than any other country in the world. and more than twice as much as all but one other country. and, according to a recent nonpartisan study, the direct cost of health care lawsuits is around $30 billion a year. that's a direct cost to our health care system is around $30 billion a year. now, these costs are multiplied by indirect costs, especially doctors ordering costly tests out of fear of being stewed. estimated money spent on unneeded tests range frdz dz 100 billion annually to $250 billion a year annually. let me repeat the numbers. in unnecessary tests, the estimates are as high a as $100 billion to $250 billion in unnecessary tests by doctors annually. most of those because of out of fear of lawsuits. and in

something that senators mikulski and cardin and i express concerns about earlier this year.what in your view constitutes open-source information on the americans and what is ina's role in setting policies for how that information can be used? >> senator feingold, i believe there are well-established guidelines and processes already in place that just need to be followed. and the analysts need to be vigorously trained. the language in that there protects u.s. persons has not changed since 1981. there are guidelines that ina is using, should be using that flow from that. and that again, i believe that training oversight and reviewing and release mechanisms are critical to ensure that we are only using data that is appropriate and lawful for us to use in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. >> director blair has said it is one thing for private companies have detailed private information that it is another for the u.s. government with all its power and authority to have the same information. when is it appropriate for the government to purchase from private comp

senator mikulski, thank you for joining us. we look forward to hearing your testimony. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for those nice words of introduction. i want to thank you for your national leadership of transportation safety in general and also on this transportation safety issue, in particular. you were prompting by responding to my request to take a look at these issues. the washington, md., metro -- maryland and virginia metric systems. we have had terrible accidents in the action has been swift, urgent, and several. if we all work together, the executive and legislative branch, we can really within the next year do something that we can be proud of and that our constituency can rely on. i feel like it is a new day and there is a freshness and leadership and a commitment to rigorous follow-through. i recognize that transit safety is a national problem. i am here today to speak about the washington metro that serves maryland, virginia, and the district of columbia. i am here to speak for all of the people in the c

witnesses include barbara mikulski. this is about 1.5 hours. >> this hearing of the banking subcommittee will come to order. chairman dodd is a busy man these days. the most import reform in our health-care system in a generation while working hard to completely overhaul our regulatory financial system, not to mention his central role in formulating legislation to jump-start our economy and create millions of new jobs. in the interest of giving him a few minutes to sleep and eat, i volunteered to lead this hearing. we appreciate everything he is doing. i want to start by praising the work of secretary lahood and the administrator. they are overseeing transportation when localities have fewer resources to meet this demand. they have proven themselves able and visionary leaders in these trying times. as seen by the proposal they will be discussing today, their leadership on safety has been particularly important. transportation policy, safety must always be of paramount importance. this past summer, the tragic metro crash

so on behalf of my colleagues on the health committee, particularly senator harkin, senator mikulski, senator murray, senator bingaman, particularly those who worked on the organizations, this is a very ported moment. we're grateful to the ama. this'll make a a huge difference in our country. >> well, dr. wilson, thank you very much for being here and for your huge endorsement of this bill. some of you may know i was a naval back in the 60's and we always had need for flight surgeons that took good care of us. and i found out that dr. wilson is a former navy flight surgeon. in fact, we serve in the same area of operations in the 1960's. we didn't know each other, but were the same area. as soon as we found that i knew we were in good hands. well, no one knows america's health care system better than doctors. they know the predicament of tens of millions of americans without health insurance is injuries and diseases go without proper treatment. they know the predicament of patients who have coverage, but their health insurance company refuses to pay for procedures or they canceled the

on behalf of my colleagues on the health committee, particularly central park in and senator mikulskienator murray, but typically those who worked on the work force issues, this is an important moment. we are proud of the ama this will make a huge difference in our country. >> dr. wilson, thank you very much for being here ensure greater enforcement of this bill. some of you may know that i was a naval aviator back in the 1960's. we always had naval flight surgeons that took a good care of a separate item of that dr. wilson is a former naval flight surgeon. we serve in the same area of operations in the 1960's. we didn't know each other but with serving the same area. when i found that out, i knew we were in good [laughter] nolan knows america's health- care system better than doctors production of the predicament of tens of millions of americans without health insurance. they know the predicament of patients who have coverage of their health insurance company refused to pay for procedures or they cancel the policy after they get sick. they know the lives and money that could be saved

so i would ask unanimous consent that senator nelson speak for ten minutes, boxer for five, mikulski for ten, grassley for ten, cornyn for ten, gillibrand for ten, and then senator mccain, would you like some time? mr. mccain: i object. mrs. boxer: i'm sorry. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. nelson: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. nelson: madam president, my cosponsor, senator hatch, will appear some time later and speak in favor of amendment 2962. he's not able to be here at the moment. before thanksgiving break, i voted with a number, and majority actually of my colleagues in favor of beginning this debate. debate is essential in our democracy. it keeps our country resilient and strong through changing times. before that vote, some argued here on the senate floor that we shouldn't hold this open and full debate. they seemed to suggest that obstruction was better than action. some also argued here on the floor that the november 21 vote was really about abortion. they were wrong. that vote was just whether to begin a debate on an i

mikulski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president, i rise in opposition of the lisa murkowski amendment. although well intentioned, it does not guarantee universal access to preventative and screening services for women. it does not remove the cost barriers of high payments and codeductibles. it is -- co-deductibles. it is opposed by the american cancer society and the american heart association. it primarily provides information on those matters. we salute her intention, but we think that her amendment is too limited, and really to quote the american heart association, that it would be an actual step backward in the area of making preventative services available, particularly not only in the area of cancer but in heart and vascular disease, the emerging number one killer for women. i urge the defeat of the murkowski amendment. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i don't believe that the body is in order. the presiding officer: will the senate be in o

i must say this -- standing next to me as barbara mikulski. the senate together, we got on the appropriations committee together, and for me, barbara, senator mikulski, you brought a tear to my eye when she was the 60th vote today. ok, baucus, god, and then harkin. -- dodd, and then harkin. >> today as a victory for american families in our business alders and for our economy which -- and for generations to come. when we started on this path to your ago we knew it would not be easy but we have worked tirelessly to deliver more affordable health care. to deliver an insurance market the worse for patients, not profits. to deliver billions of >> -- billions of dollars and tax credits and to control health- care costs to get american families and businesses and the economy back on track. today, we can all be proud of what this bill accomplishes. we can be proud that every american in every state will benefit from new consumer protections and a more stable, secure health care system. passing health care reform is a challenge for each of us. togethe

already so far the senate has passed senator mikulski's amendment to make sure that all women have access to quality preventive health care services and that screenings that are so critical to keeping women's healthy -- women healthy are available. the bill -- this underlying bill will help women by ending discrimination based on gender rating or gender bias preexisting conditions on covering maternity care on covering preventive care and screenings including mammograms an baby care, expanding coverage, even if an employer doesn't cover it and cover those who are in an abusive relationship, if they leave, they and their children could lose their coverage. now, mr. president, the amendment before us today would undermine those efforts and goes against the spirit and the goal of this underlying bill. mr. president, all americans should be allowed to choose a plan that allows for coverage of any legal health care service no matter their income. and that, by the way, includes women. but if this amendment were to pass, it would be the first time that federal law would restrict what individual

this is the mikulski amendment, it mandates all plans cover abortion by defining abortion as a preventive service. you define it as a preventive service, you can pay for it. sixth, it inserts text of the indian health reauthorization bill. that passed last year. it doesn't get signed into law, passed this body but does not contain the senate-passed vitter amendment. seventh, basic conscious protections are not included in the senate version. there are other problems but these are seven of the most egregious. i can't imagine that people across the country, certainly people in my state or places like missouri, virginia, california, wisconsin will agree that the federal government should break with its longstapblgd policy against federally funding abortions. that is exactly what has happened and what is in this bill. abortion is not health care. why is it even in this bill at all? the president himself said that at the joint session of congress. at the end of the day the vote for cloture is an affirmative vote to the federal funding of abortion. there is no way around that fact. some people

he and barbara mikulski and jeff bingaman were central to help shape what's come to the floor. senator baucus accepted hundreds of amendments on the republican side. so the bill is not perfect, but tell me what bill is. all of us would like to change it here and there, but none of us can credibly claim that we did not get a chance to have input to this bill. make no mistake, this legislation, that with cooperation and bipartisanship can make history and improve the lives of americans for decades to come is important to this country and to our economy. it can help change who we are as a country. 94% of americans would have health care. just think of that. if we do nothing, things are only going to get worse. more expense, more bankruptcies, more people without coverage. i can't help but think how often we have some private conversations around here at the prayer breakfast, at the national prayer breakfast, the senate prayer breakfast and private conversations about what the duties are and obligations of good adherence to most of the organized religions of the world, and certainl

the amendment co-sponsored by maryland democrat barbara mikulski and republican olympia snowe, would require policies to include a variety of yearly screenings. a vote on this amendment may take place around 6:00 p.m. eastern. senator mccain has offered a motion to send the entire bill to committee to remove medicare cuts from the measure. live coverage of the health care debate right now on c-span2. tonight president obama will address from the u.s. military academy at west point, address the nation as he announces his decision regarding u.s. policy in afghanistan. we will carry that live on the c-span networks. and we'll open our phone lines for your reactions as well. that starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. check c-span.org for our coverage plans. a.p. is reporting that president obama is sending 30,000 extra u.s. troops to afghanistan on an accelerated timetable that will have the first marines there as early as christmas, and all forces in place by summer. he'll also declare tonight that troops will start leaving in 19 months. we discussed u.s. policy in afghanistan this morning on wa

so we pounded our chest and passed the mikulski bill for preventive care for women and we ig arweignored the preventive requirements of everybody else in the country. how does that fit with what we should be doing? it doesn't connect. it's political. it makes good news. it satisfies local interest groups. but does it really fix the long-term problem? i'd yield to my -- my fellow senator from north carolina. mr. burr: i thank my friend from oklahoma. mr. president, this debate today has not been about health care reform. it's been about coverage expansion. we're learning how expensive it is to not do reform. in fact, incorporated in this bill just short of $900 billion we're required to offset 100% of it because you don't receive savings unless you reform. now, when dr. coburn and i started work over 3 1/2 years ago now, to try to figure out how you change the united states health care system, to the most efficient, yet maintaining the same quality of care and innovation and bernank breakthre went on a search. we went to states to creative things that states have done. i dare say everybod

so on behalf of my colleagues on the help committee, particularly senator harkin and senator mikulski, senator murray, senator bingaman, particularly those who worked on the work force issues this is a very and put a moment, and we are grateful to the ama, particularly you, dr. wilson, for your supporting this effort. this is we to make a huge difference in our effort. >> dr. wilson, thank you very much for being here and for your great endorsement of this bill. some of you may know i was a naval aviator back in the 60's, and we always had naval flight surgeons that took good care of us. and i found out dr. wilson is a former navy flight surgeon. in fact, we served in the same area of operations in the 60's. we didn't know each other but preserved in the same area. as soon as i found that out, i knew we were in good hands. [laughter] no one knows america's health care system better than doctors treated the know the predicament of tens of millions of americans without insurance whose injuries and diseases go without proper treatment. the end of the predicament of patient who have cover

already so far the senate has passed senator mikulski's amendment to make sure that all women have accessity preventive health care services and that screenings that are so critical to keeping women's healthy -- women healthy are available. the bill -- this underlying bill will help women by ending discrimination based on gender rating or gender bias preexisting conditions on covering maternity care on covering preventive care and screenings including mammograms an baby care, expanding coverage, even if an employer doesn't cover it and cover those who are in an abusive relationship, if they leave, they and their children could lose their coverage. now, mr. president, the amendment before us today would undermine those efforts and goes against the spirit and the goal of this underlying bill. mr. president, all americans should be allowed to choose a plan that allows for coverage of any legal health care service no matter their income. and that, by the way, includes women. but if this amendment were to pass, it would be the first time that federal law would restrict what individual private

after that maryland senator mikulski on her amendment on women's health screening. later, senator john mccain talks about his objections to the overall bill. >> mr. president, the next few weeks will tell us a lot about whether senators are more committed to solving problems are creating them. we have before us a historic occasion. that is where time in history we have never been before. a chance to ensure the well-being of both our fellow citizens and the recovering economy. we have before us the opportunity to relieve the suffering of many in prevent even worse pain in the future. but if we are to seize this opportunity this debate must be on the facts, not fear. we must they focused on how we can best help the american people and the american economy. we must avoid the temptation to drown the distractions and distortions. in other words to restore our jobs. mr. president last week, my counterpart, this thing which republican leader, senator mcconnell called the health care crisis "manufactured." the american people mr. president would beg to differ. i have said o

mollohan and senator mikulskier for their efforts. i would not be supporting their bill for the reasons that are in here. i want to raise another issue that somebody ought to focus on in this congress. this bill will allow them to send people, clueing sikh muhammad, from guantanamo bay to new york city. i believe personally will endanger the citizens of new york city. they are now going to come in and ask for up to $75 million or $100 million to do that. that's money you could put in food pantries or do a lot of things in education. secondly, this bill we have asked it to be nonclassified so people can know where these people from guantanamo bay are going. 26 of them and as classified and can't to talk more being sent to yemen. yemen. that's where the sikh who had the impact on major asan, who killed 13 people at fort hood, that's where he operates. you're going to send people from guantanamo bay who serve with claheek shake muhammad, who was the author of 9/11 who killed -- khalid shake muhammad, who was the author of the 9/11, who k

already so far the senate has passed senator mikulski's amendment to make sure all women have access to quality preventive service and screenings the verso critical to keeping women healthy are available. the bill, this underlying bill will also help women by ending discrimination based on gender bias preexisting conditions. on covering maternity care, covering preventive care and screenings including mammograms and a well baby care. expanding access to coverage even if an employer doesn't cover it and giving freedom to those forced to stay in abusive relationships because if they leave they or their julca and could lose their coverage. but mr. president, now the amendment that is before us today would undermine those efforts and goes against the spirit and the goal of this underlying bill. mr. president, all americans should be allowed to choose a plan that allows for coverage of any legal health care service no matter their income. and that by the we includes women. but if this amendment were to pass, it would be the first time that federal law would restrict what individual privat

senator mikulski of maryland who for decades has been a champion for women's health made it better by making sure women can get the mammograms, checkups and preventive care they need to stay healthy and get them at no cost. senator bennet of colorado who served skillfully h in this body for less than a year made it better by reaffirming our commitment to medicare, made it better by ensuring that seniors get the care they need and the quality of life they deserve. that positive trend will continue today. senator whitehouse of rhode island who came to congress with a class of senators elected with a strong mandate to change the way washington works has proposed an amendment based on common sense and accountability. it says that the money dedicated to the health care of american seniors and people with disabilities can be used only for those precise purposes. unfortunately, some republicans are less interested in solving problems than they are in creating them. the day before this floor -- the day before this floor debate began, mr. president, the assistant republican leader, the junior

conrad, dodd, dorgan, feingold, feinstein, harkin, inouye, kerry, kohl, lautenberg, leahy, levin, mikulski, murray, reid, and specter. all 21 of these senators voted for caps on attorneys' fees. that would at least do something. that would help get the ball rolling on medical liability reform, but the same thing that they've done with medicare, saying that they are going to keep medicare savings in medicare, that they haven't done, not real. nor gregg has a real amendment to fix that. i have a real amendment to fix the medical liability reform that hopefully will be voted on later as well, but at least let's go for a little bit of a compromise right now. mrs. hutchison: will the senator from nevada yield? mr. ensign: i will be happy to yield. mrs. hutchison: i have real statistics. we hear the other side saying we're going to lower the cost. that's what health care reform is about, lowering the cost of health care reform so -- health care so more people will have access to affordable options, and yet the main one that is clearly available is medical malpractice reform, tort reform. and i k

that's why what senator mikulski does was owe importan so import.men can get a test to find out -- a mammogram, to find out if you have breast. so they need these tests. and we need to make sure that women want to be able to get pap smears when they need them and the other things that are so important. men need to be able to be checked for prostate cancer, which is certainly something that has now become something that's fixed on men's minds. seniors want to be able to afford their prescription drugs, want to know their medicare benefits will be protected. those who do have it will keep pay extra for those who don't. they want us to cut the waste and fraughted out of the health care system so that everyone can save some money. they want us to make sure that they can choose their own doctors, hospitals, and the health plan that's right for them. they want us to guarantee them that they will be able to afford health care, even if they lose or change jobs. that's why we've i think weren a good billings one that will make it possible for every single am

lastly would like to ask to be included as a cosponsor along with my colleague from maryland, senator mikulski, of senator coburn's amendment number 2789 which adds members of congress to the public option. we had -- we had -- we added that provision to the "help" committee bill. senator coburn offered that amendment. senator kennedy and myself and others voted for that coburn amendment. i think it may have shocked the senator from oklahoma that we actually voted for his amendment at the time. i know that senator brown has been added as a cosponsor. i have no objection to that amendment. that's how much that i think the public option will be worth. if we have a public option in this plan -- and my hope is that we will -- then i think there is nothing wrong with insisting that members of congress be included in that public option proposal. and so his amendment suggests that. we support it in our committee, and i'm prepared to support it again here on the floor of the united states senate. and again, i point out that i think that's a wonderful -- i just wish we could get members as well who are

witnesses include senator barbara mikulski. this is an hour-and-a-half. >> good morning.he hearing will come to order. i would like to thank chairman dodd and ranking member shall be for putting together today's hearing.

the amendment co-sponsored by mikulski and senator snow would include a variety of yearlyy screeningsand was inspired by recommendations last month that women undergo fewer mammograms. a vote on this amendment may take place around 6:00 p.m. eastern. live coverage of the health care debate on c-span 2. president obama will address the nation as he announces his decision regarding u.s. policy in afghanistan. not only will we carry that live on the c-span networks but will open our phone lines for your reactions as well at 8:00 p.m. eastern. and a program note, at least three congressional hearings are now scheduled to talk about the president's plan including ones hosted by the senate armed services committee, the foreign affairs committee. all of these will be live on c-span 3. check our website for further details at c-span.org. we discussed u.s. policy in afghanistan this morning. this is after an hour. >> we are in the mcgowan theater. the corner stone set in 1933 and opened in 1935 and we welcome congressman connolly. am from d. do you believe that the low progress in afghanistan

i do support the mikulski and the mikulski approach. her amendment requires all health plans to cover comprehensive women's preventive care and screenings, at no cost to women. i just wanted to come to the floor for a minute and point out why this is so important. when the economy is hurting, women on the whole tend to think of caring for their families first and not caring for themselves. they take care of their children, their spouses first, and they end up delaying or skipping their own health care in order to take care of their families. in fact, we know that in 2007, a quarter of women reported delaying or skipping their health care because of cost. in may of 2009, just two years later, a report by the commonwealth foundation found that more than half of women today are delaying or avoiding preventive care because of its cost. that's not good for the women. it's not good for their families. it's not good for their ability to be able to take care of their families and to take care of themselves. so senator mikulski's amendment is ex