mr. gregg: i understand the next hour is allocated to the republican side? the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. gregg: i would ask unanimous consent we be allowed to participate in a colloquy on our side as it evolves here during that hour. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. gregg: madam president, what we're going to do -- i know we are joined by some of the most distinguished members of our caucus. they have some thoughts they want to express. then we want to discuss a couple of points in this bill. before i turn to the senator from missouri, i just want to make a point because i have been listening to a lot of the discussion here on the floor and i have obviously participated and listened to a lot of it on television. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. they continue to use this number. they claim this bill costs costs $800 billion and some dollars. that's the number that has been reached as the expenditure on this bill. ladies and gentlemen, that is a

mr. gregg: if i could join this colloquy with my colleagues from wyoming.hat a great state to have such two exceptional senators. first off i want to make a point -- and a lot of people are pointing at this bill. i have one here. the senator from wyoming has one and the other senator from wyoming has one. because it is real. up until now, most of the debate that has been occurring around here has been media. a lot of it has been theater. some of it has been good theater, i hope, but it's been theater to a large degree. now we're dealing with something that's extremely real. every page, every page of this 2,074-page bill will have an impact on americans. every page of this bill will make a decision and direct a policy that will affect the health care of every american, every american. and it's an extraordinarily intrusive and expensive bill. the senators from wyoming have been alluding to this, but it really is historic. they say it is historical. it is historic. never in my experience -- and i don't think really in any experience has the congress taken up a

gregg. senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. me join my colleagues in commending you for the incredibly hard work that you have done and perseverance you've had in holding over 50 hearings along with the ranking member over the last year alone. this is not a passing fancy that this legislation is -- that you propose has come to. it's come through a thoughtful, in depth and prolonged process. and certainly for your bold leadership in seeking a long overdue, common sense regulatory reform. now, let me state from the outset, i may have a few issues with the package that you have. but i know what we attempt to do here is strike the right balance. we don't want the pendulum to swing too far that we can, in essence, stifle economic growth. but i do agree very strongly, mr. chairman, that we need to have regulatory reform or we are destined to relive sant anna's lament that those who, in fact, forget the past, and it's not a too distant past, but some are willing to for ge get it rather quickly -- are destined to relive it. the nation