mr. wyden: some of the moments that i'm proudest of have been those moments when the two of us have been able to team up on health reform and without getting into it this afternoon, mr. president, let me say that millions of poor youngsters who use community health centers now are getting services there, scores and scores of them at no extra cost to our taxpayers because senator hatch was willing to work with this senator and a group of others, public interest groups and a wide variety of health care advocates, in order to change the malpractice rules so as to make sure that those who had a legitimate claim got served, but that the bulk of the money went into the needs of patients. and now thousands of low-income americans get care because senator hatch was willing to stand up for low-income folks. and i just want to tell him i'm very much looking forward to working with him and our colleagues on a bipartisan basis over the next five months to get this job ton right. mr. hatch: if the senator w

mr. wyden: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: how much time remains on the democratic side? the presiding officer: 11 minutes and 24 second. mr. wyden: thank you. many senators on both sides of the aisle are working constructively to fix american health care and for several years i have spent time listening to colleagues going to the offices of about 85 snorks at least that -- of about 85 senators, at least that many in the house, and also listening to thousands in the public and private sector about their ideas for fixing american health care. my aim has been to try to help find common ground and to chart a path so that this congress and this president can go somewhere that the country has never gone before, and that is to real health care reform. today i come to the floor to lay out the specifics of what real health care reform is all about. the president said yesterday there has never been a better opportunity to get the job done. specifically, to exriewf the lives of all americans -- to improve the lives of all american

mr. chairman. governor -- senator wyden and i have a proposal called build america bonds which i think is sort of geared at what you're talking about. it's a way of bonding for capital improvements. i agree entirely that the way that we budget around here defies any sort of common sense or, you know, rational basis for making these types of decisions. it's clearly not the way that these decisions will be made in the private sector if we ran a private business. i appreciate your observations about that. and i would say to mr. skancke that if brett favre is playing for the vikings next year there are going to be a lot more people that will want to get from sioux falls to minneapolis and prmblely quickly and without having to drive through a blizzard. if i might direct a question to, this will be to mr. szabo and ms. fleming. what i take from the g.a.o.'s testimony is ridership and cost. the concern is that overly optimistic project proponents is going to overstatement ridership and understatement cost. if the federal government makes investment decisions based upon faulty forecasts we're going to fund the

wyden would cost zero more. i'd like to be informed when i have a minute left. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator has five minutes remaining. mr. alexander: during the last six months the four words we've heard most in washington is more debt and washington takeover. we've seen a washington takeover of banks, insurance companies, student loans, car companies and now perhaps of health care. the president insists on a government-run insurance option as part of a health care reform plan which would inevitably lead to a washington-run health plan. why would it do that? putting a government-run and subsidized plan in competition with your private health insurance plans would be like putting an elephant in the room with some mice and saying okay, guys and gals, compete. i think you know what would happen. the elephant would win the competition and the elephant would be your only remaining choice. as for debt, the congressional budget office, in a letter to senator kennedy, estimated that his bill, which is the only legislation that our health committee is considering, would add another $1 trillion to the deficit over the next ten yea