Senate Proceeding on Feb 2nd, 2011 :: 2:29:30 to 2:47:00
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2:29:28 to 2:29:52( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: health care challenges a step at a time, for once and for all, instead of compounding problems, solve them. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the

2:29:30 to 2:47:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Frank Lautenberg

2:29:53 to 2:30:16( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: senator from new jersey. mr. lautenberg: i hear the requests of people who are on the other side of the political aisle here to repeal the health

2:30:17 to 2:30:40( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: reform bill that has been put in place, received majority support in the house and the senate when developed, and now what we are witness to is that within --

2:30:41 to 2:31:02( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: within a bill that's planned for the continued support for the f.a.a. takes care of the conditions which are aviation structure works, that there's a bill -- there's an amendment put in here that says that we want

2:31:03 to 2:31:23( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: to repeal -- recall the health care bill, the health reform bill that was signed into law by the president of the united states. and we've heard that there are challenges in court. but we hear also that there are

2:31:24 to 2:31:46( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: cases in the court that say this bill does -- this act does appear to be constitutionally sound. i'm listening here. my vantage point, mr. president,

2:31:47 to 2:32:08( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: is that i grew up in a very poor working-class family with all of the ills that follow poverty. and i see america through that kind of a prism. and i see an america whose intention is to be fair, to take

2:32:09 to 2:32:31( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: care of our citizens, to provide them with services, to make sure that we have military forces to protect us from enemies, to make sure that we have labor standards that try to make conditions healthy for working people so their health is

2:32:32 to 2:32:54( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: protected as they perform their tasks. there is an implicit promise that says we're going to educate those in the early years for sure with a reasonable education. in other words, there's a distribution of the assets that

2:32:55 to 2:33:17( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: this country of that -- to which almost everyone is entitled to. we're not talking about differences in income or differences in personal material: housing, et cetera, that some have that others don't have. i'm not talking about that. i'm a capitalist.

2:33:18 to 2:33:39( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: i came up the capitalist ladder, working hard. i'm going to talk about that in a minute. so when i listen to the rhetoric that's delivered here on a continuing basis about government interference and keeping people alive, and keeping people healthy.

2:33:40 to 2:34:00( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: why should the government interfere with people's chance to be overcome by illness or injury? shia consider it an outrage that some of our colleagues want to repeal -- i consider it an outrage that some of our colleagues want to repeal a law

2:34:01 to 2:34:21( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: that's improved the lives of millions of americans. the push to repeal health care reform, i think, is the worst kind of hypocrisy coming from this place and at the other end of the capitol. here we're 100. the other side has 435 people. there are those who have voted

2:34:22 to 2:34:44( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: not to have this health care reform in the first place. and now those who are jumping on the opportunity to repeal a law that is designed to help people health, to help kids grow healthfully, to help families be

2:34:45 to 2:35:06( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: able to maintain a degree of functioning when illness strikes their family, to provide services that increase longevity to our people and i, for one, speak well for that effort.

2:35:07 to 2:35:30( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: it's so hypocritical to me because the senators who are advocating repeal have access to the best health plan in our country. they get to walk down the hall here, there's a clinic, half a dozen doctors, competent, skilled people. there are health care aides who

2:35:31 to 2:35:52( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: work there, professionals. and all you have to do is go in there and say, "doc, i feel something here, or i feel something here, or i've got this swelling here," and you get care. and we pay for it; not a lot but we pay for it.

2:35:53 to 2:36:18( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: but it's available. it's available. it's a kind of perk i'll call it, that people across this country would be astonished to see how well we treat those who

2:36:19 to 2:36:40( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: make the laws in this country, those who have the responsibility of taking care of our people, our constituents. they'd be astonished to see how easy it is. you go into the clinic. we'll take you. you need some surgery, and we'll get you over to the hospital in short form, and we're going to take care of this before your

2:36:41 to 2:37:05( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: disease gets the better of you. when people here -- senators, congressmen, staff people -- get sick, they just have to walk down the hall to the senate physician's office. don't have to get in a car or anything like that. they don't know the worry or

2:37:06 to 2:37:30( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: understand the worry that comes if medical bills overtake the opportunity to buy food or housing or even force people into bankruptcy. again, let me say this isn't simple rhetoric for me. i lived through these conditions.

2:37:31 to 2:37:54( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: and yet, these people who are up for repeal are fighting to take away the lifeline, the health care reform law has given to families in need. i know what -- i know firsthand what it's like when your family doesn't have access to basic health care.

2:37:55 to 2:38:15( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: i grew up in a family of modest means in paterson, new jersey. my -- it's a mill town. it was typically a city that received immigrants on a regular basis. my father spent his short life working in local silk mills, and

2:38:16 to 2:38:36( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: he died of cancer at 37 years of age, when i was still a teenager. he was -- i'm sorry. my dad was 43. my mother was 37 when she became a widow. i joined the army. i enlisted in the army. i attended college under the g.i. bill.

2:38:37 to 2:39:00( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: i was a soldier; served in europe in world war ii. and as a consequence of the opportunity that i had to get an education, i was able to join a couple of friends and start a company that is known across the globe. the company is called a.d.p.

2:39:01 to 2:39:22( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: we have more than 40,000 people working around the world in more than 20 countries. three of us from poor families. two of them are brothers, and their father was a mill worker also.

2:39:23 to 2:39:43( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: and because of the success i had in business, all my family had to do was worry about their good health and not backbreaking medical bills. but i never forgot what it was like to see my mother working so hard behind the counter of a

2:39:44 to 2:40:04( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: store to pay the doctors, the pharmacies, the hospitals, to keep my father comfortable for the 13 months he was in bed with cancer robbing him of his life on a daily basis. and that's why i was proud to

2:40:05 to 2:40:27( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: vote for the historic health reform law which is holding insurers more accountable and making our system more sustainable. i looked at the history of health insurers because we see the health care bills constantly

2:40:28 to 2:40:53( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: taking more of the g.d.p. but you wonder why the -- you wonder where the health care cost increases take place. but i looked at some of the companies. for instance, i took the year 2009. it was a tough year, tough year for lots of people, lots of bankruptcies, lots of

2:40:54 to 2:41:15( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: foreclosures, lots of jobs lost in 2009 cidna did -- cigna, the company's c.e.o. got $18 million

2:41:16 to 2:41:38( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: worth of salary providing service. humana went from $270 billion worth of revenues to $1.3 billion. the c.e.o. there got $66.5 million. united healthcare, they had a heck of a five-year period. they started off with $2.4

2:41:39 to 2:42:00( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: billion worth of revenues in 2004. and in 2009, it went to $3.8 billion. from $2.4 billion to $3.8 billion. and the c.e.o. got $9 million salary, but he got big kickers at the end of the year.

2:42:01 to 2:42:21( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: a company called well point, in 2004 they did $960 million worth of sales, we've news. -- saerblgs revenues. five years later they did $4.7 billion. the c.e.o. got $13 million.

2:42:22 to 2:42:45( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: and i look at that. as we ponder where the money has gone to pay for health care in this country. so, i see one place that a lot of it goes, and that is to the insurance companies.

2:42:46 to 2:43:09( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: and now some of our colleagues want to recall this bill, remove the health care protection from 30 million americans. 30 million people across this country. almost 10% of our population will lose health insurance care if we repeal the bill that's in

2:43:10 to 2:43:30( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: the works that,'s now in place, the law. the fact is repealing the health reform law would be enormous step backwards for our country. it would hurt seniors. it would hurt children, small businesses. and our deficit would balloon, grow larger. repealing this law would raise

2:43:31 to 2:43:51( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: drug costs for seniors by removing from them a 50ing% discount on drugs that they purchase when they're in the period of the doughnut hole and which also will, by the way, this law will help prevent us --

2:43:52 to 2:44:14( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: the removal will help prevent us from totally closing that doughnut seniors across the country, listen. listen to the truth about what's being said. the doughnut hole is going to be closed.

2:44:15 to 2:44:35( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: it's roughly a $4,500 element in people's income, or costs rather. this repeal would also give the biggest insurance companies more power over their patients to charge outrageous fees than ever before. it means the insurers could once again reduce benefits, stop coverage during a person's

2:44:36 to 2:44:56( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: illness and refuse to care for children, individuals and children stricken with preexisting conditions. repealing health reform would also hurt young adults who would no longer be able to stay on their parents' health plans until age 26.

2:44:57 to 2:45:18( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: for young adults, especially new college graduates facing a tough job market, staying on a parent's health insurance is the only reasonable price insurance option available.. if health reform is repealed, small businesses will lose tax

2:45:19 to 2:45:40( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: credits for up to 35% of health insurance premium costs. it would jeopardize the recent growth in the number of small businesses offering health insurance coverage to their employees. and this repeal effort is fiscally irresponsible because any health reform would increase

2:45:41 to 2:46:01( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: the deficit by at least $1 trillion, increasing the deficit. we're all now here looking at the deficit and wondering what we can do to bring it under control but we can't do it with the costs that we have now scheduled for health care. mr. mccain: would the senator provide how much

2:46:02 to 2:46:23( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: be on speaking? mr. lautenberg: about three minutes. mr. mccain: thank you. lautenberg: as a country, how could we repeal this law and look at our children and grandchildren, look them in the eyes? we should be focused on getting this critical jobs bill signed into law, not refighting last year's partisan battles.

2:46:24 to 2:46:45( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: make no mistakes, democrats are willing and eager to fix the parts of the health reform law that might need adjustment. i, for one, would salute that kind of a -- a review. but to repeal the entire law is an example of outrageous overreach. instead of meeting us halfway,

2:46:46 to 2:47:02( Edit History Discussion )

Frank Lautenberg: our colleagues on the republican -- republican side are engaging in i think misguided political battles. it's wrong. we can't allow repeal of this law which is proving the lives of millions of americans.