May 11, 2006

REID FIGHTS TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

Washington, DC — With the Bush/Enzi bill failing today in the U.S. Senate, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid slammed Bush Republicans for taking the only week the U.S. Senate will spend on health care this year and devoting it to legislation that would hurt the American people.

“The first rule of medicine is to do no harm, but with the one week this year that Republicans in the Senate chose to devote to health care, they chose legislation that would have done real harm to the American people,” said Reid. “The failed Bush/Enzi bill was an attempt to strip away the consumer protections that safeguard patients across the country and put insurance companies in the driver’s seat.”

The Bush/Enzi bill—the centerpiece of the Republican “health week”—would have gutted state laws that protect the quality of medical treatment available to the American people. Bush Republicans refused to even consider legislation that could have genuinely improved the quality of care in this country.

“The Republican Senate would not expand stem cell research,” Reid continued. “It would not fix the Medicare drug benefit. At least it chose not to make America’s health care crisis worse.”

Democrats believe America can do better. Their plan, cosponsored by Democratic Senators Durbin and Lincoln, would give the American people access to the same health coverage options available to Members of Congress.

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