Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, issued the following statement reacting to President Obama’s bipartisan health care reform summit.

“As a longtime advocate of comprehensive reform to our deteriorating health care delivery system, I am thankful to President Obama for gathering together members from both parties, and from both the House and Senate. Today provided an open exchange of ideas on health care. The American people needed to hear the differences between the two approaches to reforming health care delivery. Make no mistake; both parties agree that something must be done. It is a moral imperative, and a financial necessity, that we cover our uninsured and stop the hemorrhaging of resources currently being lost through our current system.

“President Obama said it well, ‘Health care is complicated. We can pretend that it's not, but it is.’ The Republicans’ contention that we should start over or do the process incrementally may be politically expedient for them. They have made a willful decision to oppose everything proposed by the Administration and the Democratic Majority, but that approach is not sound policy for America. In fact, the President’s summary proposal, based primarily on the Senate-passed reform package, is full of ideas brought by conservative Democrats and Republican members. It may not appear to be bipartisan based on their rhetoric, but the legislation is far from a liberal solution to the problem. Along with many of my colleagues, I would have preferred a single-payer system, or at least the House-passed legislation containing a public option. To many of us, the current package appears to take a more tame approach than a bold one.

“I also am looking forward to seeing the specific details in the President’s proposal, especially as it pertains to New York. The Senate-passed package is harmful to states such as New York, which has long been a leader in providing health coverage to its residents. With New York facing a gaping budgetary hole, it would be difficult to absorb the kind of cuts to its services which will result from the Senate package. I remain hopeful some of the fixes promised by the Administration are designed to help New York and other states.

“I am skeptical whether the Republicans will provide any votes to reform even if some or many of their ideas were merged into the final package. Americans are working harder today to pay for ever-increasing health premiums and the ball is in the Republicans’ court to either help the American people or not.

“I remain hopeful that our colleagues on the other side will stop saying no and offer to work in a constructive manner to benefit all Americans. We must do as Ted Kennedy said, and make health care a right and not a privilege.”