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WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday regarding the administration’s decision to abandon an important missile defense program:

“The administration’s decision to abandon an important missile defense program for the defense of NATO and our allies in Poland and the Czech Republic, in my view, is both shortsighted and harmful to our long-term security interests. We must not turn our backs on two loyal allies in the War on Terror. Further, the administration has secured no apparent commitment from the Russians to work with us to reduce either the missile or nuclear threat from Iran. More troubling will be if the administration has made these concessions to Russia in pursuit of expediting ill-considered arms control deals.”

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‘Now it’s time to let the American people study the bill themselves. Before we bring any legislation to the floor, we need to make sure that the American people and all of our colleagues have the time to carefully read it and evaluate its potential effects on our health care system and the economy in general’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:

“Over the past few months, the American people have been sending us a clear message on health care: they want reforms that make health care more affordable and accessible, that increase choice, and that keep government out of their health care decisions.

“What they don’t want are so-called reforms that cut seniors’ health care, force Americans off the private health plans they have, cost hundreds of billions of dollars, raise taxes, and put government bureaucrats in charge of health care.

“But that’s exactly what they’d get under the plan that was released by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday.

“So while I appreciate the hard work that the Senior Senator from Montana put into this legislation, and he certainly has, I’m extremely disappointed that it doesn’t reflect the concerns Americans have been expressing for weeks about health care reform.

“That much is clear. Now it’s time to let the American people study the bill themselves. Before we bring any legislation to the floor, we need to make sure that the American people and all of our colleagues have the time to carefully read it and evaluate its potential effects on our health care system and the economy in general.

“Americans got rushed on the Stimulus. They won’t be rushed on health care. Not on an issue that affects every single American. Before we discuss or vote on any plan, we need to know what it does, how much it costs, and how it will be paid for.

“Here’s what we know now about the Finance Committee plan.

• First, the Finance Committee proposal would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from seniors’ Medicare benefits to pay for new government programs.

• America’s seniors want us to fix Medicare, not take money from it to pay for a new, untested trillion-dollar government program.

• This bill would also break the President’s promise to seniors that they won’t be required to change the coverage they have. Right now, 11 million seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, a program that gives them more options and choices when it comes to their health care. Ninety percent of these seniors are satisfied with their plans. The Finance bill would make massive cuts to Medicare Advantage and force some seniors to give it up — something that even one of our Democrat friends just yesterday called ‘intolerable.’

• Senators from both sides of the aisle are concerned about the new burdens this bill would impose on states in the form of a Medicaid expansion. Unlike the federal government, many states are constitutionally required to have balanced budgets. This means that if politicians in Washington force them to increase spending on Medicaid, they’ll very likely have to cut services or raise taxes in the middle of a recession.

• The Finance bill could kill jobs by forcing employers to provide insurance, regardless of whether or not they can afford it. And while advocates of the bill say it doesn’t contain an employer mandate, their claim just doesn’t square with the facts. If you tell an employer that they either have to provide insurance or pay a penalty, that’s a mandate.

• The Finance bill contains approximately $350 billion dollars in new taxes. And some of these taxes, such as those on medical devices ranging from MRIs to Q-tips and new taxes on insurance plans, will drive up insurance premiums and make health care even more expensive for American families. If there was one thing we thought everyone agreed on, it was that any reform should not make health care more expensive. Yet this Q-tip tax would actually increase health care costs. And that’s why senators from both parties have warned that it would put thousands of jobs in jeopardy and deter innovation.

“The Senate Finance bill also contains a CO-OP, which is just another name for a government plan, and it still gives the government far too much control over our health care system. It cuts seniors’ benefits, spends hundreds of billions of dollars, and raises taxes to pay for another trillion-dollar government program.

“And it still doesn’t contain the kind of common-sense reforms that the American people support and Republicans have consistently recommended, such as meaningful reforms to get rid of junk lawsuits on doctors and hospitals and reforms to level the playing field when it comes to taxes on health care plans.

“There’s no question that Americans want health care reform — but they want the right reforms and they want us to take the time we need to get it right. During the month of August, the American people sent us a clear message on health care. I’m disappointed that many of my colleagues weren’t listening.” ###

‘Over the past few months, Americans have been saying they’ve had enough of spending, debt, and government expansion. How are Democrats in Washington responding? By trying to rush through another trillion-dollar bill that Americans don’t even want and can’t afford’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:

“The debate over health care continues to be a top concern for most Americans. But it’s important to realize that this debate isn’t taking place in a vacuum. It’s taking place in the context of a nation that’s increasingly concerned about the size and scope of government.

“Over the past year, Americans have seen the government take over automakers and insurance companies. They’ve seen government spend hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out banks and other financial institutions. They’ve seen government run up unprecedented debt.

“And now they see government trying to take over health care.

“If the White House wants an explanation for all the unrest it’s witnessing across the country, to all the worry and concerns that Americans have about its health care plan, this is a crucial piece.

“Democrats in Washington may see all these government programs and interventions as individual events. But to most Americans who are weathering a recession, it seems like every time they pick up a newspaper or turn on the television, Democrats in Washington are pushing another trillion dollar bill or calling for more spending, more taxes, and more debt.

“That’s why people are becoming more vocal, and that’s why they’ve been delivering a consistent message for weeks: No more government takeovers; no more spending money we don’t have; no more tax increases; and no more debt.

“Americans are concerned about government running their lives and ruining their livelihoods, and they don’t get the sense that either the administration or Democrats on Capitol Hill are listening.

“Nowhere is this disconnect between the people and politicians in Washington more apparent than in the debate over health care. Americans don’t think a bigger role for government in health care would improve the system. Yet despite this, every proposal we’ve seen would lead to a vast expansion of the government’s role in the health care system.

“It’s not that Democrats in Congress don’t sense the public’s unease about a new government plan for health care. They do. It’s the primary reason some of them are backing away from proposals that include it.

“What some Americans don’t realize, however, is that even without a government plan, the health care plans Democrats are proposing would still vastly expand the government’s role in health care. And that’s what I’d like to discuss in a little more detail this morning.

“Let me list a few examples of how government’s role in health care would expand even without a government-run plan.

“Even without a government plan, the proposals we’ve seen would force employers to pay a tax if they can’t afford insurance for their employees. Employers have warned that this provision would kill jobs. At a time when the nation’s unemployment rate stands at a 25-year high of 9.7%, we should help businesses create jobs – not kill them.

“Even without a government plan, these proposals would require all Americans to choose only from health insurance plans with standards set by the government and would let government bureaucrats dictate what benefits are available to families.

“On this point, Americans have been equally clear: People want more choice and competition in the health care market so they can pick a plan that would work for their family — not one dictated by politicians in Washington. Yet even without a government plan, that’s what they’d get under the proposals we’ve seen. Anyone who saw any of the town hall meetings last month knows that this idea is about as popular as chicken pox.

“Even without a government plan, these health care proposals would require states to expand their Medicaid programs. Governors from both political parties have expressed serious concerns about the effect this particular proposal would have on their budgets. They think these kinds of decisions should be left up to the states, not the federal government, and so do most Americans.

“Even without a government plan, these health care proposals would impose new taxes on small businesses and individuals. Under the House bill, for example, taxes on some small businesses could rise as high as roughly 45 percent – a rate that’s approximately 30 percent higher than the rate for big corporations. Under the same House bill, the average combined federal and state top tax rate for some individuals would be about 52 percent — more than half their paychecks.

“Finally, the President has said that his plan won’t require any Americans to give up the health insurance they have and like. But what about the 11 million seniors who are currently enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program, nearly 90 percent of whom say they’re satisfied with it? This program has given seniors more options and more choices when it comes to their health care.

“Yet under the administration’s plan, the government would make massive cuts to Medicare Advantage, forcing some seniors off this plan that so many of them have and like. When it comes to Medicare Advantage, Democrat rhetoric just doesn’t square with reality.

“Let me sum up. While getting rid of the government plan would be a good start, the Democrat bills we’ve seen would still grant government far too much control over the health care system. Over the past few months, Americans have been saying they’ve had enough of spending, debt, and government expansion. How are Democrats in Washington responding? By trying to rush through another trillion-dollar bill that Americans don’t even want and can’t afford.

“The American people want health care reform — not with more government, but with less. They don’t want a new government-run system; they want us to repair the system we’ve got. On all these points, the American people are sending a clear and persistent message.

“It’s time we in Congress started to listen.”

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