Reid: 'A few short steps' from reform
>> the senate gallery.
>> we stand a few short steps from the most significant finish line we've had in congress for many decades. this debate has been dominated by partisanship and politics. but i don't see this as 60 democrats versus 40 republicans. i see it as 60 leaders who stood up to insurance companies and stood up for working families all across america . i see it as 60 leaders who know it is long past time we declare health care a right and not a privilege. i see it as 60 leaders who refuse to let fear overwhelm the facts. i'm honored to be here with members of this great democratic caucus . you see, health insurance reform is about people. it's about a half million nevadans, 540,000 to be exact, who today have no health care but will soon have the coverage they have long since needed. it is about nevada families fortunate to already have insurance but will save as much as $1,600 a year in premiums. we stand on the doorstep of history. we recognize that. much more importantly we stand so close to making so many individual lives better. there are so many people who have worked hard on this legislation. members of the health committee , the finance committee , the chairmen of those committees, senate leadership, chairmen of other committees. this has been a team effort. it is really unfortunate for me we only have a small number of people speak today but it is important we understand that senator baucus , senator dodd , senator harken have been involved in this because of committee assignments. that does not mean those people who have chairmanships haven't been heavily involved. i must say this, standing next to me is bash are mikulski . we came to the senate together. we got on the appropriations committee together and for me, barbara, senator mikulski , it brought a tear to my eye when she was 60th vote today. congratulations, barbara. okay. baucus , dodd , and harken.
>> just a correction. this is the mannsfield room in the capitol. here is senator baucus , the chairman of the finance committee , the key committee that shepherded health care reform .
>> when we started on this path more than a year ago we knew it wouldn't be easy but we worked tirelessly to deliver more affordable health care , an insurance market that works for patients not profits, to deliver tax credits to help families and small businesses purchase insurance and control health care costs to get america 's businesses and families back on track. today we can all be proud of what this bill accomplishes. we can be proud every american in every state will benefit from new consumer protections and a more stable secure health care system . passing health care reform has challenged each of us. together we discussed, we debated, we struggled to find workable solutions to complex problems but together we persevered. why? because too many americans were counting on us. i thank my colleagues for the extraordinary dedication and courage to lead. leader reid especially, chairman dodd , chairman harken and finance committee and health committees but most importantly all democrats, all 60 of us standing together courageously to getting health care passed this year. leadership is not doing what's easy. leadership is taking on what is difficult and what is right. we all know the challenges we face in this legislation pale in comparison to the challenges millions of americans face because of our broken health care system . today we see we confronted those challenges, lifted those burdens and did what is right. i'm very, very proud to say americans won.
>> senator dodd is up next. he took over his committee because of the sickness and death of senator kennedy .
>> i'm confident i speak for all of us and more importantly millions of americans to recognize that every group of individuals have to have a leader. we have been blessed to have a leader in the name of harry reid the majority leader. and we thank you, leader, for your patience through all of this. i want to congratulate max baucus , my colleague with whom i've served 35 years in congress, tom harken with whom i have served in the same number of years, arriving the same day january 1975 . i want to thank senator mikulski and forming breakout groups to develop the bill we did in the health committee and the members of that committee and congratulate max eaks committee and the members who worked with him over the many months to produce this bill. and our staffs. i want to thank mike enzi 's staff, they contributed to the bill and it is important they be remembered at a moment like this as well. this is an historic moment. the last time the senate of the united states met on christmas eve was 1963 . only weeks after president kennedy 's assassination and met to debate on the vietnam war . this is the second occasion the senate has met for as long a period of time as we have. 24 days. you have to go back to 1917 when the senate met for 29 days. we rank second in longevity in period of time for the senate to consider something as important as this bill before us. there are moments in our nation's history who we who do serve in this body are reminded what an honor it is to stand in this arena. tomorrow the senate will meet on christmas eve to pass historic legislation to make decent health care a right for every american citizen . the road has been long and difficult. progress always is. from the moment many christmass ago when george washington led a small band of troops across the delaware river in a hailstorm, those who attempted to make ur union more perfect faced overwhelming odds. we, too, have been tested as we pushed towards the passage of this legislation and the final bill reflects the necessity of compromise. we happy few who have the privilege to cast our votes for health care reform tomorrow morning will never cast, will never cast a more important vote in our careers. history will judge harshly those who have chosen the simple path of obstruction over the hard work of making change. it always does. but for those of us who have fought long and hard, in the memory of ted kennedy who began this charge so many years ago to build this legislation from a blank sheet of paper, made compromises and stood firm in the face of long odds, we will always remember this day. thank you.
>> final committee chair, tom harken, one of the key early senators to indicate it would be okay for the public option to be dropped.
>> we owe enormous thanks to all of the senators standing here today, especially my two classmates, senator dodd and senator baucus for shepherding this through. every senator here, every senator on the democratic side had some input into this legislation and shaping and forming it. they can all be proud of the fact we all bent over backwards on your committee , max, on the finance committee and on the health committee to conduct fair and open and thoroughly bipartisan proceedings. we held out our hand but were rebuffed. the leadership on the other side said no. we wouldn't be here without the great work of every senator here. to single out one, of course, is the one person who has been here every day since we started, has not been home, has not been with his family, i hope he gets out tomorrow to get home for christmas eve, it wouldn't be possible without senator reid . i said this yesterday and say it again, to put it in biblical terms he has kpibexhibited the patience of job, the wisdom of solomon and endurance of sampson. he has achieved what leaders have failed to accomplish. majority leader reid has earned his place in the senate 's history.
>> it's often been said that senators are a constitutional impediment of the smooth functioning of staff. we all laugh at that, but we know there is a sin tilla of truth to that. all of our staffs on all our committees, our personal staffs, speat on the health committee , finance committee , all your staff, senator reid have been wonderful, working literally, i don't know when they sleep, working almost 24 hours a day for the last 24 days. i'm sure they are looking forward to getting reacquainted to their families. i want to name the staff members who contributed to the bill on the floor. at this caucus i want to single out one in particular. we are all, i think, saddened and cognizant of the fact that the real author of this bill, ted kennedy , is not with us. but there is one person who really carried on for him. his staff person for almost over 20 years, the staff director of the health committee for over the last decade, carried on. our amazing staff director, michael myers . people are saying where is michael? believe me, there is only one reason michael myers would not be here. his son is recovering from surgery and he is with him in the hospital. he is going to be okay. i'm told everything is fine. michael is a consummate professional. he was senator kennedy 's right-hand man for a more than a decade. no one has been more loyal and dedicated to carrying on senator kennedy 's legacy. there is one other person i want to thank. while she hasn't been here involved in intricacies, she has been on the phone, available to call people, to talk to people and it was wonderful when we had that 1:00 a.m . vote and see vicki kennedy . she has been wonderful. and we just thank you, vicki, so much for helping us out through this long endeavor. this is a great achievement. with all of the talk, debate, charts all of the tom foolery that goes on on the senate floor, it comes down to this, for far too long we have had one dividing line in america that no other developed country has. we have had a dividing line on one side those with wealth and health had good health care . they had the privilege of having good health care . on the other side so many didn't. what this bill does is we finally take that step. as our leader said earlier, we take that step from health care as a privilege, to health care as an inalienable right to every single american citizen . this bill is not complete. i have used the analogy of a starter home in which we can add additions and enhancements into the future. like every right we have passed for the american people , we revisit it later to enhance and build on those rights and we will do that here surely. we will enhance and build on this. we have made that first most important step to make it a right rather than a privilege.
>> senator tom harken making mention
