Sen. Hatch, a Republican friend of Sen. Kennedy, warns democrats for grave errors on healthcare bill
18 06 09 - 12:12
Hatch, Friend of Kennedy, Warns Democrats on Health Care
By David M. Herszenhorn - The New York Times
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, may have no closer Republican friend than Senator Orrin Hatch, of Utah, who served as chairman of the committee for much of the 1980s and is a longtime partner with Mr. Kennedy on numerous bills.
So it was particularly devastating on Wednesday when Mr. Hatch warned Democrats on the panel that they have already made some grave errors in their effort to write legislation overhauling the health care system.
“Having played a profound role in almost every major health care legislation for the past three decades and having worked in a bipartisan manner with everyone from Senators Kennedy and Dodd to Congressman Waxman, I know something about getting things done for our families in a thoughtful manner,” Mr. Hatch said in his opening statement at the health committee drafting session.
“You advance legislation by focusing on areas of compromise, not strife,” Mr. Hatch said. “Now unfortunately we are beginning a partisan exercise on perhaps the most important legislation of our lives.
“I am personally somewhat, well, actually, very disappointed,” Mr. Hatch continued, “because I wanted a thoughtful bipartisan compromise that could have become a lasting legacy for my dear friend, Ted Kennedy.”
Mr. Kennedy, of course, is home in Massachusetts, where he is battling brain cancer.
To start, Mr. Hatch said, Democrats had made a terrible procedural mistake in pushing forward with the public drafting process even before they had a complete cost-estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, or technical advice from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.
“We’re getting ready to debate the large legislation, probably the most important legislation of our service here,” Mr. Hatch said. “Something that will affect one-sixth of our total American economy and impact every American life. We have a bill that is incomplete, no final CBO scores, no technical assistance from HHS or CMS and we are still headed full speed ahead. Now, those things are absolutely mandatory if you are going to do good legislation. You have got to know where you are going. You certainly have to have those kinds of scores and technical assistance.”
Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, who was leading the proceedings as acting chairman of the health committee, looked pained as Mr. Hatch, in a firm, gentle tone, laced into the Democrats for not working more closely with Republicans.
Moments earlier, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, had delivered a similar message, though in fewer words and with far less affection for the Democrats on the health panel. Mr. McCain, citing a preliminary cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, accused the Democrats of failing to achieve the most basic goal of the health care overhaul, providing coverage to all Americans. And he lashed out at the Democrats for not providing any clear indication of how they would pay for the $1 trillion cost of the bill.
“Go back to the drawing boards and get legislation that at least will provide health insurance for every American,” Mr. McCain said. “And then we can argue about how we are going to pay for it.”
Mr. McCain, in closing, told Mr. Dodd, “I thank you for your good work. I am deeply impressed by your patience and your courtesy” which was basically Senate-speak meaning: thanks for nothing.
Mr. Hatch urged Democrats to shift course. “We need to work together. I just hope that we can. But what I have seen so far indicates that we are not and that may turn out to be a disaster for everybody concerned. And once again we may lose the opportunity and the chance of doing something that will really make a marvelous difference in our country.” Speaking directly to Mr. Dodd, he added: “Let’s see if we can get this to be a bipartisan bill, O.K.?”
Mr. Dodd almost seemed to plead for mercy. “I have known you, Orrin, for 25 years,” he said. Mr. Hatch laughed, and replied: “You are a lucky guy, that’s all I can say.”