Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11. I further ask consent that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and there be a period for morning business until 10:30 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each, with the following exception: Senator Specter from 10:15 to 10:30 a.m.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the ranking member for their work on the supplemental. We have come a long way since we closed prior to the Fourth of July recess. We had indicated our desire to finish our work on the supplemental by Tuesday night. We have done so. I am grateful for that. We will now be taking up the Interior appropriations bill. It was my hope to be able to move to proceed to the appropriations bill tomorrow at 9:30. Some of our Republican colleagues have objected to going to the bill until matters pertaining to certain nominations could be clarified. As a result, we will not have a specific time we can announce that we will be going to the bill. I am hopeful we can clarify this matter involving nominations at the earliest possible time so that there will not be any objections on the other side to moving to the Interior bill. My hope and my expectation is that we can finish the bill by Thursday night. Obviously, if we have to be here on Friday to finish it, we will do that. I indicated to Senator Lott that if we have finished with the Interior bill on Thursday night, my expectation would be we would not have any rollcall votes on Friday. I will shortly make a unanimous consent request with regard to the schedule tomorrow. We are not quite prepared to do that at this time. But until that time, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, on Wednesday, the Senate will convene at 10 o'clock in the morning with a period for morning business until 10:30 a.m. We expect to begin consideration of the Interior appropriations bill on Wednesday.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, may we have order.

Mr. DASCHLE. Will the distinguished senior Senator from Virginia yield for a unanimous consent request.

Mr. DASCHLE. We were able to reach this agreement with the cooperation of all our colleagues. I think we are now prepared to propound the agreement. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following be the only first-degree amendments remaining in order to S. 1052, except the Warner and Ensign amendments which have been laid aside and which now are being debated, that they be subject to relevant second-degree amendments; all amendments must be offered and disposed of by the close of business today; and that upon disposition of these amendments the bill be read a third time and a vote on final passage of the bill occur without any intervening action or debate: Frist substitute; Frist, liability; Craig, long-term care; Craig, nuclear medicine; Kyl, alternative insurance; Santorum, unions; Nickles, liability; Bond, punitives; Thompson, regarding point of order; Kennedy, two relevant; Daschle, two relevant; Carper, relevant, to be offered and withdrawn.

Mr. DASCHLE. The amendments are subject to second degrees, of course. I ask consent the Ensign amendment be allowed to be modified.

Mr. DASCHLE. I ask consent the clarification be made with regard to the Thompson amendment.

Mr. DASCHLE. I ask unanimous consent that the request be so modified.

Mr. DASCHLE. That is correct.

Mr. DASCHLE. I thank our colleagues.

Mr. DASCHLE. We are just about at the point now where I think we can begin voting on amendments. I ask unanimous consent that following the first amendment, all other votes be limited to 10 minutes. I ask further that the two managers be permitted to offer a joint managers' amendment following the passage, prior to the close of business today.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, there would not be a managers' amendment if we couldn't find mutual agreement on the amendment.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, it has been more than 5 years since we began this effort to make sure that Americans who have health insurance get the medical care they have paid for. It has been more than three years since the first bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights was introduced in the House . . . and nearly 2 years since the last time we debated a real Patients' Bill of Rights in the Senate. Today--at long last--the Senate is doing what the American people want us to do. Today--at long last--we are standing up for America's families. Today--at long last--we are telling HMOs they are going to have to keep their promises and provide their policyholders with the health care they've paid for. The bill we are about to vote on provides comprehensive protections to all Americans in all health plans. It is a good bill--and a remarkable example of what we can achieve in this Senate when we search together in good faith for a principled, workable compromise. Over the last 10 days, we have stood together--Republicans and Democrats--and rejected amendments that would have made this bill unworkable. And we have accepted amendments that made it better. Thanks to the hard work of Senators Snowe, DeWine, Lincoln and Nelson, we provided additional protections for employers who offer health insurance. With help from Senators Breaux and Jeffords, we agreed that states can continue to use their own standards for patient protection. With Senator Bayh and Senator Carper's help, we strengthened the external review process to ensure the sanctity of health plan contracts. At the same time, we turned back an array of destructive amendments designed to weaken the protections in this bill. We live in an amazing time. Some of the most remarkable advances in health care in all of human history are occurring right now. Polio and other once-feared childhood diseases have been all but wiped out in our lifetimes because of increased immunization rates. We are seeing organ transplants, bio-engineered drugs, and promising new therapies for repairing human genes. But medical advances are useless if your health plan arbitrarily refuses to pay for them--or even to let your doctor tell you about them. This bill guarantees that people who have health insurance can get the care their doctors say they need and deserve. It ensures that doctors, not insurance companies, make medical decisions. It guarantees patients the right to hear of all their treatment options, not just the cheapest ones. It says you have the right to go to the closest emergency room, and the right to see a specialist. This bill says that women have the right to see an OB/GYN--without having to see another doctor first to get permission. It guarantees that parents can choose a pediatrician as their child's primary care provider. It allows families and individuals to challenge an HMO's treatment decisions if they disagree with them. And, it gives families a way to hold HMO's accountable if their decisions cause serious injury or death--because rights without remedies are no rights at all. This bill achieves every goal we set for it over the past 5 years, and we owe that to the stewardship and commitment of Senators McCain, Edwards, and Kennedy. During these last 10 days, they have shown a seemingly limitless ability to find the workable middle ground without sacrificing people's basic rights. They have put the Nation's interests ahead of their own partisan interests. I thank them for their service to this Senate, and to our Nation. I also want to thank Senators Nickles and Gregg for being honest with us about their disagreements with this bill, and fair in the way they handled those disagreements. This is the way the Senate should work. A Senate that brings up important bills and allows meaningful debate on them is a tribute to us all. One final reason I found this debate so encouraging is the great concern we heard expressed by many opponents of this bill for the growing number of Americans who have no health insurance. We agree that this is a serious problem, and look forward to working with those Senators to address it as soon as possible. The effort to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights now returns to the House. Last year, 68 House Republicans joined Democrats to pass a strong patient protection bill very much like this one. We urge our colleagues in the House to resist the special interests one more time. Together, we can send a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights to President Bush. We hope that when that happens, the President will reconsider his threatened veto. We hope he will remember the promise he made last fall to the American people to pass a national Patients' Bill of Rights. Texas has proven that we can protect patients' rights--without dramatically increasing premiums. It is time--it is past time--to pass a Patients' Bill of Rights to protect all insured Americans.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of the Patients' Bill of Rights. As we agreed last night, we now will have a series of rollcall votes, all of which were on amendments which were offered last night. Additional amendments with votes are expected throughout the day. It would be my expectation to finish the bill, either today or tomorrow, and then move to the organizing resolution. So as I understand it, under the unanimous consent agreement, the first amendment is to be taken up right now. I yield the floor.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, in an effort to move forward and complete debate on the Patient's Bill of Rights, the Ensign amendment on genetic discrimination, along with several other proposals, were included in a managers' package without a full vote of the Senate. It must be clarified that there are several problems with the Ensign proposal as offered, and we do not support this approach for dealing with genetic discrimination. First, the Ensign amendment does not comprehensively address the problem of genetic discrimination. This amendment only covers genetic discrimination in health insurance and is silent on discrimination in the workplace. Simply prohibiting genetic discrimination in health insurance, while allowing it to continue in employment is no solution at all. Employers will simply weed out employees with a genetic marker. Additionally, the protections the amendment provides are so riddled with loopholes that health insurance providers would still have substantial access to individuals' private genetic information. Recently, employees working at Burlington Northern Railroad were subjected to genetic testing without their knowledge or consent. The company was attempting to determine if any of the employees had a genetic predisposition for carpal tunnel syndrome--in an attempt to avoid covering any costs associated with the injury. Giving up your private genetic information shouldn't be the price you pay for being employed. The Ensign amendment also fails to comprehensively cover all of the insured. We must create protections for all Americans regardless of where an individual gets his or her health insurance coverage. It is unconscionable to allow genetic information to be used to discriminate against anyone--access must be limited appropriately to ensure that no American is left vulnerable. Finally, the Ensign amendment does not create a private right action--leaving individuals without an adequate remedy. Clearly, providing protections without proper enforcement provisions makes any protection meaningless. We've seen a revolution in our understanding of genetics--scientists have finished mapping our genetic code, and researchers are developing extraordinary new tests to determine if a person is at risk of developing a particular disease. But with increased understanding of the possibilities of the genome uncovers, comes increased responsibilities. We simply cannot take one step forward in science while taking two steps back in civil rights. The HELP committee will move forward with consideration of this issue this summer. We welcome the opportunity to work with Senator Ensign and other Republicans on a comprehensive genetic non-discrimination bill that can command bipartisan support. It is our hope that we can bring up and pass a bill later this summer.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire has been working with colleagues on his side of the aisle to come up with a finite list. We have an amendment to be offered by Senator Carper and an amendment to be offered by Senator Kennedy. Those are the only two amendments on our side. I yield the floor for purposes of describing the list on the Republican side.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that be deemed as the finite list of amendments to be offered to this bill.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, is there an objection?

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period for morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 5 minutes each.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: No. 166, Nos. 169 through 181, including the nominations on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table en bloc, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.