Tom Daschle

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Minnesota.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. We will continue to persist. We will continue to make the effort each day, either in the form of unanimous consent requests like this, or with amendments offered to bills that will be considered. We will not let this issue pass. It is essential that we consider this legislation before it is too late, before we run out of time, before we miss a golden opportunity to seize the moment and do what the Senate should have done earlier this year, should have done last year, should have done 10 years ago. This will not go away. We can do it either the easy way or the hard way, but we will continue to persist.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I think that we want to finish this foreign operations appropriations legislation, and I hope that we can do it. I hope we can do it sometime soon. I note there are a number of amendments that are left to be considered on this important piece of legislation. I commend our ranking member and the chairman for their efforts in resolving this important piece of legislation in a timely way. There are a number of other amendments that must be considered before we can come to closure. The question then comes as to what we take up next. Yesterday, we discussed on the Senate floor how important it is that one of the bills that we take up next be the Patients' Bill of Rights, managed care reform. The other piece of legislation, Mr. President, that ought to be taken up immediately is legislation that was already passed in the House, the Shays-Meehan bill, H.R. 2183, the campaign finance reform bill. Mr. President, the House deliberated on that bill for some time. House Members worked their will. They did a good job in dealing with all of the controversial aspects of campaign reform this year. They recognize, as many of us recognize, that we are not going to solve the problem with one piece of legislation. But they made a major contribution to solving the problems we face with regard to soft money and independent expenditures and reporting and enforcement. Whether or not we move this issue forward will be determined by whether or not we are willing to act in the course of the next 6 weeks. Time is running out. I applaud Senators McCain and Feingold for their news conference this week wherein they said they will press for this legislation, they will offer their bill as an amendment to another bill at some point in the future. Mr. President, whether it is the McCain-Feingold bill or the Shays- Meehan bill, this Senate must not lose the opportunity to complete its work on campaign finance reform this year. We must have the opportunity to address the issue. We must take up that legislation. I will be propounding a unanimous consent request at some point this morning--in just a few moments--to ask that campaign finance reform be the next order of business, to ask, again as we did yesterday, that it be laid aside for other important appropriations bills simply because we recognize the urgency of passing appropriations legislation on time. We are way past due. We have not passed a budget. We have not passed any of the appropriations bills. Not one has been signed into law. Mr. President, to the extent we can do all that we can to resolve the remaining procedural and other related problems on appropriations, we must do so. But there is no question that, as we look to what must be completed prior to the end of this year, the two issues that have to be addressed are the campaign finance reform bill and the Patients' Bill of Rights that we discussed yesterday. We come to the floor this morning simply to focus attention on the need for expeditious consideration of this legislation, on how critical it is that we, as Republicans and Democrats, agree, as did Members in the House, to make it the kind of priority it deserves to be, to address the array of problems that we have. I cannot think of a more diverse philosophical body than the House today. We have the far left and we have the far right. We have the extremes on both sides. With all of the extreme positions that Members are capable of taking, they came together and passed the Shays-Meehan bill just before we left. Mr. President, now it is our turn. Now we have an opportunity to do the same thing. Now we can pass the legislation here. We had a debate earlier. We were disappointed that we were not able to come to closure on it. But now is the time. The House has acted. So must we. So far this cycle Republicans and Democrats have spent $37 million more than the last cycle--$37 million. Campaigns continue to escalate in cost and degrade in quality. More and more, there is a rush for dollars. More and more questions are asked about how money is raised. More and more, the people are turned off and tuned out by a political process that has gone awry. They ask that we react. They ask that we show some leadership. They ask that we take some steps to correct this situation before it gets even worse. The House heard; and the House reacted. The Senate now must do the same. There is no better time to do it than now. We all are cognizant of the fact that there are only 60 days left before the next election. Within those 60 days, there will be even more money raised, tens of millions of dollars raised, across this country. As we speak, I guarantee you, there are Senators and House Members and candidates in small rooms everywhere dialing for dollars--incessant dollar dialing that has reached an unprecedented threshold. And the implications of all that money become more serious, the implications for the legislative process, the implications for campaigns themselves, the implications for the democracy that we all treasure. Mr. President, there has to be an end at some point. We have to curtail this incessant effort to raise more and more money at the cost of the credibility of the American people as they view our campaigns in 1998. Not all of us are on the floor right now, but if we were, I say with unanimity our Democratic caucus wishes to express the hope that we can pass the Shays-Meehan bill this week, next week, or certainly at some point before we leave. If we pass the Shays-Meehan bill as it passed in the House, which I am prepared to do, I will accept it. I will take the language that was passed in the House and I will send it off to the President. He has already indicated he will sign it. We don't have to go to conference. There is nothing we have to do that would complicate our actions once it passes in the Senate. So let's do it. Let's agree, as Republicans and Democrats, that it is important to do it now. The time is running out. I urge my colleagues-- urge my colleagues--to agree. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that upon the disposition of the foreign operations appropriations bill, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2183, the House-passed campaign finance reform bill, that only relevant amendments be in order, that it be the regular order, but that the majority leader may lay the bill aside for any appropriations bills and appropriations conference reports.

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely correct. First, to the point he made about relevancy, what our unanimous consent request would have done is simply allowed what we have attempted to negotiate with our Republican colleagues now for months, which is to allow a good debate about this issue and allow the opportunity for the Senate to decide on relevant amendments. This may be one of the most comprehensive and most complicated medical issues that the Senate will address for a long period of time. It is impossible for us to address it in the way that has been suggested by some on the other side, that we have an up-or-down vote on two simple bills. There is nothing simple about them. These are very serious questions about holding health insurance companies accountable, about making sure that when a woman has a mastectomy she can be protected, about making absolutely certain that when you go into a pharmacy you have a drug that the doctor prescribed and not something that the health care company prescribed. Those are the kinds of issues that we ought to have the opportunity to decide in a very careful way. So we offered a unanimous consent request that would have allowed for relevant amendments. The Senator is absolutely right, as well, about the 170 organizations. In my time in the Senate on an issue of any magnitude, I don't remember a time when over 170 organizations of all philosophical stripes were on board and said, yes, we want to pass this bill. That is phenomenal. That is historic. And so the Senator is right. I hope, regardless of whether it is today or tomorrow or sometime soon, we can have the kind of debate the Senator from Massachusetts and others have called for for a long period of time. We need time to do it.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am very deeply disappointed that the Senator from Kentucky has seen fit to object to this. We will continue to press this matter. We will look for other opportunities. I would much rather do it in an orderly fashion using the regular order to allow this to come up and be debated. But if we cannot do it that way, we will offer it in the form of amendments. One way or the other we will press for this issue. We will see it resolved, and see it resolved successfully, because I don't believe there is another issue out there this year that is of greater importance to the American people. I would be happy to yield to the Senator.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will not take long. I know that there are discussions ongoing. Before we left for the August recess, Democrats made it very clear that it is essential that we not leave here before the end of the year without having taken up and passed the Patients' Bill of Rights. I think it is very clear, given the extraordinary degree of interest in the issue on both sides of the aisle, that there is an opportunity for us to complete our work on that bill. I hope we can do it sooner rather than later. I see no reason why we cannot do it within the course of the next couple of weeks. I will propound a unanimous consent request that would allow us to do that. The request, very simply, would allow the Senate to take up the House-passed HMO reform bill, begin the debate, allow relevant amendments, and set the bill aside at the request of the majority leader to take up appropriations bills when they are ready to be considered. It takes into account the need for us to complete our work on appropriations bills, and it takes into account the high priority that both parties have put on dealing with this issue. But I must say, for Democrats, that there cannot be a more important issue than the complete and successful conclusion of the debate on managed care and the Patients' Bill of Rights. We now have over 170 different organizations that have said they join us in supporting this legislation and recognize the importance of passing it before we leave. All we have left is 6 weeks. Mr. President, it is critical that we complete our work, that we get this job done, that we do so in the remaining time we have, and that we allow a full debate given the differences we have on how we might approach this issue. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that upon disposition of the foreign operations appropriations bill, the Senate proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 505, H.R. 4250, the House-passed health care reform bill; that only relevant amendments be in order; that the bill be the regular order, but that the majority leader may lay it aside for any appropriations bill or appropriations conference report which he deems necessary to consider between now and the end of this session of Congress.

Mr. DASCHLE. I wish I could. I appreciate the question offered by the Senator from Illinois. I have no clue. All I know is that the American people are expecting us to act responsibly and comprehensively on this issue. I hope we will, and we will be back, either in the form of amendments or additional unanimous consent requests, to give them the opportunity to change their mind. Mr. President, I yield the floor. Several Senators addressed the Chair.

Mr. DASCHLE. So it is a sham. It is not a piece of legislation that can give confidence to any American today, not when the problems are as great as the ones suggested by the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator is absolutely right. They leave out over 100 million people; 100 million people won't be touched.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Illinois has made a very eloquent and poignant statement about circumstances that are very real, that are happening as we speak in Illinois, South Dakota, Massachusetts, and California. In every State, there are illustrations of how the system is broken, just as the Senator from Illinois has described. But he really needs to direct his question to the majority leader. I don't know what could be more pressing than this issue. Obviously, by law, we have to address appropriations bills. Obviously, by law, we should be addressing the budget, but I am told the Republicans now may overlook the fact that the law requires a budget resolution by April 15. They are overlooking that. So we have already violated--they have violated the law with regard to the budget. But I would hope we can adhere to the law with regard to appropriations, because we know the consequences if we don't. We have already gone through that. I think they have learned their lesson on that. We don't want to shut the Government down, but I would direct your question to the majority leader when you have the opportunity.

Mr. DASCHLE. I yield to the Senator from Illinois.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely correct. There are so many areas that I believe ought to be clarified and ought to be rectified. I don't think there is any greater need than for clarification on the role of independent expenditures and what may happen, now, with regard to tobacco. Passing Shays-Meehan would allow us to do that. We ought to let that happen. We ought to make that happen in the next 6 weeks.

Mr. DASCHLE. I yield further to the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely correct. The issue, as we have noted now several times, has probably the most elaborate array of support by health care organizations, organizations that deal with this every day. Organizations on the front line of health care delivery have said this must be our highest priority--not just in health care, but in the array of issues that are confronting this Congress. They say there is nothing more important than passing this legislation this year. I think they are right. This is what the American people want. I might note, we just received a faxed letter from the President, from Moscow, on this very issue. I might just read one short paragraph. As I mentioned in my radio address this past Saturday, ensuring basic patient protections is not and should not be a political issue. I was therefore disappointed by the partisan manner in which the Senate Republican Leadership bill was developed. The lack of consultation with the White House or any Democrats during the drafting of your legislation contributed to its serious shortcomings and the fact it has failed to receive the support of either patients or doctors. The bill leaves millions of Americans without critical patient protections, contains provisions that are more rhetorical than substantive, completely omits patient protections that virtually every expert in the field believes are basic and essential, and includes ``poison pill'' provisions that have nothing to do with a patients' bill of rights. I ask unanimous consent the letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. DASCHLE. To date, that is correct.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely correct.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Massachusetts is correct. Basically, our unanimous consent request simply would have made as regular order, as the next bill to be considered, H.R. 4250, the House-passed health care reform bill. We would then offer, in the form of amendments, our bill and other relevant amendments that would be considered. We would give the majority leader, certainly, the authority to set that bill aside so long as other appropriations bills or conference reports on appropriations bills need to be considered. We would complete our work on patient protections, and it would be my expectation, following the successful conclusion of that debate, to offer a similar unanimous consent request on campaign finance reform. It seems to me, those two key issues are critical to the agenda of this country and critical to the business of the Senate--particularly given the fact, as I have just noted, that they both now have passed in the House of Representatives. I can't think of anything more important than to complete the work of this Congress on those two bills. That would be my intention.

Mr. DASCHLE. Before I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts, let me say the unanimous consent request that we made took into account the fact that the House has already acted on this issue. The House has passed a health care bill, not one that I would necessarily be excited about, but it passed a bill. What we are suggesting here is that we want to amend the House-passed bill. We want to complete the job. We want to put a Democratic imprint on a comprehensive health care bill that will do the job and get that bill signed. There is another piece of legislation the House has now passed, campaign finance reform. That bill has also passed out of the House. The Shays-Meehan bill has passed, and that, too, is pending now in this Chamber. That, also, ought to be on our agenda. When can we take up the Shays-Meehan bill? It passed in the House. Let's pass it in the Senate. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from California is right on the mark. That is exactly the essence of our legislation. We talk so often in statistical terms here on the Senate floor. Sometimes we have to put it in personal terms, in real terms. The Senator from California has just done so, so eloquently. In real terms, this bill would allow an individual, whether it is somebody in this Chamber today or anybody who may be watching, that they will have an opportunity to choose and be treated by a qualified specialist. They would have an opportunity to make sure that the specialist is competent, so they will get the best care for their personal set of circumstances, like young Carly. That is what our bill is all about. That is why it is important to pass it this year. That is why we cannot wait until next year. I thank the Senator from California.

Mr. DASCHLE. I thank the Senator for his contribution. I would be happy to yield to the Senator from California.

Mr. DASCHLE. I think the Senator from North Dakota raises a very important point. This particular bill has been pending now for over 6 months. And as the Senator from Massachusetts noted, over that period of time, more and more groups from all over the country, the doctors, the nurses, people in health care delivery from virtually every facet and every walk of life, every one of them have said you put your finger on a problem that you have to solve. It is getting worse out there. And unless we address the situation meaningfully in public policy, it will continue to get worse. How long must we wait? Must we wait until next year or the year after? And how many millions of people will be adversely affected if we do not act? They are telling us to act. And I hope we will do it before the end of this session of Congress.

Mr. DASCHLE. The Senator from Massachusetts is absolutely right. When you think about it, we spent a lot of good time on the highway bill, time we needed to spend on a bill that I supported. We all know that the highway bill has many complicated aspects to it; there wasn't any objection from the other side in that regard. The highway bill was complicated, and because it was, we offered, as the Senator noted, over 100 amendments. Now what they are saying on this particular bill is that even though it is every bit as complicated, they are only willing to provide three slots for amendments--not 100, not 75, not 50, but three slots on a bill that affects personally more people than even the highway bill. That is what we are up against. That is the motivation in offering the unanimous consent request this afternoon. I would be happy to yield to the Senator from North Dakota.

Mr. DASCHLE

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

Mr. DASCHLE

Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I welcome back the distinguished Presiding Officer and our staff on the Senate floor and hope that you all had as enjoyable an August recess as I did. I want to talk about three things this afternoon. The first is to express how saddened I am with the loss of a very key member of the staff of Senator Kent Conrad and somebody whom I knew and respected quite well. Secondly, I would like to talk about the agricultural situation in my State of South Dakota that I spent a good deal of time talking about as I was home. And then obviously, thirdly, I would like to discuss the agenda at hand and what my expectations and hopes are for the remaining 6 weeks of this session.