Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, I simply want to say to Senator Bennett, my partner lo these many years in the bipartisan effort to fix health care, how much I appreciate his leadership on the Social Security issue.
I think everybody understands what the demographics are all about. In fact, the demographics on Social Security are very similar to the demographics on health care. Yet Senator Bennett has been out there prosecuting the case of trying to bring the Senate together for a bipartisan approach on Social Security, just as we have sought to do on health care.
I want to let the Senator from Utah know how much I am looking forward to working with him on this issue. I think he knows there are a number of us who believe this is going to take a bipartisan effort. Like most of the big issues, if you are going to get an enduring reform, bring the country together, you have to take the pursuit that Senator Bennett has followed, which is to do your homework and get the financial underpinnings in place.
I commend my colleague for all his effort to zero the attention of the Senate in on the Social Security question. I am looking forward to working with him in partnership on this issue as well as continuing our health care effort.
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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I would close this discussion with Senator Bennett by saying that I think, having listened to his comments with respect to Social Security and knowing of our work together on health care, if anything, we have seen during this last couple of weeks of discussion about the economic stimulus how important it is going to be to bring the Senate together in the months ahead in a bipartisan way to tackle these most significant economic questions. You are not going to fix Social Security and you are not going to fix health care on a narrowly partisan approach. The Senator has made that clear with the ideas he has advanced on Social Security.
It is a pleasure to team up with the Senator on health care. I look forward to joining with him in following up on the Social Security proposal he has made this afternoon. I thank him for his work.
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