Media Stakeout With Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lamar Alexander And Others, Following Senate Policy Committee Luncheon

Press Conference

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SEN. MCCONNELL: Okay. Good afternoon everyone.

Want to focus for a moment on the health-care debate. One thing that is increasingly clear in the Republican Conference is that the overwhelming majority, if not virtually everyone, in our conference agrees with both The Washington Post editorial page, and apparently Senator Landrieu, who just made an announcement a while ago, that a government plan is a bad idea.

And so I would strong recommend to the administration and to the majority here in Congress that if we're serious about getting a bipartisan health-care reform bill -- and I know my members are; we're not happy with the status quo and do think we need to improve health care -- the best way to go forward on a bipartisan basis would be to take out of the government plan -- take out any effort to ration health care, and then let's craft a bill based upon consideration of an acceptable array of alternatives, all of which would arguably improve the current system.

So I think the sooner we can get the government plan off the table, the better, in terms of getting an actual result for the American people.

Jon?

SEN. KYL: I just want to second what the leader said about the government plan. We are opposed to a government plan. And the sooner it's off the table, the better.

In remarks this morning, Senator Durbin noted that when I had criticized the fact that there are delays inherent in government-run health care, he said, well, he could find a case or two where there are actually delays in our system today; which I responded to, I don't think exactly is an argument for adding another 45 million people to create even longer delays and even more rationing of health care. The American people don't want that. They're concerned about the cost. They're concerned about the government takeover, just as they are with other aspects of our economy. And I suspect at the end of the day, most of all, they're concerned about the potential for rationing of their family's health care.

I just wanted to also respond, before a question is asked, since I'm on the Judiciary, the announcement of the potential hearing of the nominee for the Supreme Court on July 13th. It is too early to tell whether that would enable us to have enough time to review all of the opinions and decisions and other writings of this nominee. It's taking a long time. Remember that she was involved in more than ten times as many cases as Justice Roberts. And whether or not we're going to be able to complete that work in advance of that time period in order to have the hearing at that time is not yet known.

SEN. ALEXANDER: The Republicans want health-care reform, and we're proud of the fact that we have, we believe, more health-care- reform proposals on the table today than the Democrats do. But the idea of a government-run health-care plan is a big problem for us. And it's a big problem because it leads inevitably to a Washington takeover of health care. Those are two words we hear a lot today: "Washington takeover."

In the case of health care, it's like putting an elephant in a room with some mice and saying, "Okay, fellas, compete." After a while, the elephant has taken over the room, and your only choice is the elephant.

We saw Washington take over with banks; we saw Washington take over with student loans; we see a Washington takeover with car companies. And now we see an attempt to have a Washington takeover with a government-run health-care plan.

We want health-care reform. We have Republican proposals on the table, but not a government-run Washington takeover.

MR. : Well, we know the Democrats want to rush through their government plan. We haven't seen a bill yet. We haven't seen a score yet. And we haven't seen a way to pay for it. But we know that the American people are becoming increasingly concerned about the level of governmental intervention in our economy. And an example of that, I think, is the auto manufacturer programs, where we're now owning the major share of General Motors and acquiring a big stake in Chrysler.

And I think the American people are starting to connect the dots and see these as sort of gateway drugs to the government takeover of health care. And there is, I think, growing concern around the country about the way in which and the speed with which the government is intervening in our economy and the impact that it's having and the amount of spending and borrowing here in Washington that it necessitates.

But for the Democrats to suggest that -- one, that, you know, we ought to be moving quickly to get health care done when we don't have a -- we don't have a bill itself that we can react to, we've not seen what it's going to cost and we don't know how it's going to be paid for -- those are all things that the American people need to know, and they need to be engaged in this debate. This is one-sixth of the American economy. In a few years it'll be one-fifth of the American economy. And, as Senator Alexander said, we are for health-care reform.

We're for doing things that will make our health care system stronger and more affordable and more accessible to more people.

But it does not include a government takeover of our health care system in this country that would, in the end, drive up costs and be -- and lead to rationing, which would make health care less accessible to people across this country.

SEN. : As this train has now left the station on health care reform and is barreling down the track, one thing that causes me a great deal of concern is reports I get from health care providers and other stakeholders that they're literally being intimidated, if not threatened, to keep quiet, don't criticize the proposed plans, and don't provide your input to members of Congress who are charged with the craft of -- with the task of crafting a health care reform plan.

Obviously, every citizen has a First Amendment right to speak freely and also has a right to petition their government. We need the input from the best and the brightest across America on how this legislation, which will affect all 300 million of us in this country and, as has been pointed out, covers roughly 17 percent of our gross domestic product. We need to get this right. And the only way we can do this is by getting that input, getting the best advice we can possibly get, and certainly not by intimidation and threatening various stakeholders that if they speak up and criticize the proposals, they'll be treated harshly. Those kind of Chicago-style tactics, I think, have no place in the way that this health care debate should be carried on.

Q Senator McConnell, with -- would Republicans support an effort by Senator Graham and Senator Lieberman to block the war supplemental if their ban on detainee photos being released is taken out by the House in conference?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, I think virtually all Republicans feel very strongly that taking the prohibition on release of these photographs out of the supplemental is a huge mistake and, as our military commanders have indicated, endangers the lives of our soldiers needlessly. So on the merits, there's no question that Republicans overwhelmingly support what Senator Lieberman and Senator Graham have done.

As to how it will unplay, I think it's not too late for the majority, which controls the conference report, to change its mind. And this is a bill that's supposed to be about funding our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why would we want to make it more dangerous for them to carry out their mission?

Q When it comes down to the tough call of either doing that or blocking a bill for the troops --

>MCCONNELL: Well, those are calls left to be make -- to be made. It's not too early for the majority to get the message and do the right thing.

Q Mr. Leader, to what extent did Chairman Leahy consult with you before -- (off mike) -- a July 13th date for that?

SEN. MCCONNELL: The majority leader and I are going to be continuing to discuss the process for going forward with the Supreme Court nomination. As Senator Kyl has indicated, the main goal here is to have an adequate amount of time to look at an extensive record. Exactly how long that will take is just not clear yet.

So I think we don't want to end up in a situation like Guantanamo, where you pick an arbitrary date for closing the facility and didn't have a game plan for what you were going to do if you couldn't meet the date. An arbitrary date on this nomination when we're not clear yet how long it's going to take to work our way through her extensive record, it strikes me as not -- not a good way to proceed.

Q Senator McConnell, your conference has suggested splitting it up and holding the final vote after the congressional recess in August, but allow the hearings before then. What do you think of that idea?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, the majority leader and I will be talking about the floor schedule. And in the -- in the end, that'll be, you know, his decision to make.

Q Senator McConnell, the president has asked for a health care bill to be on his desk by October 15th, and Democrats in the Senate want to pass a bill out of here by the time you guys go home for August recess. How do you guys feel about that schedule?

SEN. MCCONNELL: On health care?

Q Yeah. Aside from what would be in the bill or not, how do you feel about the schedule?

SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, at the risk of reiterating everything that's been said here, let me say one more time we're talking about a sixth of the economy. This is a big deal, a huge deal. With the possible exception of the Kennedy bill, which has apparently not yet been scored -- and I gather from members of the committee may not yet have been read --

SEN. : That's correct, or written.

SEN. MCCONNELL: Where -- where's the bill? You know, a bill would be a good starting place. There's been no markup held yet. Apparently the Kennedy bill has not been produced for the minority on the committee. Good grief -- (chuckles) -- we need to know what's in the bill in order to go forward.

The Finance Committee is still involved in discussions back and forth about the merits of various proposals, about when to mark up, all the rest. Once again, to set an arbitrary date for completion of a subject that is not yet ready to be dealt with strikes me as a ticket to problems.

Thanks a lot.

Q Senator McConnell, is the filibuster still on the table -- (off mike)?

(No audible response as the senators leave the microphones.)

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