Cash For Clunkers

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, later today, we are going to take up the Cash for Clunkers Program. This is an idea whose time has come. When we passed this legislation a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure. I didn't know if this would work, if we put a dollar incentive in front of American buyers and said: If you will bring in an old car or truck and trade it in on a new car or truck that is more fuel efficient, would you consider it--I didn't know if they would. We are in a recession and people don't have a lot of money.

Well, they not only considered it, they made it a wild success. In a matter of just a few days, the $1 billion we set aside for the program led to dramatic increases in sales in auto showrooms in Illinois and all across the Nation. I got phone calls from dealers who said: Keep it coming. Folks are finally coming into our showrooms and buying cars.

The good news is it is not only activity that is clearing the inventory in these dealerships, it also means we have more jobs. As we have more of these cars being purchased, there is more demand to rebuild that inventory at the auto dealership, and we put auto workers back to work. Also, the good news is people are buying more fuel-efficient vehicles. Eighty-three percent of the vehicles being traded in are old trucks that are not fuel efficient. Most people--the majority of them--are buying fuel-efficient cars, and that is a good change. It means there will be less fuel use, less dependence on foreign oil, and less pollution. For those who buy it, it will be a car they can operate more cheaply than the one they traded in.

We have a chance to extend this program today. It may be our last chance. A lot of amendments will be offered. Some may be good-faith amendments to improve the bill, and I fear some may be mischievous. Here is the reality. Any amendment adopted today means this program will be stopped in its tracks, and we will have to wait for the House to return in September. So for the next 4, 5, 6 weeks, nothing would happen.

Let's not lose the momentum in the Cash for Clunkers Program. This program is helping to put life back into our economy, save and create jobs, and get our automobile sector moving forward again. That is something we desperately need to come out of the recession--creating jobs and getting back on our feet and be strong again. The Cash for Clunkers Program has been a success. Let's continue it.

HEALTH CARE

The second issue I have relates to health care. I heard my colleague from Tennessee come forward and suggest that he is working on an alternative to health care reform. I salute him for that, and I hope he will continue that effort. I also salute the three Republican Senators who have met for weeks, if not months, trying to hammer out the differences in health care reform. It is a constructive, positive dialog. I am sure I would not agree with everything they have come to agreement on, but that is not what this is about. It doesn't have to be a bill that is perfect in my eyes; it has to be a bill that is reasonable, that will bring down the cost of health care.

I know what happened in Illinois. In 1997, health insurance premiums through employers averaged $5,462. Just 9 years later, that number was $11,781. If we do nothing, by 2016, it will more than double, to $25,409.

Those who come to the floor and to town meetings and say, ``Don't touch it; all you can do is make a mess of it,'' ignore the obvious. The current health care system is unsustainable for families and for small businesses. Fewer and fewer businesses are offering health insurance protection. More people are finding themselves without health insurance protection.

In fact, in Illinois 15 percent of the population has no insurance at all. During the course of any given year, one out of three Illinoisans have no health insurance coverage at least some time during that year. That is unacceptable. People without health insurance coverage are one diagnosis or one accident away from bankruptcy. We know more and more people are going into bankruptcy court because of health care and medical bills they cannot pay. For those who stand here and say ``Don't touch it; leave it alone,'' it is unsustainable. It is a system headed toward disaster.

Who wants to keep the current health care system? It is the people who are making the most money in the system, the health insurance companies. They have been profitable, when many other parts of the economy have not. They are now sponsoring activities and advertisements and all sorts of things at town meetings to try to create resistance to change in health care. That is not good. It is not a constructive dialog. To think that these town meetings that are supposed to take place for a healthy, honest dialog back home have now turned into political theater. Some groups have Web sites that instruct people about how to disrupt a town meeting and embarrass a Senator or Congressman. I know that when I go to town meetings, people may disagree and be emotional, and that is OK. To think they have a coordinated effort to disrupt a town meeting. Who wants that? That is not constructive.

Let's move forward with an honest, constructive, bipartisan dialog. Three Republicans are doing that now. If we do that, we can reach a bipartisan compromise that I and the President would like to see by September. Let us come back with resolve in September to make sure there is real health care reform that brings stability to the costs that businesses and Americans pay, stability to coverage so you don't lose your health insurance because of a preexisting condition, changing a job, caps and limits on your policy, with quality access to preventive care, wellness care, and the quality care that every American deserves.

We can do that with patient-centered health insurance reform, and we can get it done in a bipartisan fashion in September when we return.

I yield the floor.

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