Health Care And Education Reconciliation Act Of 2010
Floor Speech
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Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, we are concluding an historic week here in the Nation's Capital and in the U.S. Senate. Health reform is no longer a bill. It is the law of the land.
Just as the history books remember 1935 as the year FDR signed Social Security into law, and 1965 as the year Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law, they will now remember 2010 as the year President Barack Obama signed comprehensive health reform into law.
Of course, not only is health reform the law of the land, but, thanks to the reconciliation bill, we have also passed a landmark reform of the student lending program, permitting a major increase in Pell grants.
Appropriately, Members have cited the historic contributions of key leaders here in the Senate, including Majority Leader REID, Senator CONRAD, Senator BAUCUS, Senator DODD, and, of course, for his commitment to this cause spanning decades, the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
It is also important to etch into history, in our CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, the names of Senate staff members who have done so much to get us to this point. I have often cited the old saying that ``Senators are a constitutional impediment to the smooth functioning of staff.'' We laugh at that, but we also know that there is a lot of truth. Were it not for skilled, talented, dedicated staff members, willing to spend so many evenings and weekends away from their families, we would not have arrived at the historic triumph of passing comprehensive health reform.
I am especially grateful to the extraordinary efforts of staff members on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which I chair. I would like to thank Dan Smith, Pam Smith, Michael Myers, Mark Childress, David Bowen, Jenelle Krishnamoorthy, Connie Garner, Portia Wu, John McDonough, Topher Spiro, Stacey Sachs, Tom Kraus, Terri Roney, Craig Martinez, Taryn Morrissey, Brian Massa, Andrea Harris, Caroline Fichtenberg, Bethany Little, Luke Swarthout, David Johns, Maria Worthen, Thomas Showalter, Paulette Acevedo, Abby Bartine, Ches Garrison, Sarah Whitton, Robin Juliano, Lory Yudin, and Evan Griffis.
On the staff of Majority Leader REID, I want to thank Gary Myrick, Kate Leone, Jason Unger, Carolyn Gluck, Jacqueline Lampert, Bruce King, David Krone, Rodell Molineaux, and Randy DeValk.
On Senator DODD's staff, I thank Jim Fenton, Tamar Magarik Haro, Monica Feit, Brian DeAngelis, Madeline Gitomer, and Averi Pakulis.
On Senator BAUCUS's staff: Liz Fowler, Bill Dauster, Russ Sullivan, John Sullivan, Scott Mulhauser, Kelly Whitener, Cathy Koch, Yvette Fontenot, David Schwartz, Neleen Eisinger, Chris Dawe, and Hun Quach.
On Senator CONRAD's staff: Mary Naylor, John Righter, Joe Gaeta, Robyn Hiestand, Matt Mohning, Purva Rawal, Sarah Kuehl, Joel Friedman, Jim Esquea, and Jennifer Hanson-Kilbride.
On my personal staff, I want to thank Beth Stein, Lee Perselay, Kate Cyrul, Bergen Kenny, Dan Goldberg, Lindsay Jones, and Jim Whitmire.
Mr. President, I also want to salute the great skill and professionalism of the Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin, as well as Assistant Parliamentarians Elizabeth MacDonough, Peter Robinson and Leigh Hildebrand.
In addition, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the staff of the Congressional Budget Office. They are an extremely knowledgeable and capable team, willing to work late nights and through the weekends to model and estimate the budgetary effects of the complex provisions in this bill.
Finally, I want to thank staff members in the Senate Legislative Counsel's office. They also worked many long hours to assist my HELP Committee in drafting the language and working out the technical issues in the bill.
To all of these dedicated members of our Senate family, I say thank you for your service to this body, and thank you for your selfless service to our Nation.
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