Republican Leadership Press Conference
September 23, 2009

Participants:
- Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
- Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
- Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Republican Conference Vice Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

Multimedia:
Audio  |  Video  |  Photos

Transcript:

Conference Chairman Pence:
 
Good morning, all.  We just concluded our weekly meeting of the House Republican Conference.  Let me say with conviction, whether it is this economy, whether it is a debate over a national energy tax, or whether it's a debate over a government takeover of health care, House Republicans are on the side of the American people.  And this morning we urged our colleagues to continue to engage the American people in town hall meetings and public forums in their districts.
 
House Republicans are in the minority, and we recognize that.  But as we often say and remind one another, a minority in Congress plus the American people equals a majority.  And so today, our leadership encouraged our Members not to allow the town hall meetings to simply fade into the memories of the summer, but to continue to engage the American people on behalf of health care reform that will be built not on more government, but on freedom and on putting patients first.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn:

There's been a lot of talk this week about the Baucus plan. And now the CBO tells us that the Baucus plan is going to cause insurance premiums to increase. Well, being from Tennessee, I didn't need to wait for the CBO to give us that information. We have Tenn Care. And we have seen our health insurance premiums skyrocket because of cost-shifting from doctors and hospitals. And what we know is that you don't have government control bringing the cost down. And supposedly one of the purposes of all this health reform was to bring the cost down.

Now, as Chairman Pence has said, we've listened in August, we're continuing to listen, and this morning at the Energy and Commerce Committee, we're going to bring a substitute amendment which will include the things the American people want to see in health care reform. They do not want to have an additional layer of bureaucracy in addition to insurance bureaucracy, they want the cost to come down they don't want it to go up. What they want to do is make certain that they're in control. We know that's what they want. We have Republican bills and alternatives that will deliver that. We think it is time for us to have a debate about what the American people want to see. We encourage the Committee Chairman to do that. We think it is time to end the public deception of public option and that, bringing health care costs down.

Republican Whip Cantor:

Good morning, first let me address health care.  I participated in a bipartisan public square discussion about health care with my colleague Bobby Scott, who also represents part of the Richmond area, on Monday.  In that discussion, there are areas in which Bobby Scott and I agree, and I do think there is plenty of room for us to agree on the overall goals of where we need to go as far as health care reform is concerned.  Since that discussion I have heard that the Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, has indicated his desire to want to meet if there are areas of agreement.  I believe very strongly that the areas of agreement have to do with the real aim of health care reform, which is to bring down cost, which is to deal with pre-existing conditions, which is to deal with the portability issue and not having to do with H.R. 3200.  The majority cannot get an agreement on 3200, even a majority of agreement on 3200, and certainly not 80 percent of its own members agree on 3200.  So let's set that aside, and I‘ll be more than willing to meet with Mr. Hoyer and to talk about the things we can agree on.
 
That brings me to the second point. Health care in this building has now made it so that we cannot seem to get anything else done.  We've got burning issues out there in this country.  First and foremost is the fact that Americans want to see job security return, they want to see economic security return.  But somehow we are unable to deliver on that because of the intransigence on the majority's part on even discussing ways for us to agree on health care.  We've got serious challenges as far Afghanistan is concerned, that's being clouded by the rigidity with which this majority hangs on to H.R. 3200 and the imposition of the public option.  As the Chairman, as Marsha, the Leader will say and Cathy, we stand ready to work with the other side to focus on areas we can agree on.  Let's set aside H.R. 3200 obviously causing problems on both sides of the aisle.

Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers:
 
Good morning, everyone.  It really is becoming clearer and clearer that the President's plan is not going to become law.  And it's not because people don't want health care reform, it is because it is the wrong prescription for America.  And what we need is a fresh, new approach; one that is not a government takeover of health care, one that is not going to jeopardize that very important doctor-patient relationship. Let's come together. We can step by step approach health care reform, and in a way that will actually have results quicker if we move forward on the areas where we agree.
 
Republicans and Democrats can come together and we can address preexisting conditions, we can address individuals and small businesses being able to access health care plans beyond state boundaries. We agree that we need to invest in health information technology; we need to challenge America to be healthy and have incentives for healthy decision-making.
 
So instead of just one party taking the role of putting together a health care bill, let's put that bill aside, let's come together Republicans and Democrats, and move something forward that will really address health care in a quicker fashion and in a way the American people would like to see it happen.

Republican Leader Boehner:
 
The president continues to say that no Medicare beneficiary will see any reduction in benefits or services as a result of this health care bill. Well, it's become pretty clear that the $500 billion of cuts to Medicare will, in fact, affect seniors. The CBO yesterday - the Congressional Budget Office - made it clear that seniors are going to see less services as a result. We also know that up to 6 million Americans who participate in Medicare Advantage are going to be severely affected by major changes in this program that are proposed in this bill.
 
Yesterday, we find out that CMS is going after one of these insurers because they're helping seniors understand that there are real cuts here. At the end of the day, seniors ought to get as much information about what's happening in this program as any other American. Having the Medicare folks down at HHS deny them accurate information, that their insurer is sending them, I think is wrong. Let's make it clear, Medicare cuts will, in fact, hurt the ability of seniors to get the services they get today. These cuts ought to come off the table. We ought to work together like the American people want us to and have bipartisan reforms to make the current health care system work better.