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Ensign: Final Healthcare Bill A Telling Day For America
December 21, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign made the following statement as Democrats move to end debate on their healthcare bill:
“This bill ushers in a period of uncertainty and uneasiness about the future of health care in Nevada and across the country.
“Democrats may be celebrating this as a political victory, but Nevadans are seriously concerned about how this will change their relationship with their doctor, how much their premiums will rise, how long they will be able to keep their current insurance, how much more they will have to pay in taxes and how the quality of medicine will change for everyone.
“This bill is essentially a $500 billion cut in Medicare, a $500 billion increase in taxes and a massive payoff to Senators for their vote on the bill. We should be more concerned about the impact of this bill on all Americans and not just the payoffs for individual states.
“Nevadans are also legitimately worried about the overall impact of this bill on our economy, our deficit and our future. I share these concerns.
“It is frustrating and offensive that this bill is not a reflection of bipartisanship, citizen input, American innovation or economic constraints. Together, those qualities could have produced comprehensive healthcare reform that would have increased access, improved care and encouraged greater job growth instead of cutting them. It could have put Americans on a path to smarter health care for the 21st century.
“Instead, we begin a new year with apprehension and little optimism. We have an unsustainable healthcare bill that raises taxes on middle-income families, threatens the doctor-patient relationship, financially debilitates small businesses at a time of economic challenge and ignores many of the issues that sent healthcare costs skyrocketing to begin with.
“I am disheartened by this final bill and how it came about, but I will always stand on the side of patient-centered health care in the United States and will continue to fight for choice in health care for Americans, incentives for healthy lifestyles and meaningful tort reform.”
Ensign, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced more than 20 amendments to the healthcare bill to help shape the legislation and protect Nevadans’ health care.
Ensign Supports Funding, Pay Raise For Troops In
FY ’10 Defense Bill
December 19, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign voted today in favor of final passage of the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill in order to provide necessary funding for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as here at home. The spending bill appropriates $636 billion for national defense programs and includes a 3.4% pay increase for uniformed service personnel as well as a provision regarding the Nevada Test Site.
“While I have concerns about using a pay raise for our troops to leverage the passage of non-defense related programs, I believe our military deserves all the support Congress can provide while they are dedicating their lives to protecting our freedom,” Ensign said. “I’m very glad we can give military personnel the pay raise they deserve.”
The provision on the Nevada Test Site included in this bill was offered by Senators Reid and Ensign and first approved in October of this year in the FYI ’10 Defense Appropriations bill. The provision declares it the sense of Congress that:
- The Nevada Test Site can play a key role in treaty verification and detection of nuclear weapons, and that the Site’s mission should be expanded to fully utilize its secure location and unique capabilities;
- The Administrator for Nuclear Security should develop an Infrastructure Improvement Plan to fulfill the Nevada Test Site’s expanded mission, and to make the site available to the entire national security community; and
- The Administrator should also change the name of the Nevada Test Site to reflect its expanded mission.
“The Nevada Test Site is a crown jewel of our national security infrastructure, and expanding the mission there is vital to protecting this nation,” said Ensign. “Getting this legislation passed is another example of the delegation working together and doing what’s right for the state of Nevada.”
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