The results of the 2006 mid-term elections proved more than ever that the American people want both political parties to work together to find real, lasting solutions to the problems confronting our nation. In the New Year, I look forward to working with my colleagues, both new and old, to ring in a new era of bipartisanship in the 110th Congress. This commitment to consensus must motivate a changed policy in Iraq – the most pressing issue confronting our nation today — and build support for several key initiatives that I have championed – including a more effective health care system and stronger economy for Maine and America. Now is the time to finally get it done.
In the final weeks of 2006, two major events demonstrate that a vastly changed policy in Iraq is inevitability — the release of the Iraq Study Group’s report and the confirmation of Robert Gates as the new Secretary of Defense. The record violence that has left far too many American soldiers killed or wounded has left the American people rightly frustrated by our failed policy. Now is the time for the Administration to take action, because it is clear that a military victory is not possible and that we must proceed through strong diplomatic and political initiatives, because it is not in the world’s interest to have a failed state in the Middle East. We also should expect the Iraqi government to understand that our presence there is neither open-ended nor unconditional — and that they must take control of their own country. If action is not taken quickly by the Administration, then the Congress must step in to force those necessary changes so our troops remain not a moment longer than necessary.
While traveling throughout Maine, I heard from people who told me that they could not afford their health care — some couldn’t afford their health insurance and some couldn’t pay for their prescription drugs or to see their doctor. With 46 million uninsured in the United States, it is appalling that more is not being done to help those who want health insurance, but can’t afford it. It is critically important that legislation is passed in the Congress that gives Americans access to affordable health insurance and reduces the cost of skyrocketing prescription drug prices.
When the Congress reconvenes in January I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to press ahead with legislation to confront the crisis of the uninsured — and I will start by working to expand health care coverage for children and small businesses. First, we must start by fixing the shortfall in the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) once and for all that threatens to impede more than three thousand children in Maine receiving coverage. And then we must work to build on the overwhelming success of SCHIP to expand it to cover the parents of those children. We must also move forward with legislation that allows small businesses to come together as unions and corporations do to bulk purchase their health insurance — given that 96 percent of businesses in Maine are small, this would help thousands of Mainers. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees SCHIP, Medicaid and Medicare, I will use my position to work to move forward with these critical priorities.
Along with better access to healthcare coverage, it is imperative that we confront the skyrocketing cost of health care and we must start with prescription drugs. Senator Dorgan (D-ND) and I will be reintroducing legislation that ensures that Americans can safely import prescription drugs at lower costs from countries with comparable safety standards to those in the U.S. This simply makes sense considering that Americans pay more for their medications than any other industrialized country in the world. After all, if we can import food safely from other countries, we certainly can import medicines. Furthermore, Sen. Wyden and I will continue to press ahead to allow the government to negotiate the best prices for prescription drugs in the new Medicare Part D program. This legislation would not only result in providing affordable medicines for people in our state, but it would also be a better use of American taxpayer dollars.
Last but certainly not least, I will continue to promote greater economic opportunities for the people of our state. While I know many Mainers are doing well, we must do more to ensure that our workers have access to good jobs with good benefits in order to provide for their families. One way to achieve these goals is to increase the minimum wage and ensuring our trade agreements are fair, so American businesses can effectively compete in the global market place. It is initiatives like these that will not only encourage more economic opportunities for people in our country, but better the lives of those hard working individuals that make our state what it is today.
The only way we can resolve issues that have plagued us in the past is to move forward and recognize plausible ways that will better the lives of all Americans. To facilitate this type of action, I joined Sen. Landrieu (D-LA) in calling for the creation of a bipartisan consensus-building group in the senate. I urge my fellow colleagues to work from the success of the “Gang of 14” and establish a centrist path that will help us accomplish these goals. The American people are tired of intransigence in Congress and I hope a group of this nature will serve as a productive catalyst to solve problems and bring the Senate across party lines. Let us view this New Year and the beginning of 2007 as the perfect opportunity to become united in our resolve to better Maine and our country.
