Dear Aubrey,
Just now, the United States House of Representatives voted to approve the Senate Health Insurance reform bill that I helped craft and which I supported last year. I now look forward to the President signing this historic legislation into law.
Even with its imperfections, this bill represents the most morally and fiscally responsible approach to health reform. I have fought for health care reform to reduce costs for small business owners and the self-employed so they can reinvest the savings in their companies and hire more workers.
I am pleased that we will now force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, preserve Medicare for future generations and reduce the deficit by more than one trillion dollars over the next 20 years. I now look forward to ensuring that Arkansans benefit the most from health insurance reform.
I expect the misinformation campaign about the new law to continue and I also expect many of the attacks will be targeted against me, starting with my position on additional changes contained in a procedure called Budget Reconciliation. I cannot support the Reconciliation package devised by the House which includes matters unrelated to health care and employs a legislative process that wasn't subject to the same transparency and thorough debate that we used in the Senate.
We need to stand together in the weeks ahead and I want to take this moment to thank you for your comments and suggestions throughout this important debate.
With Arkansas Pride,
Blanche L. Lincoln |
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