In Case You Missed It - Senator Bob Dole in The Washington Post: Starting Over on Health Care

August 31, 2009

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In today's Washington Post, Senator Bob Dole urges a 'fresh start' on the issue of health care reform and said it is "the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue." In June, Senator Dole, along with other former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker and Tom Daschle, all members of the Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) Advisory Board and Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care, released their comprehensive bipartisan health care proposal, entitled: "Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System."

Quotes from today's Washington Post editorial:

"If I were a White House adviser, I would suggest that the day Congress reconvenes, President Obama's version of reform should be introduced by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Health-care reform is the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue."

"Along with former senators Howard Baker and Tom Daschle, I serve on the advisory board of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a group searching for common ground on health care, energy, agriculture, transportation and national security . . . Out of Congress now, we have no votes and no power -- but we have our credibility. It is pleasing that many lawmakers, particularly the Senate Finance Committee leaders, Democrat Max Baucus and the GOP's Chuck Grassley, have looked favorably upon some of our recommendations."

"A bipartisan ending will have more credibility with the American people. Indeed, most important legislation in U.S. history has had broad bipartisan support. As a supporter of bipartisan health reform, I hope the president has gotten some rest in the past week. I also hope he puts the final touches on his own health bill. I'd bet a bottle of aspirin that it would cure many of his headaches."

The Leaders' Project report, released in June, was authored by Senators Baker, Daschle and Dole, and was co-chaired by Chris Jennings, a veteran of the Clinton White House, and Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of Medicare and Medicaid Services under President George W. Bush. It offers politically-viable policy recommendations to address the delivery, cost, coverage and financing challenges facing the nation's health care system. For more information or to download a full copy of the report, please visit: http://bipartisanpolicy.org/projects/leaders-project.

Read the full editorial here.

About the Bipartisan Policy Center:

In 2007, former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell formed the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to develop and promote solutions that can attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress. The BPC acts as an incubator for policy efforts that engage top political figures, advocates, academics, and business leaders in the art of principled compromise. For more information please visit our website: http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/.

SOURCE Bipartisan Policy Center