BC-Pelosi-Govs-health

To: POLITICAL EDITORS

Contact: Brendan Daly, Nadeam Elshami, Drew Hammill, +1-202-226-7616, all

of the Office of the Speaker of the House

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a

brief a press availability this morning with Governors Mike Rounds of South

Dakota, Jim Douglas of Vermont, and Chris Gregoire of Washington before their

meeting in the Capitol to discuss health care reform. Below are their remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. It's really an honor indeed to welcome three very

distinguished governors to The Speaker's Office - Governor Rounds of South

Dakota, Governor Douglas of Vermont, and Governor Gregoire of Washington

state.

We have worked together before on the stimulus and the recovery package at

the beginning of this year. Over time, Governor Douglas and I have worked

together on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and today we're

going to be talking about how we move forward on comprehensive, quality,

affordable, accessible health care for all Americans.

Governors' views are very important to us as we go forward with the

legislation, so I am very honored to welcome them to the office and look

forward to hearing what they have to say as we move forward. Governor Douglas.

Governor Douglas. Well thank you, Madam Speaker, for this opportunity to

chat about this issue that is of extreme importance to the American people.

Health care continues to be an increasing percentage of our gross domestic

product. It's increasingly a high percentage of the state budgets in all the

states, with which my colleagues and I are wrestling. And it's important that

we establish some meaningful health care reform so that we can improve the

health of our population, control cost, and have the best quality outcomes

from the health care system for the American people.

I think the focus on cost containment is key because health care costs

continue to rise at multiples of inflation. It's important that the states

have the flexibility to do it their way. We've had a lot of experimentation in

my state, for example, with a program called Catamount Health that has reduced

our uninsured rate and reduced the cost of Medicaid at the same time. And it's

also important, I believe, that states not have unfunded mandates.

I think another important suggestion I would offer to you and your

colleagues is to approach it on a bipartisan basis, because this is such an

important issue to the American people. We learned in Vermont with a

Democratic majority in our legislature and a Republican governor, we were able

to work together to find a solution that made a difference. And it's obvious

that both Republicans and Democrats are facing these challenging cost

increases, both Republicans and Democrats have chronic disease, it's important

that Republicans and Democrats work together to find solutions for the

American people.

So thank you for this time, for you making this a priority, and we look

forward to working with the Congress to affect some meaningful reform for the

American people.

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Governor, for you leadership and for

being here today. Governor Gregoire.

Governor Gregoire. Well again, I too, would like to thank you for your

leadership and allowing us to come and join you today. As Governor Douglas has

indicated, we as governors come in a bipartisan way. We want comprehensive

health care reform and we want it this year. We want universal care as much as

possible as a goal for the people of America. We want quality health care and

we want affordable health care.

So I come ready to do everything that I can to help you in your leadership

role so that this country can move forward and provide that kind of health

care for America.

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Governor. Governor Rounds.

Governor Rounds. Well, thank you for the opportunity to visit. I don't

think there's anybody who doesn't want to make health care better in America.

I think the challenge will be how we will do it in such a fashion that it will

work. It has to be something that we can afford to do, it has to be something

in which the states can continue to experiment and find better ways.

In South Dakota right now we have 91 percent of our people within a plan

for how they get their health care. We still have 9 percent of our people that

we want to do better with. We look forward to finding ways to make that happen

without injuring a process that currently works for the other 91 percent. I

know there's going to be a great deal of debate, that's the reason that we're

here. I think our goals should be the same, and this is to make health care

better in America. How we get there will be the real discussion.

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I think the visits that you are making here in

Washington -- you'll be meeting with the President later today, the visit to

Capitol Hill, and I know you'll meeting with your own representatives from

Congress along the way -- are all very important to us.

Yes, we strive to do this in a bipartisan way; I think that is very

important. Yes, we realize that the states have taken the lead on some very

good ideas on how we go forward. And we not only want to improve health care

in America, we want to make our country healthier -- to focus on prevention

and wellness -- and I know that all three of you have had that focus in your

states as well, so I look forward to hearing your ideas. The current thinking

that you have, your ideas are well known, and I thank you again for the honor

of your presence in the Speaker's office.

Q: 1/8Inaudible 3/8 Republicans across the line, Governor Douglas?

Governor Douglas. Well, this has got to be a bipartisan approach.

Republicans have good ideas on health care reform, Democrats have good ideas.

We need to get all those ideas on the table, pick the best from the lot and

put something together that we can all embrace. I think it's too important an

issue not to work together.

Speaker Pelosi. And if I may just add, Governor Rounds said that we want

something that works. So, it's not about whether or not it's from the

Democrats of Republicans. Put it on the table, establish our priorities, find

out what we can afford, and see what works.

Q: Madam Speaker, do you think that you have enough votes to pass the

climate change bill?

Speaker Pelosi. What a way to change the subject. We're doing just fine on

that subject.

Q: And any response to environmentalists who say that its been so watered

down that you should just start over?

Speaker Pelosi. I would just like to say that we have very strong

environmental support, and I was very pleased that Vice President Al Gore, who

is a champion on this issue, is very supportive of our legislation.

SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House