A Letter You Wouldn’t Have Seen in 1994

In the wake of The Downfall of Tom Daschle, there has been much hand-wringing about Daschle’s potential replacements as Secretary of HHS and as star player for the White House push on health care reform, and how badly the loss of Daschle will set back the full court press that had been scheduled for 2009. Some of you may even be having vague flashbacks to the Clinton reform push of 1993-1994, reminded of how a series of Administration missteps (from botched Cabinet appointments to the unplanned circus surrounding gays in the military) and a focus on the economy pushed health care back further and further until it had lost any and all campaign momentum. It may be that members of Congress who lived through the experience are thinking the exact same thing. That’s why the public letter to the president issued by Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of the Finance Committee, and Sen. Ted Kennedy, Chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, should send one clear message to those of us working and hoping for universal health care – this isn’t 1994.

If something had come up in Donna Shalala’s vetting that made it impossible for her to be confirmed HHS Secretary in 1993, or if for some reason the Clintons had experienced a family emergency that would have prevented Hillary from taking the lead on the White House task force for health care reform, you would have seen many regretful and praiseworthy words coming from senators. But you would not have seen a letter so forcefully pledging to support the promises of candidate Clinton. For one thing, the new chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, famously opined that there was no health care crisis and called the financing for the Clinton plan a “fantasy”... not so helpful. But for another, the expectations for the process was very different – the White House would propose and Congress would take up that proposal. If the White House was setting the tempo, there’d be no need to affirm that Congress would follow -- that would go without saying.

Clearly, this is not the process Sens. Baucus and Kennedy have in mind. Daschle or no Daschle, these powerhouses of the Senate intended from the start for health care reform to flow through them. Baucus released his white paper and began holding hearings to create the legislation immediately after the election. Kennedy has been working with aides and meeting with the players on the issue since last summer. In his unsteady health, he’s made it clear that health care is all he’s working on, even giving up his seat and seniority on the Judiciary Committee. When we have moved on from the Economic Recovery Act, you will likely see both men spring into action, whether there is yet a replacement to Daschle or not.

One of the selling points for Daschle was he was clearly a man who understood, reflected on, and internalized the process failures of 1994. As a former Senate Majority and Minority Leader, he clearly knew what works and doesn’t work in the Senate. One of the keys to success for difficult issues is that the slow, methodical, messy process of building a bill from the ground up in committee is actually healthy for major reforms – it enables you to build consensus along the way. But Baucus and Kennedy know this as well – and if we want a health care reform bill that can not only pass but pass by a convincing majority of 70 votes or more, their work is what’s going to get us there.

Daschle’s loss is really only Obama’s – with Daschle as his quarterback, the president would have had much more input into the bill that will be crafted in the Senate. But as Baucus and Kennedy’s letter affirms, the tempo of reform and reform now is undeterred just because the White House’s full attention might be delayed or distracted.

Full letter after the jump.

February 5, 2009

Dear Sir:

We were saddened to hear about Senator Daschle’s decision to withdraw from the nomination process. While we continue to believe that Senator Daschle is highly qualified to hold the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, we respect his decision and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

We are writing to affirm our continuing commitment to enacting comprehensive health care reform this year, and to express our confidence that you will swiftly choose an exceptionally qualified and dedicated alternate nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist in our efforts. As you have emphasized, we must act now. The ranks of the uninsured grow larger each day. The cost of health care to families, businesses and government are crippling and, although we spend more on health care than any other country, the quality of care provided by America’s health care system is often uneven compared to other industrialized nations.

We have a moral duty to ensure that every American can get quality health care. We must act to contain the growth of health care costs to ensure our economic stability; to help American businesses deal with the health care challenge; and to make sure that we are getting our money’s worth. Incremental efforts will no longer suffice and we cannot afford to wait any longer. With your continued leadership and commitment, we remain certain that our goal of enacting comprehensive health care reform can be accomplished this year.

(Photo credit:  Alan Light at Flickr.)