Washington, D.C. – After meeting with other Senate leaders to discuss health care reform, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., today again called on Congress to take the time to reach a bipartisan agreement on health care reform and warned against a government takeover of the health care system. 

“I am disappointed in the focus that some Democrats have placed on meeting arbitrary deadlines over getting the legislation done right,” said Enzi, who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and as a Member of the Senate Finance and Budget Committees. 

“Health care reform will affect not just the pocketbooks but the lives of every single American, and if it’s done wrong, Congress might not be able to go back and fix it. That’s why we need to roll up our sleeves and work together on a solution that can have the support of 75 or 80 Senators, not just 51.

“People in every part of the country are worried about the government takeover of the banks, the insurance companies and the auto industry. Now the threat is a government takeover of our nation’s health care system. I’m worried too, because everyone knows the government has its hands full just running the government. 

“We must work in a bipartisan way to ensure that every American can get quality, affordable health insurance, so they can get the care they need when they need it.  Including a government-run program is a wedge that will make a bipartisan solution impossible. Bipartisanship means completing items where there is more agreement and working our way up to the harder issues.  Once we get there then we need to look for what we can leave out or find a new way to meet our mutual goals.”