Senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle join SEIU’s Andy Stern and Walmart’s Leslie Dach to discuss areas of bipartisan agreement in health reform

Sept. 9, 2009

Washington, D.C. - Better Health Care Together (BHCT) and Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) today hosted a bipartisan health care forum highlighting areas of agreement among political, business and labor leaders in the health reform debate. The event entitled, “Common Sense Collaboration: Health Reform Perspectives from Employers and Employees,” took place at The Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Senators Dole, Daschle and Howard Baker recently released a comprehensive framework for bipartisan health care reform as part of the BPC’s Leaders’ Project on the State of American Health Care, entitled “Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System.”

Senators Dole and Daschle participated in the forum along with Better Health Care Together members including Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Leslie Dach, Executive Vice President of Walmart; Carl Camden, CEO of Kelly Services; Annie Hill, Executive Vice President of Communications Workers of America (CWA); Charles Kolb, CEO of Committee for Economic Development; Judy Feder, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; and Eric Dishman, Fellow and Global Business Leader, Intel. Judy Woodruff of PBS moderated the discussion.

On the current health care reform debate, Senator Dole said, “We can end up with bipartisan legislation. It is in the interest of my party. I believe there will be something in it for both parties. If there’s nothing new (in President Obama’s speech tonight), nothing will happen.”

Senator Daschle said, “Let’s hear more about common ground and less about what separates us. Let’s make history. Let’s do something that makes our mark. When that happens, we can all be proud.”

Woodruff asked the panel to talk about points of agreement between business and labor communities.

Said Stern of SEIU, “We need to go from a sick care system to a health care system. There is a lot of agreement here. We are business and labor, Democrats and Republicans, but we are also all Americans. The truth is, we have to vote to do something positive for our country. We have a way to make decisions. Everyone’s been heard. It’s time to vote.”

Walmart’s Dach said, "Walmart supports health care reform because we believe that now is the time for action to ensure all Americans have access to quality and affordable health care coverage. We believe any legislation should include cost-containment measures and strong efficiency provisions."

Senator Daschle also said, “The worst possible outcome is to accept something that is unacceptable and that is the status quo.”

The full event can be viewed on either http://bipartisanpolicy.org/bpc-bhct-forum or www.betterhealthcare.org.

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Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care, Bipartisanship