Passage of comprehensive Health Care Reform would be a high priority. I repeated that goal at the beginning of this year and sai d i would give it my close attention in all of my energy. Two years ago, americans faced a judgment at the polls that the nations problems had been subordinated for too long to problems abroad. Working middle income families from a corporate downsizing, Defense Industry conversion, violent crime, college costs, and inflated Health Insurance costs all made americans ask us here in washington to focus on america needs. President clinton and the Democratic Congress responded with a budget that cuts the deficit and has contributed to the creation of more than 4 million new jobs in the last two years. And with legislation to reduce crime, improve college loans, broaden trade, speed up the introduction of new technologies, and the Economic Prosperity they promise. We also made a strong effort to reform the existing Health Insurance system so that every american could afford private Health Insurance coverage as good as that which covers senators and members of the house of representatives. The president made this effort a high priority. Y Hillary Rodham clinton devoted thousands of hours and they both deserve enormous credit. Many members of congress, most of whom democrats, but including some courageous republicans, worked to develop reforms and our Health Care System. We welcome the president who supported our work on health reform. Most americans like our Health Care System but they know the Health Insurance system is broken and needs fixing. Too many families have lost insurance because of child got cancer or a father lost his job. Too many families cant afford to pay 300 or 400 a month if the place they work does not provide Health Insurance. I believe that all americans have a right to affordable, high Quality Health care. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of our republican colleagues in the senate do not agree. Under the rules of the senate, a minority can obstruct the majority. This is what happened to comprehensive Health Insurance reform. Over the past few weeks, i have had a number of productive meetings with senators and the socalled Mainstream Group to explore the possibility of a modified reform plan. We reached agreement on almost all issues. I believe we could have and would have come to final agreement on the substance of a bill. But that is not the only factor for a successful outcome. Any bill must command the votes necessary to pass. Greed, all a great, a all of the members with the Mainstream Group, that it would serve no purpose to go forward unless we had the necessary votes. That agreement with the Mainstream Group would produce the 60 votes needed to devote a republican filibuster. Regrettably, very few Senate Republicans shared that view. The overwhelming majority opposed any Health Care Legislation, even a modest bill to to extend Health Insurance to children, and reforms and industry practices. Then, last week, the Republican Leaders of the house and senate said aloud what their colleagues had been saying privately. They will oppose any Health Care Bill this year, modest or not, bipartisan or not. Even the republicans are a minority in the congress, in the senate, they are a minority with a veto. They have the ability to block legislation and they have done so on Health Care Reform. Therefore, it is clear that Health Insurance reform cannot be enacted this year. On september 18, the New York Times reported that the republican floor manager on health care, senator bob packwood, told his republican colleagues, and i quote we have killed Health Care Reform. Now weve got to make sure our fingerprints are not on it. They have succeeded in their first objective of killing Health Care Reform. Whether they succeed in making sure their finger print are not on it remains to be seen. I commend all of those senators who worked so hard and so long in this effort. There are many, many of them, and i can name only a few. Effective work was done in the Senate Labor Committee under senator kennedys leadership and in the Senate Finance committee under senator moynihans leadership. Senator wofford, senator daschle, and senator rockefeller led the way and senator chafee among republican senators led the way. They are among a larger number who wanted to pass meaningful legislation is your, but unfortunately, but were not able to do some. I. I will be pleased to take questions. How about next year, one of the prospects next year or the year after . Is. Mitchell i believe it inevitable that comprehensive Health Care Reform will be enacted. 10 will recall that it took years or more to pass medicare. And there was great deal of opposition to it. It was not until after the decisive election of 1964 that it finally was enacted. And i believe that the same thing will happen in notably inevitably on Health Care Reform. I do not knowing cannot say whether it will be next year or the year after. Obviously, many factors will contribute to that, but i believe, given the situation with respect to Health Insurance and health financing, especially that action is inevitable. Your democratic colleagues and Democratic Candidates for tofice to use this to blame, use this in the election six weeks from now . Sen. Mitchell i have not discussed this in that context. That will be a matter for each candidate to judge on his or her own. Im sorry. The senators you mentioned and praise to are talking about next year, you will not the among the. Any regrets on your decision . Sen. Mitchell on my decision not to seek reelection . No. I have no regrets. [laughter] as the current sen. Mitchell regret we were not able to pass Health Care Reform but i do not regret my decision to not seek reelection. Has the acrimony in the final days of the session lead you, facetiously or not, to say that this is among the worst session to have seen and that is why you do not regret it. Sen. Mitchell it has been a very difficult session. And the events of last week were unprecedented in the history of the senate and th history of our natione. We have not had a situation to the best of the knowledge of the Senate Historian and the Senate Parliamentarian and others of whom i have inquired in which we had a filibuster on trying to take a bill to conference. And i think there is now a policy in place on the part of the republicans of total obstruction. That is to say, simply, to block anything and everything no matter what. That is regrettable. Is helpful toit the institution. Nor do i think ultimately will it be helpful to either Political Party or to individual senators. Presenting this to senators interested in putting forth a bill that would just cover children, are not going to make any attempt . There will be no legislation put up this year . Him, that hewith will not attempt to bring that to the floor . Sen. Mitchell do you think as an amendment to some other bill . Right. Sen. Mitchell i speak only for myself, of course. I would encourage senators not to do that. Senatoryou know, every is his or her own person and acts on their own. I do not believe any useful purpose would be served in so doing. Go back over your own process in making this decision and at what point you finally made the decision is was not doable. Was it over the weekend, or . Sen. Mitchell i reached the decision in a preliminary way during the meeting at the white house last week. When the Republican Leaders of the house and senate told president clinton in my presence typethey would oppose any of Health Care Legislation this year. And then went on to say not only with a oppose any Health Care Legislation but if an attempt was made to pass it, they would try to kill other, unrelated legislation, which they otherwise might have supported. Everylearly endangered aspect of the legislative agenda. And, in effect, placed other important measures in a position of being hostage to Health Care Legislation. Since the prospects for passing Health Care Legislation were not good, in any event, i believe that ive made the appropriate decision. I then discussed it further with members of the Mainstream Group, specifically senator chafee and senator Durham Berger on the republican side and senator kerry of nebraska on the democratic side. I asked senator chafee to canvas his republican colleagues who are part of the Mainstream Group to determine how many of them would support ending a filibuster on a compromised bill were we able to reach compromise. And i also undertook to simultaneously consult with my democratic colleagues. Discussions, those and the report i received from senator chafee, my conclusion, my tentative decision not to proceed was reinforced. That is to say, it became increasingly clear that it would not be possible in any event to get the 60 votes needed to end the certain republican filibuster against even a modified bill. I had intended to make a statement of this type last friday afternoon, but there were a large number of senators who have an interest in this matter and with whom i wanted to speak personally before announcing any decision to inform them of what i was considering doing to get their reaction and to give them the opportunity to get their v iews to me, and i was not able to reach them all by friday afternoon. So, i continued the process of talking with them over the weekend, and during the day today. And in those discussions, several of them urged me not to take this action, not to announce this decision, but rather to make an effort to proceed. Several others said they agreed with me. In any event, the decision was mine. And it was reached in the time and for the reasons i have just stated. Other items on the agenda. Is Campaign Finance reform in a similar condition and how do you stand . Sen. Mitchell i strongly favor enactment of both Campaign Finance reform legislation and trade legislation, to which your question refers. I will continue to do the best i can to get them both past. Course, facing difficult situation on Campaign Finance reform legislation. I referred to the fact that we now have for the first time in the senates history to my knowledge of filibuster on trying to get a bill to conference. That is the bill to which i referred. As you know, incredibly enough, there exists under the senate rules the possibility of three separate filibusters just to take a bill to conference. Weve overcome one of them. Were going to vote on the second one to mark. W tomorrow. Go throughequired to an additional 60 hours of legislative session and a third cloture motion to get conference. I hope that our colleagues will discontinue this effort, and that we can proceed to passage of the bill. I think it is very important. And i think the gatt is very important. It will reduce tariffs worldwide on American Goods by 1 3. It will greatly enhance the ability of americans who are engaged in activities involving intellectual Property Rights and services to make those goods and Services Available in other countries. It will be very good for the american economy. Im going to do the best i can to see that that bill is enacted. Are you saying if republicans do not relent on the procedure filibuster on Campaign Finance reform is done . Be havinghell i must trouble communicating because i intended to say just the opposite. We are going to proceed. I hope they relent but we are going to proceed. It has been often repeated that you gave up a chance to be on the Supreme Court to shepherd Health Care Reform through the senate, and this was going to be a crowning achievement of your legislative career. Now in light of the fact you are pronouncing it dead, is this a personal defeat about above and beyond the reasons you mentioned . Sen. Mitchell im disappointed, of course. I believe strongly that Health Care Reform is necessary in our country. And i would have much preferred a situation in which i were now having a press Conference Announcing passage of the bill, but i do not regret my decision. I believe i made the right decision based upon the circumstances which existed at the time. The president had set a high priority on Health Care Reform. So had i. In fact, long predating bill clinton becoming president. Ive served on the Senate Health subcommittee for nearly 15 years. I was chairman of that subcommittee before i became majority leader and have been involved in Health Policy for a long time. E beene more ivv involved, the more convinced i have been of the need for action. When i met with the president , he told me he wanted to nominate me to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. I told him i wanted to get Health Care Reform legislation passed. I felt it would be difficult in any event, and it would be made even more difficult were i to have to withdraw for majority leader in the middle of the session, and i felt that would be necessary were i to be nominated to the court. Fullyd not serve throughout the year as majority leader were i nominate. Therefore, i felt the best thing to do would be to decline the offer and to concentrate my efforts on Health Care Reform. The president also wanted Health Care Reform. He made it very clear to me when he talked we talked that he wanted to pass Health Care Reform. He deserves enormous credit for making this a high ferdie. High priority. High on the american agenda and i think that when it eventually does pass, it will be to his credit. I think ived, made the right decision on the circumstances which existed at the time. When i told him that i knew it would be difficult in any event, it turns out i was right. David . Some republicans said that there was some miscalculation, that a deal could event cut, perhaps by the president , last winter with republicans to get a bill through but you were not ready to deal. In fact, it was that political miscalculation that brought us to where we are today. Sen. Mitchell i do not believe that to be inaccurate assessment. If you go back over time, you would see that late last year senator chafee introduced a bill which was cosponsored by senator dole. I believe a total of more than 20 republican senators. Which propose universal health care, and a mandate to achieve universal health care. But over time, as the political circumstances changed, they abandoned their own legislation and moved away from it. And i do not believe that there was such a time or such an agreement possible. In fact, this is obviously all all speculative but i am certain that was not possible. What did the president say . Sen. Mitchell no, i talked to the president on friday. The decision to throw in the towel . Sen. Mitchell the president was disappointed. He thinks Health Care Reform is very important he has devoted a great deal of time and effort to it. Does he agree with you in that way . Sen. Mitchell i did not ask him to agree or disagree with me. And i didnt, it was simply the nature of my informing him of my view and he listened and graciously responded, said a few nice things about me and what i try to do. Im sure hes going to be able to, he will speak for himself. Other than the republican attitude towards health care, which you explained, are there other larger lessons you learned in this effort about the size of the bill or things that you think went wrong in the process, or . Men who wrote the the american constitution had as their central objective the prevention of tyranny in america. They lived under a british king, they did not want their re evero be an american king. To they tried very hard prevent any individual agency or branch of government from accumulating total power. They accomplished their objective by dispensing dispersing power widely throughout her system, making it difficult to get anything done so as to prevent bad things from happening. The process, they made it difficult to do even good things, and overall, i think their decisions were correct. We have a good system which preserves