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D.C. Dispatches by Cynthia Dizikes

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    Franken's second floor speech is on health care

    By Cynthia Dizikes | Published Wed, Nov 4 2009 9:04 am

    WASHINGTON, D.C.. — In his second speech from the Senate floor, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pushed for health care reform on Tuesday.

    “We have dedicated, smart doctors and nurses and researchers and health professionals in this country.  They do amazing things.  And if you’re a member of the Saudi Royal family, you get on your private jet and come to my state for the best health care in the world,” Franken said. “The Saudi Royal Family is willing to travel 7,500 miles to Rochester, Minnesota, to get great care at the Mayo Clinic.  For a woman in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and her adult son, both with diabetes, that same great care is less than 300 miles away... but it’s really a world away.

    “That’s because if you’re an American, you can get great health care, too,” he continued.  “But only if you can make it through the terrible system, and only if you can afford it.”

    Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has sent a merged version of the health care bill in the Senate to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis. The results of that analysis have yet to be released.

    The House is expected to vote on its version of the health-care reform bill by the end of this week.

    To read Franken’s full speech go here.

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    Cynthia Dizikes is MinnPost's Washington, D.C., correspondent and covers Minnesota's congressional delegation and reports on developments out of Washington that are important to Minnesota readers. She received her master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley and has worked as an intern in the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau, reporting on a variety of topics, and as a reporter for the Anniston Star in Alabama. Her work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Tribune, Congress Daily and on National Public Radio. She can be reached at cdizikes [at] minnpost [dot] com.

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