Rockefeller: The ‘insurance industry is not running this markup, but it is running certain people in this markup.

Yesterday, ThinkProgress reported that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) argued that the Senate Finance Committee should put off a vote on health care legislation until the bill is put on the committee’s website for a full 72 hours — in order to allow time for senators to consult with health insurance lobbyists. Earlier this month, Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that special interests on K Street saw a copy of Baucus’ bill before the White House did. Today, in response to an amendment offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) called out this special-interest representation:
ROCKEFELLER: This is a very very important amendment, and it’s a very very bad amendment. If there’s anything which is clear, it’s that the insurance industry is not running this markup, but it is running certain people in this markup. [...]

CORNYN: With all due respect, senator, I don’t know what amendment you’re referring to —

ROCKEFELLER: I’m referring to yours.

CORNYN: — you’re certainly not referring to my amendment —

ROCKEFELLER: I am. LinkHere

Sen. Roberts: We Need To Give Health Insurance Lobbyists ‘At Least 72 Hours’ To Read The Bill

During the Senate Finance Committee’s mark-up session of the health care reform bill today, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) — who has had a hard time staying awake during these meetings — offered an amendment that would have delayed “a committee vote for two weeks.”

Bunning requested that the Committee put-off a vote on the health care bill until the final legislative language of the bill is made available on the Committee’s website for at least 72 hours. The amendment failed, with all of the Democrats except Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) voting against it. But had the amendment passed, it could potentially have halted the health care debate for weeks.
Before the vote took place, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) offered a defense of Bunning’s amendment by arguing that the 72-hour provision was critical because it provides time for senators to consult with health insurance lobbyists: LinkHere