No one party can dictate the outcome. In addition, on February 12th, I will co-convene a small business meeting with the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and employers from across the state to discuss health care costs. I invite the Speaker of the House and the Senate Committee on Committees to send representatives to that meeting or to attend themselves. As Rep. McCrery and Rep. McDermott discovered when they sat down together in Washington, only by casting aside ideologically driven visions can we accomplish what our people deserve. This is not a conservative or a liberal issue.
Health care is a Vermont issue.
It is the sum total of the toil and the hopes and aspirations of every human being who resides within our borders. All of these and a thousand more are the sum total of what Vermont is, and with God helping, what Vermont will always be. Let us sit down, Republican and Democrat, Independent and Progressive, conservative and liberal, and think of those people we were sent here to serve. We are the stewards.