These Senators have sent a letter to Senate leadership, saying:

We appreciate the work that has been done by Seantors on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Finance committees, but in the view of [CBO Budget Director Elmendorf's] statement, there is much heavy lifting ahead. We support the efforts of Finance Committee members to produce a bipartisan bill, despite calls from both sides of the aisle to rush forward quickly or delay indefinitely. While we are committed to providing relief for American families as quickly as possible, we believe taking additional time to achieve a bipartisan result is crucial for legislation that affects 17 percent of our economy and every individual in the U.S.

We look forward to working with you to develop legislation that is vital to the well-being of the American people and urge you to resist timelines which prevent us from achieving the best result.

While they say this delay is in the best interests of the American people, the facts say otherwise.

There is a real human cost, here in Maine and nationally, for every day we without health care reform. And there is no logical reason for the delay. The House of Representatives is almost done marking up a health reform bill that has the support of a wide coalition, including the American Medical Association. The HELP Committee has passed a health reform bill that lowers costs for Americans and gives us a choice of our private health insurance or a public health insurance option. The President is deploying all of his resources to pass these historic reforms. And the Senate Finance committee, where Senators Snowe and Collins serve, has been working on health care reform since January, a full six months. Why is more time needed?

As Senators Snowe and Collins' letter stated, the Senate Finance Committee has been unable to come to a bipartisan deal on health reform, because Republicans have been reluctant to join Democrats in supporting health reform that helps the American people. This is not a reason to delay reform any longer. It is more important that we get health reform that gives us quality, affordable health care for all than getting health reform a few Republicans can support. It is their choice whether to join us in passing historic reform Mainers need so desperately.