WASHINGTON
Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says that health-care legislation being negotiated in the House and Senate has potential to "decimate" North Carolina's economy.
Pointing to research at North Carolina universities as well as pharmaceutical, biological and medical-device companies in the state, Burr said that all could be threatened if dollars for innovation, research and development dry up in a new system.
"I think it's safe to say North Carolina is one of a handful of states whose economy could be decimated based upon the wrong health-care plan," Burr said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Democrats disagree, of course. President Obama traveled to Raleigh last week to tout the overhaul, telling North Carolinians that the reforms he is seeking will bring new stability and security.
Obama has framed the debate with proposals to eliminate waste in the system, and has said he thinks that the government can obtain more savings from pharmaceutical companies that have benefited from laws that have been written to give them unfair advantages.
"In this reform process, we are going to turn that around," Obama told the crowd at the Raleigh event last week.
The president is seeking legislation to extend health insurance to millions who lack it, even as he is asking legislators to slow the growth in the skyrocketing cost of medical care overall.
Burr said that the Democrats' job is getting more difficult as many people in the country are growing skeptical of the plan and Congress has yet to come to a solution. He said that the majority of calls to his office are against it.
"I think it's impossible right now to go home and explain it, and that may be the most challenging thing," he said of the August congressional recess. "I'm not sure there's a Democrat in Washington who can explain what is in any of the bills that the House or the Senate is either trying to pass or will pass."
Burr has introduced his own health plan with Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, also a Republican. Their plan would raise money by taxing health benefits and use the revenue to give people tax credits to buy their own care.
Despite his frustration with Obama's health-care pitch, Burr said he would not go as far as South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who was quoted as telling fellow conservatives that defeating Obama on health care would be his Waterloo and would "break him."
"I would probably have not made the statement," Burr said, noting that Clinton wasn't destroyed by his own health-care debacle.
"I don't think it's about whether a president or an administration survives an issue."
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