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Washington, D.C. - Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to both the Patient Protection and Affordable Careand the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Acts. Most likely, this package of bills will pass tonight without a single Republican vote. It did not have to be this way.
There is bipartisan consensus that our health care system is in need of real reform. President Obama is correct when he says that the costs associated with our current health care system are unsustainable. Too many of my constituents are struggling to provide coverage for their families and employees. The ever-rising costs of medical coverage have left too many Americans without the means to purchase the health insurance that many of us take for granted. Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions are often unable to purchase insurance at all. And, people should not be forced to remain in a job they hate just for the health insurance benefits.
We can begin to right these wrongs and others, as well. But, we do not need to destroy a system that has given us the best doctors and hospitals in the world and put us on the cutting edge of life-saving technology and pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, the package of bills we are considering today, will actually increase premiums and ration care. People will be forced out of their current coverage – whether they like it or not. The bills will stifle economic growth and cost jobs. They actually manage to cut Medicare by a halftrillion dollars, yet make our entitlement crisis even more urgent. And, perhaps worst of all, it allows federal funding for abortions for the first time in 34 years.
The President is fond of saying that Americans have been fighting for this type of healthcare reform for a hundred years. That might be true for some Americans. However, over the last nine months, we have all had the opportunity to hear from the vast majority of Americans. We have heard from them in a number of different ways – rallies at the Capitol, letters, phone calls, and, yes, town hall meetings throughout all of our districts. Their message is clear. If you were listening this weekend, you would have heard it summed up at rallies at the Capitol – “Kill the Bill.” They fear government involvement in their medical decisions. They fear a future of higher taxes and debt heaped on their children and grandchildren. They fear a bill that rations care. And, they are tired of the backroom deals and politics as usual. Worse than all of these, they are afraid of a government too arrogant to listen to what they have to say.
The House of Representatives is the people’s house. We have a duty to listen to what the American people are telling us. There is still time to listen and defeat this flawed and dangerous bill.
I yield the floor.
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