[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 12 (Wednesday, February 9, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 9, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
           HAWAII'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM PROVIDES THE WAY TO GO

  (Mr. ABERCROMBIE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, on October 25 an editorial entitled 
``Not So Easy as One, Two, Three,'' appeared in the Washington Post. It 
was prepared by the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Cooper] about his 
views on how best to cover the 7 million Americans who do not have 
health insurance. Unfortunately the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. 
Cooper] was very critical of a national employer mandate to achieve 
universal coverage and referred to Hawaii's system of employer mandate 
which covers nearly all residents of Hawaii. He made this reference, as 
follows:
  Hawaii has had employer mandate for 20 years and still has not 
achieved 100 percent coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, I attempted to talk to the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. 
Cooper] about his statement and to establish a perspective on this 
issue, and I was unable to do so. So, I will take advantage of the 1-
minute segments that are given to us, and special orders, to dissect 
Congressman Cooper's health care plan and point out the advantages of 
the Hawaii health plan, and I can assure the Congress, and assure those 
who are listening in, that the Hawaii health care system provides the 
way to go, provides a good example with 20 years of experience instead 
of 20 minutes of consideration as seems to be the case with the Cooper 
bill, all theory, no experience.
  Rest assured, Mr. Speaker, that I will explicate this issue to 
everyone's satisfaction in the days and weeks to come.

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