[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 14 (Friday, February 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            HEALTH CARE NOW

  (Mrs. MEEK of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, with the Congressional Budget 
Office's recent estimate that national health care will increase the 
deficit in years to come, there has been continuous debate--most of it 
reiteration of tired assertions--that the United States cannot afford a 
system which ensures access to minimal health care to all Americans.
  I believe that debate on the future costs of a national health care 
system has created a rhetorical fog in which this body has lost its 
original direction. When we began this debate we did not set out to 
create a tax decrease or to lower the deficit.
  Our goal was to provide access to health care within the limits of 
our countries fiscal ability to do so. It has always been expected that 
there will be some modification in financing as old programs are 
replaced with new ones, and as we accomplish any necessary 
restructuring of the health care industry.
  It seems to me that we are losing sight of what we have set out to 
accomplish. We began with the intention of creating a system which 
guarantees basic health care and a decent quality of life for all 
Americans. A system that will not only serve those that are now sick 
and disabled, but which will improve the quality of life for a new 
generation of Americans that has had access to a preventative health 
care delivery system and the ability to grow into adulthood without a 
health handicap imposed by the socioeconomic status or just plain lack 
of money.
  Our goal should not be a quick fix on the health of our generation. 
Our goal should be to create a health delivery system so that the next 
generation will not need the quick fixes or repeated emergency medical 
attention that clogs our current system and drives costs sky high.
  By moving now to enact a health care program that guarantees 
universal access to all Americans we can begin to move away from what 
is essentially a very expensive reactionary emergency system.
  The Congress should commit itself to slaying the health care monster 
this year, so that our children will not have to.

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