[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 4, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   SMALL BUSINESS SPEAKS WITH A VOICE Of REASON ON HEALTH CARE REfORM

  (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, more than 340,000 small 
businesses came together to tell the truth about health care reform.
  They formed a new small business coalition for health care reform--on 
behalf of more than 3 million hard-working Americans--builders and 
farmers, store-owners and salesmen, designers, and druggists. Because 
they believe it is time to move past all the rhetoric, all the 
posturing and press releases that have twisted this issue beyond 
recognition.
  The simple fact is that health care reform is good business for small 
business. It will save money. It will make a real difference in 
people's lives. They know it, and we know it.
  It is good for the small businesses that offer health coverage, but 
have to pick up the tab for their competitors who do not.
  It is good for the small businesses that can't afford to cover their 
employees, but will finally be able to do so--thanks to the big 
discounts they will get when reform becomes reality.
  And health care reform is good for the small businesses that believe 
decent, affordable health care is not just a line on a spreadsheet--it 
is our obligation as a society.
  The fact is, today's soaring health care costs--today's 
discriminatory insurance practices--are strangling millions of small 
businesses. They need a voice in this process. And frankly, the small 
business lobbyists do not speak for most of them.
  That is why they came out in support of health care reform. They know 
that if they do not stand up and speak for themselves, their voice will 
be lost in the chorus of hype and hyperbole that is trying to defeat 
real reform.
  But do not take it from me, listen to the small business people who 
are crying out for guaranteed health care. Listen to the farmer from 
Kansas who said: ``I cannot afford to pay increasingly higher premiums 
to cover the ones who have no insurance and no ability to pay for their 
health care.''
  Listen to the head of a small manufacturing company in Massachusetts, 
who said that under today's system, if one of her workers was struck by 
serious illness, ``our group rates would soar, and I would have to make 
the decision of closing my business of letting employees play Russian 
roulette with their families and savings.''
  There are not voices of political friction--they are voices of 
reason.
  So let us stand up for small business. Let us do what they need and 
not what the special interests want.
  And let us pass the guaranteed, affordable health care that our 
economy deserves, and our small businesses demand.

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