[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]


                              {time}  1740
 
                 HEALTH COVERAGE NEED FOR ALL AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Barlow). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Strickland] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I receive letters from my constituents 
every week, sometimes hundreds of letters. I would like to share this 
evening a letter which I received from a young teacher in my district, 
a letter about his family and their difficulty in attaining adequate 
health care.
  He begins by saying,

       Dear Congressman Strickland: I am a teacher, and I am 
     writing because I wanted to relate to you something that has 
     happened to my family. My family has run into a health care 
     concern that I hope underscores the need for the Congress to 
     improve the availability of health care for all Americans.

  Then he tells me about his father-in-law. He says,

       My father-in-law runs a small business in your district in 
     Ohio. He has raised seven children, including my wife, and he 
     has never been able to afford medical insurance. He is 55 
     years old, and high blood pressure makes the premiums way 
     beyond his means. His local doctor recently was alarmed at 
     the results of a stress test and told him he was at risk 
     of a heart attack at any time. He was sent to a specialist 
     in Columbus, and he expected to be admitted to the 
     hospital.

  Then my constituent in his letter continues. He said,

       The first words out of the specialist's mouth were to the 
     effect, to my father and mother-in-law, that they should have 
     insurance. And he quotes, ``No insurance, huh? Well, how do 
     you people expect to pay for this treatment? How do you pay 
     for your medication? How do you pay your bills?''
       All this was before he even examined my father-in-law's 
     records. Needless to say, both my in-laws were upset by this. 
     The doctor was then going to send him home simply with 
     medication.
       My wife returned her father to his local doctor the next 
     morning, and, after explaining what had happened, the local 
     doctor sent him straight to the hospital here in Chillicothe, 
     where he is now in intensive care, awaiting a heart 
     catheterization on Monday morning.

  Then the letter continues:

       Congressman, I hope you agree with me that the specialist's 
     words and attitude were unconscionable. He continued to tell 
     my father-in-law that he really didn't need the money, but he 
     was concerned about everyone else that was going to have to 
     pay for this surgery if it was performed.
       My father-in-law looked me in the eye and said to me these 
     words: ``That doctor made me see how poor I am.'' For a man 
     in danger of a heart attack to be put through this is 
     frustrating, insulting, and beneath contempt. My father-in-
     law is not on welfare. He pays his taxes.

  My constituent ended his letter in this way: He said,

       Congressman Strickland, I hope this letter does more than 
     just act as a release for my frustration and anger. I hope it 
     may help in some small way to open the eyes of those in 
     Washington who see no health care crisis. I know there are 
     many questions concerning President Clinton's plan, but I 
     want to ask that you and all others quickly work together to 
     find a way to bring costs down and make insurance more 
     available.

  As a Member of Congress, I cannot receive such letters without 
feeling a very heavy sense of responsibility. Some 125,000 of the men, 
women, and children who live in my congressional district have no 
health insurance tonight. We cannot ignore this situation any longer. 
To do so will be irresponsible.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in this Chamber to take this matter 
seriously, to stop the rhetoric, and to do the hard work that it is 
going to take to pass a comprehensive health care plan that will 
provide comprehensive, guaranteed health care coverage for every man, 
woman and child in this country.

                          ____________________