[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                               HUSH MONEY

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Madam Speaker, the chairman of the House Committee on 
Ways and Means has negotiated a deal with the health care insurance 
industry: They stop running ads revealing the truth about the Clinton 
plan and they get some special breaks from the chairman.
  This sounds like hush money to me.
  A spokesman for the Committee on Ways and Means said:

       The ads create negative vibes and make the decisions of 
     members tougher. The absence of those ads and the public 
     pressure from them improves the environment for closing the 
     deal with members.

  Madam Speaker, health care reform is an important public policy 
concern. The public has a right to know what is going on, and the so-
called Harry and Louise ads have effectively informed the American 
people.
  It is a shame that the chairman has worked so hard to keep the public 
from that information. And it is a shame that the health insurance 
industry has played along.
  I just hope that the American people continue to pressure the 
Congress to get the kind of health care reform they want and need.

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