[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 80 (Wednesday, June 22, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     HEALTH CARE EMPLOYER MANDATES

  (Mr. GRAMS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. Speaker, by now we are all familiar with the exchange 
between Herman Cain, CEO of Godfather's Pizza, and President Clinton 
regarding the impact of employer mandates on jobs. While most people 
focused on the nature of Mr. Cain's concern, little attention was paid 
to the President's response.
  Mr. Cain said, ``If I'm forced to do this, what will I tell those 
people whose jobs I will have to terminate?''
  The President responded, and I quote, ``Would that really cause you 
to lay a lot of people off, if all your competitors had to do it too?'' 
In other words, he said ``Raise prices.''
  Unbelievably, the President is suggesting that if we equally 
disadvantage everyone, then relatively speaking no one business is at a 
disadvantage. This is a perversion of logic and demonstrates that the 
President, who has always received a paycheck from the government, has 
zero understanding of the free market, economics, and competition.
  It should not, it must not, be the role of any government to handcuff 
people and businesses with oppressive, unjustified job-killing 
regulations. The employer mandates contained in the President's plan, 
and other plans, will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs--plain and 
simple.
  As we try to help those without health care, let us not jeopardize 
the job security of millions of people.

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