[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 104 (Tuesday, August 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    DIABETES AND HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentlewoman from Oregon [Ms. 
Furse] is recognized during morning business for 2 minutes.
  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to diabetes, a 
serious health problem in America which clearly illustrates the dire 
need to pass health care reform legislation. Diabetes affects 
14,000,000 people. One of those 14,000,000 is my own beloved daughter, 
Amanda.
  Anyone who has diabetes, or knows someone who has diabetes, is aware 
of the difficulty of finding an insurance company to cover them due to 
their pre-existing condition. Diabetes is also something that my 
daughter can do nothing about: it is as irretrievable a part of her as 
her hair, her eyes, and her smile. If she--or the millions of others 
like her--does not get the care she needs to properly manage her 
disease, and she does a wonderful job at that, but, if she does not get 
that care, we will all be forced to pay for the resulting costly 
complications of diabetes. Those include heart and kidney disease, 
blindness, nerve damage. But worse than the cost is the pain that those 
people will have to bear.
  Any health care reform legislation that eliminates preexisting 
conditions, and they must, must also have universal coverage, or 
otherwise we will find the cost of reforming our health care system too 
costly. We must ensure that we do not make the situation worse for 
people with chronic diseases such as diabetes. I urge all my colleagues 
to cosponsor House Concurrent Resolution 223. That is diabetes health 
care reform legislation. It will ensure that health care reform meets 
the needs of 14,000,000 Americans with diabetes.

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