[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 117 (Thursday, August 18, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        TRIBUTE TO PAUL ANDERSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, today, in the city of Vidalia, located 
in the First Congressional District, Paul Anderson was remembered in a 
Memorial Service. There will be many testaments and many memories of 
his spiritual heart, which will continue to beat for many generations.
  Because he was a native and life-long resident of Georgia, thousands 
of my fellow Georgians will pause today to remember Paul and the 
remarkable story of his life--a life that brought him world-wide 
attention and acclaim.
  Paul Edward Anderson was born on October 17, 1932 in Toccoa, GA. He 
suffered from kidney inflammation and rheumatic fever before he was 
six, however, he overcame problems with these childhood problems and 
was awarded a football scholarship to Furman College in Greenville, SC. 
It was at Furman that he began to lift weights. Finding that he had the 
physical and mental strengths necessary for such a demanding activity, 
he began a routine of training that found him lifting heavier and 
heavier weights and starting his own high-protein diet to put on more 
weight.
  His weight lifting talents helped him to be selected as a substitute 
on a United States team going to the Soviet Union to compete against 
the best Soviet lifters in 1955 in the first athletic competition held 
solely between the two countries since World War II. The heavyweight 
lifters were to provide the climax event for the competition.
  The top Russian heavyweight lifter tied the Olympic record with a 
lift of 330 pounds in the two-hand press. Paul Anderson followed with 
an unheard of lift of 402.4 pounds, 20 pounds over the existing world 
record. This lift was to catapult him into overnight international fame 
as the Strongest Man in the World. Paul Anderson had spent years of 
dedication, hard work, and faith to become this overnight success. He 
knew all along he could outlift any other human. He only needed the 
opportunity to prove it.
  This fame was further validated when he broke two world records in 
winning the World Championships in Munich later that year. In the 1956 
Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he could clean and jerk over 414 
pounds and become the first person ever to lift a combined 1,102 pounds 
in the three Olympic weightlifting events. Paul was awarded a gold 
medal in the super heavyweight division--a division no American has won 
since; he became an instant hero in America, a country that needed a 
man of action, of physical power to counter the Soviet Union's 
domination in international athletic competition.
  He not only brought home the gold medal with him, he brought a 
renewed commitment to God. During his Olympic winning lift, he 
initially failed at the first two lifts needed to win. On his third--
and final--attempt, Paul related that he asked God for the little extra 
help he needed to push the weight up over his head. He made the lift 
that literally set the direction for the rest of his life. As an 
Olympic hero, he made many demonstration tours. During one of these 
tours, he saw youths incarcerated with hardened criminals. He found his 
way to fulfill his promise to God by serving others through the 
establishment of a youth home for delinquent boys.
  With his accomplishments and his size, Paul Anderson was not an easy 
man to miss. His olympic size was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 375 pounds, a 
58-inch chest, 36-inch thighs and a 22-inch neck. Using his booming 
voice, Paul began a series of speaking engagements that saw him 
witnessing for God and then performing some kind of demonstration lift, 
such as lifting people from the audience on a table, that would prove 
to be a crowd pleaser and help bring in the money needed to get the 
youth home started.
  In 1957, Paul made the ultimate lift in his hometown when he piled 
weights onto a specially constructed table. He lifted this table--a 
total of 6,270 pounds--with the strength in his back and legs. This 
lift is still listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the 
greatest weight ever lifted by a human.
  In 1959, he met and married his wife Glenda who shared his vision of 
a home for troubled youth. In 1961, they founded the Paul Anderson 
Youth Home in Vidalia with the purpose of providing a Christian home 
for young men between the ages of 16 and 21 who would otherwise be 
confined to penal institutions. They developed a daily routine that 
includes spiritual guidance, academic training, physical fitness, 
emotional development, social awareness, and work assignments. In 1976, 
an on-campus school began operation to give students the opportunity to 
earn a high school diploma. The staff at the home provides counseling 
for the boys as well as their families.
  Since the Paul Anderson Youth Home began, 2,000 young people have 
benefited from Paul's philosophy of life: ``Give more than you get and 
lend you ability in any way you can to help somebody else''. Teaching 
young men to work hard and diligently at any task is a foundation stone 
of the home's philosophy. The obligation for carrying out work 
assignments instills in the hearts of young people a sense of 
responsibility and the personal satisfaction of a job well done. This 
social awareness is something that is sorely missing in many of today's 
young people and had helped to lead to many of the criminal problems we 
see daily.
  Paul's wife, Glenda Anderson has overseen its operation. She 
supervised the staff and the boys while Paul was on his speaking tours; 
and she continued to provide leadership when later health problems 
prevented him from his daily activities at the home. Glenda has 
provided administrative leadership, given personal counseling and 
attention, and maintained day-to-day contact with alumni and families 
of the boys. All this while being a mother of their daughter Paula, 
born in 1966.
  Even as he used his life to help others, Paul Anderson faced a 
personal struggle as his health declined because of his battle against 
kidney failure. In 1983, Paul's sister gave him a kidney; in 1984, a 
ruptured colon caused him to be in a coma for 10 days. In 1986, he 
required double hip joint replacements, and then became confined to a 
wheel chair. Throughout all these physical ailments, his faith in God 
never wavered.
  Many public honors were presented to Paul Anderson. These are too 
numerous to be listed now, but I will ask that they be entered into the 
Congressional Record along with just a few of many articles written 
about the life of this dedicated Christian gentleman. With the 1996 
Olympic Games coming to Atlanta, Georgia, Paul was the subject of some 
recent articles about what has happened since the last time there was 
much attention to the Olympics in the State, that time being when Paul 
won his medal. I also wish to share two letters sent to Mrs. Anderson 
by Billy Payne, the President of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic 
Games, and by Lindsay Thomas, the Director of Government Relations for 
the Committee. Lindsay served as Paul's Congressman from 1983-1992 and 
came to know him well.
  Madam Speaker, I rarely utilize printed space in the Record for the 
inclusion of such articles, but Paul was such a special individual, 
with such a special story, that I would like to make these stories 
available to those who want to learn more about this unique person.
  Paul Anderson's legacy will be in the thousands of lives that he 
touched, in the thousands of lives that he and his family changed. His 
words will be available through the video and audio messages he 
produced and the books that he wrote. In my congressional office, I 
have copies of such materials that tell about the life of Paul 
Anderson, including this copy of his autobiography, ``A Greater 
Strength'', which tells the story of the real power behind the world's 
strongest man.
  I look forward to reading this book in its entirety. Before coming to 
the House floor tonight, I quickly looked through its contents and two 
passages of Paul Anderson's own words caught my eye. Both of these come 
from public remarks that he made. After talking about some of his 
weight lifting feasts, he told one crowd:

       They call me the strongest man in the world. I want you to 
     know, ladies and gentlemen, that all these things are 
     secondary in my life. I, Paul Anderson, the strongest man on 
     the face of the earth, can't get through a minute of the day 
     without Jesus Christ. The greatest thing in my life is being 
     a Christian.

  At another public event in his hometown, just prior to his kidney 
replacement operation, he was being honored on Paul Anderson Day with 
the dedication of a granite marker in his honor. In part, the monument 
was inscribed with this message: All our strengths come from God: to 
achieve--to excel--to succeed--to serve--to share--to forgive--to live 
and die--to gain eternal life through Jesus Christ.
  When he departed this banquet to face the uncertainty of an operation 
that could take his life--or prolong his life of service, Paul Anderson 
left the gathering by saying:

       If someday you hear that Paul Anderson is dead, he's not 
     dead. He's gone to live with God. He can't live anymore in 
     this tired old vehicle. Don't weep for Paul Anderson.

  Today, in Vidalia at the Memorial Service and in many other places 
where Paul Anderson's accomplishments are known, there will be weeping 
by those who were privileged to know him personally or to see the great 
good that he did with his God-given talents. With tears in their eyes 
and joy in their hearts, they will remember a saying once written by a 
reporter who wrote a feature story on Paul: ``Paul Anderson is the 
strongest man in the world and he lifts weights too.''
  The Kingston Family and our Congressional office extend our prayers 
to his wife, Glenda Garland Anderson; his daughter, Paula Dean Anderson 
Schaefer; his sister, Dorothy Anderson Johnson; and his aunt, Betty 
Anderson Guest. We also send our prayers of thanksgiving to God for 
sending Paul Edward Anderson to share his time on earth with so many.
  Mr. Speaker, I am including at this point in the Record two letters 
and a letter to the editor concerning Paul Anderson and a list of the 
medals and honors earned by Paul Anderson, as follows:

                                                Atlanta Committee,


                                        for the Olympic Games,

                                     Atlanta, GA, August 16, 1994.
     Mrs. Paul Anderson,
     Paul Anderson Youth Home, Vidalia, GA.
       Dear Mrs. Anderson: I was certainly very saddened by the 
     news of Mr. Anderson's death. There are very few people in 
     this state who have enjoyed the very high acclaim and wide 
     recognition that Mr. Anderson attained. Being a gold medal 
     winner in the Olympics and the ``strongest man in the world'' 
     are truly unique accomplishments. The great thing is that Mr. 
     Anderson took his fame and ability and turned it into a life 
     dedicated to doing good for others.
       I think, often, of the lives that he touched and the many 
     great inspirations he left for others. To me, the mark of a 
     truly great person is measured in the person's influence on 
     others. In Mr. Anderson's case, these persons, too, are doing 
     great things for the lives of others as well. And so, his 
     great tradition is passed on from generation to generation.
       I will always have fond memories of Mr. Anderson and I 
     claim some sort of personal friendship with him, although we 
     were often not in close contact. My acquaintance with him, in 
     addition to reading about him in the news, goes back to 
     Athens ``Y'' Camp in the late 1950's when, as a young camper, 
     I saw him duplicate the world record press that he later 
     performed in the Olympics.
       It was a pleasure this past year when I helped in some 
     small way to see that he received the very special Olympic 
     tag that commemorated the year of his great performance. He 
     was the only person who received such a tag.
       I hope you will share my feelings and my condolences with 
     your entire family and all of Mr. Anderson's many friends. He 
     will be an inspiration for generations to come.
            Sincerely,
                                                   Lindsay Thomas,
                                   Director, Government Relations.
                                  ____

                                                 Atlanta Committee


                                        for the Olympic Games,

                                     Atlanta, GA, August 16, 1994.
     Mrs. Paul Anderson
     Paul Anderson Youth Home, Vidalia, GA.
       Dear Mrs. Anderson: It was with sincere regret that I 
     learned of the passing of your husband on Monday of this 
     week, and on behalf of all of the employees of The Atlanta 
     Committee for the Olympic Games I extend to you and your 
     family our deepest sympathy.
       As a young person in the late 1950's I, like many other 
     Georgians, shared a special, great admiration and respect for 
     the many accomplishments attributed to Paul Anderson as an 
     athlete, and most especially as a gold medal Olympian. As I 
     have grown older, however, and learned more about Paul 
     Anderson, the man and humanitarian, those athletic feats, 
     though impressive by any measure, pale in comparison to his 
     many contributions to the youth of our society who for 
     various reasons needed special attention and a friend.
       Like the true Olympian that he was, Paul Anderson reached 
     beyond himself in every phase of life and in doing so set an 
     example for the rest of us that will live forever. We have 
     lost a truly great person, but the legacy that he leaves 
     behind is one that can only be measured in Olympic 
     proportions. In his memory it would be most appropriate that 
     those of us who remain strive to follow that legacy and touch 
     the lives of our fellowman in the positive way that Paul 
     Anderson demonstrated for us.
       God bless you and your family, and thank you for sharing 
     your wonderful husband and father with us.
       With best regards, I am
           Sincerely,
                                             William Porter Payne,
                            President and Chief Executive Officer.
                                  ____


              [From the Advance-Progress, Sept. 16, 1992]

 Paul Anderson Is the Strongest Man in the World and He Lifts Weights 
                                  Too

       With the announcement that Atlanta will host the 1996 
     Olympics, newspapers throughout the state, including our own 
     Advance-Progress, have begun running numerous articles 
     concerning the upcoming games. Though a good four years away, 
     the impact these games will have on our state has already 
     begun to take shape, creating a tremendous interest among 
     Georgians. With this in mind, I thought the local readers 
     would enjoy learning more about Vidalia's own Olympic hero 
     Paul Anderson.
       Paul Anderson was born in 1932 in the midst of The Great 
     Depression in Toccoa, Georgia, where he spent the majority of 
     his early life, graduating from Toccoa High in 1949. In 1952, 
     at twenty years of age, the young man from Toccoa appeared on 
     the weightlifting scene where he immediately gained the 
     attention of lifters throughout the United States, breaking 
     records that had taken old time lifters dozens of years to 
     establish. Anderson, who stood 5'9'' tall, weighed around 300 
     pounds and sported huge 21'' biceps, 16'' forearms, 58'' 
     chest, and massive 34'' thighs. Those who witnessed his lifts 
     in person, described the young man as a new strength 
     sensation. The stories coming back from his competitions were 
     so amazing that for some time many of the magazines refused 
     to believe he actually existed.
       Between 1952 and 1955, however, magazines and newspapers 
     throughout the United States and then overseas saw the new 
     sensation in person as he quickly took control of the 
     heavyweight division, smashing record after record. Lifting 
     magazines described the young man as one of the greatest 
     lifters of all times.
       Paul gained worldwide attention, however, in 1955, when he 
     shattered the egos of the Russians, who had ruled the 
     heavyweight division for years. Paul's performance behind the 
     iron curtain in Moscow was far beyond a simple win. He 
     dominated the competition with such ease that the Russian 
     newspapers labeled him a wonder of nature. One elderly 
     Russian stated, ``I can die happy now, I have seen the 
     greatest thing on earth''. Throughout the world Paul Anderson 
     was recognized unquestionably as the strongest man in the 
     world. Paul continued his march through the record books 
     right up to the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, where, 
     despite a horrible fever, he won a gold medal in the then 
     heavyweight division.
       1996 will mark forty years since Paul's Olympic 
     performance. It also marks forty years since an American has 
     won a gold medal in the heavyweight division. Nine Olympic 
     games have passed since Anderson's performance, yet the ever 
     elusive Olympic gold medal remains only a dream to the many 
     American heavyweight lifters who have trained and competed 
     for the last four decades.
       For many athletes this would be their top achievement. For 
     Paul Anderson, however, his life had only just begun. The 
     gentle giant from Georgia yearned for more, and in 1961 Paul 
     and his wife Glenda established The Paul Anderson Youth Home 
     in Vidalia.
       For over thirty years The Paul Anderson Youth Home has 
     provided thousands of homeless and troubled teenagers, most 
     of whom would otherwise be in juvenile or adult institutions, 
     a home where academic training, physical fitness, emotional 
     development, and spiritual guidance are instilled. Their 
     unique approach has been duplicated in numerous other homes 
     throughout the nation by those wishing to accomplish the 
     tremendous results achieved by the home in Vidalia. The 
     Andersons, who are devout Christians, attribute their success 
     to the spiritual guidance they give to the young men. One 
     only has to talk to present and past students to realize the 
     wonderful results the Vidalia home achieves.
       Anderson is known throughout this country and even the 
     world, however, not just for his athletic abilities, but for 
     the tremendous Christian values he has carried with him over 
     the years, and for his untiring devotion to helping his 
     fellow man. That untiring devotion had him traveling untold 
     hundreds of thousands of miles where he appeared before as 
     many as five hundred audiences a year. During those 
     appearances Anderson would astound his audiences as he lifted 
     objects that no other human could lift and then, with a 
     booming voice that very rarely required a microphone, shared 
     with his audiences his love of God, country and the free 
     enterprise system.
       Over thirty years later one only has to ride out highway 
     297 to the north end of town where the beautiful Paul 
     Anderson Youth Home stands to see that one man can make a 
     difference, and that true heroes do, indeed, exist. 
     Anderson's unselfish giving and his tremendous spiritual 
     devotion has propelled him into a category very few athletes 
     ever achieve.
       Though Anderson plays down the many records he set years 
     ago, instead wanting to discuss the youth home and his many 
     Christian achievements, lifting experts throughout the world 
     continue to discuss his legendary strength. Many believe Paul 
     Anderson is the strongest man who has ever walked on earth. 
     This was no more apparent than in February of this year when 
     at the first ever held Power and Strength Symposium in 
     Orlando, Florida, his peers recognized him as the strongest 
     man of the century. One only had to be there in person to 
     feel the tremendous respect these athletes hold for the man 
     they have loved for years. Once again, however, the talk 
     around the tables after Anderson left for his return trip 
     home was not just of his athletic strength, but centered 
     around the tremendous Christian principles he has shared with 
     untold thousands over the years.
       Those close to Anderson have adopted a saying once written 
     by a reporter who spent some time with Paul for an upcoming 
     feature story. Though the reporter's name has long been 
     forgotten, his words have not: ``Paul Anderson is the 
     strongest man in the world and he lifts weights too.''
           Sincerely,
                                                    Larry Coleman.
                                  ____



                             paul anderson

       1955--Won World Championship in Munich, Germany, by 
     breaking two world records.
       1955--Appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Aide De Camp, 
     Governor's staff by Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin.
       1955--Georgia's Governor Marvin Griffin proclaimed July 5 
     ``Paul Anderson Day.''
       1955--Goodwill Ambassador for America through the United 
     States Information Service.
       1956--Olympic Gold Medalist, last American to win in the 
     super heavyweight division.
       1961--Founder of Paul Anderson Youth Home, alternative to 
     juvenile and adult penal institutions for boys between the 
     ages of sixteen and twenty-one.
       1964--Helms Athletic Foundation--Helms Hall of Fame Award.
       1966--Appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Aide De Camp, 
     Governor's staff by New Mexico's Governor Jack M. Campbell.
       1966--Named one of Five Outstanding Young Men in Georgia by 
     Georgia Jaycees.
       1970--Governor Jimmy Carter appointed him to State Physical 
     Fitness Council.
       1971--District Toastmasters International Georgian of the 
     Year.
       1974--Inducted into the Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame.
       1975--Appointed member Advisory Committee on Juvenile 
     Justice and Delinquency Prevention by Governor George Busbee.
       1975--Presented Branch Rickey Memorial Award, highest honor 
     presented to laymen by Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
       1977--Recipient of the Golden Plate Award presented by the 
     American Academy of Achievement.
       1983--Appointed Lieutenant Colonel, Aide De Camp, 
     Governor's Staff, by Georgia's Governor Joe Frank Harris.
       1983, May 25--Citizens of Toccao, Georgia, placed a 
     permanent marker at his original home in Toccoa.
       1983, May 25--Governor Joe Frank Harris proclaimed ``Paul 
     Anderson Day'' in Georgia.
       1983, May 25--Congressional Record paid tribute to Paul 
     Anderson.
       1983--Granted the Honorary Presidential Sports/Fitness 
     Award for his contribution to sports in the USA by President 
     Ronald Reagan.
       1984--National Powerlifting Hall of Fame.
       1984, May 30--Awarded Father of the Year by Southeast 
     Farther's Day Committee.
       1986, October 5--Declared ``Paul Anderson Day'' by Governor 
     Joe Frank Harris in commemoration of the Paul Anderson Youth 
     Home's twenty-fifth anniversary.
       1990, June 29--Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Education from 
     Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia.
       1992, February 14--Inducted into the Fellowship of 
     Christian Athletes Hall of Champions.
       1992, February 29--Presented ``Strongest Man of the 
     Century'' award at the 1992 USA Power and Strength Symposium.
       Awarded keys to cities including: Memphis, Tennessee; 
     Salisbury, Maryland; Anniston, Alabama; Gainesville, Georgia; 
     Toccoa, Georgia; Shreveport, Louisiana.
       Listed in ``Guinness Book of World Records'' ``. . . raised 
     the greatest weight ever lifted by a human--6,270 pounds.''
       Member National Board FCA.
       Author of three books, weightlifting courses, and poetry, 
     as well as numerous newspaper and magazine articles.
       Philanthropist whose speaking engagements and weightlifting 
     exhibitions have provided a majority of the funding for the 
     Paul Anderson Youth Home.
       Highly acclaimed speaker for churches, Christian 
     organizations, colleges, universities, high schools, 
     corporations, and civic organizations.
       Serves on the Board of Advisors of the Fellowship of 
     Christian Athletes (FCA).

 HEALTH CARE REFORM AS IT AFFECTS THE 85 PERCENT WHO ARE NOW COVERED--
                            THOUGH NOT FULLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. (Mrs. Thurman). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Becerra] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BECERRA. Madam Speaker, I was going to devote a few minutes to 
talk about health care reform, but rather than do that I would like to 
just address some of the points made by some of my colleagues a little 
earlier today.
  First, let me say a little bit about health care reform. I want to do 
that because I look at things from the context of what has happened to 
my family. I will speak most specifically about my mother and, if I 
have a chance, I will talk about my child, who is now about 15 months 
old.
  I know a few of the gentlemen, my colleagues who came up before me, 
talked about the system and how it does not work. I think all of us 
would agree there are things about our health care system that do not 
work and dramatically do not work. But when one of my colleagues, Mr. 
Saxton, from New Jersey, mentioned that 85 percent of the system works 
well because 85 percent of Americans are covered and 15 percent are not 
covered and it is that 15 percent that we have to address, this is a 
very major point. The 85 percent or so of the people who are insured 
are not getting the best type of coverage they deserve, whether it is 
my mother or someone working out there in the world or someone working 
in a business.
  Talk to them, and they will tell you. They are right now concerned 
about whether or not they are going to keep their coverage or whether 
or not they are going to be able to afford it. That is what we have to 
address. Not just the 15 percent of America, which constitutes 39 
million Americans, who are not insured, though we have to take a 
comprehensive approach to reform of our health care system.
  Why do I say that? Well, I look at my mother. Years ago she had an 
operation in which she was in and out of the hospital within 24 hours. 
She was receiving some treatment because she was having calcification 
in her ears and was losing some of her hearing.
  The doctor said it was a fairly routine procedure. It was surgery, 
they did have to go inside. But they said if all goes right, she would 
be out within 24 hours. Well, sure, she was in and out within 24 hours, 
with a bill of about $13,000. Now my mother had health insurance 
because my father was employed as a laborer for about 27 years of his 
life in road construction and he had partial coverage, 50 percent 
coverage--50 percent of $13,000, which they had to pay out of pocket is 
a lot of money for anyone, especially for someone who never earned more 
than $20,000 or $23,000 in his or her life before retirement. When my 
mother tried to deal with the situation and figure out why it was 
$13,000, she called, and she called not just the hospital but she had 
to call the insurance company. I must tell you my mother quickly 
learned what it is like to be an attorney, because she had to become 
her own attorney because she did not want to spend another $7,000 
trying to, now, get an attorney to help her resolve the problems with 
her bill.
  Interestingly enough--and I am her son, so she calls her son, who 
happens to be an attorney--when we finally had a chance to get access 
to that bill, let me tell you it was like extracting teeth to finally 
get the insurance company to give us copies of the bill.
  I see why we have people complaining all the time about $5 aspirin 
tablets, because some of the expenses, some of the charges on that bill 
were ludicrous. Yet, she is someone who is covered. She is considered 
among the 85 percent of Americans who receive health insurance because 
she is able to get it through my father's employment, now in 
retirement.
  Yet, can she afford to pay out $7,500, $6,000, even $1,000 in any 
given year for health care? It is tough. It is tough for anyone.
  Now, put on top of that the fact that most people are seeing their 
deductibles go up, their copayments go up, their overall cost of 
premiums go up, and you see that the 85 percent who are covered do not 
have it easy.
  On top of that, take a look at the 12 to 14 percent rate of inflation 
for medical costs, and you see something is wrong when the rate of 
inflation overall is about 2 or 3 percent.
  Something is wrong.
  Then I look back at my father's experience, and I had a chance to 
work with him when I was trying to pay my way through college, working 
out in road construction as well, more and more you find people who are 
working, working men and women who are constantly having to negotiate 
down their salaries to maintain their health care benefits.

  That to me is not a sign of a system that is working. That is why we 
have to change, not only for the 15 percent who are not insured but for 
everyone, because sooner or later those who are insured are going to 
find themselves in the category of those who are not.
  Interestingly enough, one of the reasons we have gridlock in this 
House is because people are saying, mostly on the other side of the 
aisle, that we cannot have what is being called the employer mandate 
or, as some would call it, shared responsibility, where the employer 
would pay a percentage, normally 80 percent, and the employee would pay 
a percentage, 20 percent, of the insurance.
  Strangely enough, we are having a debate over something that goes on 
in America every day. Most of those 85 percent of Americans who are 
covered right now by insurance get it through their employer. They get 
it because the employer pays a good percentage of it right now, 
employer mandate or not. That is why I think what we have to do is 
understand that there is some good and some bad and make sure we deal 
with it for everyone, not just those who have it now.
  I would hope that the debate on health care deals with those small 
issues, whether it is not those who--those who are not covered or the 
issue of those who are seeing too much bureaucracy, and we see there is 
a greater good in getting universal coverage.

                          ____________________