[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 20, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   BE GLAD OUR DEMOCRACY STILL WORKS

  (Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, Thomas Jefferson is said to have described our 
representative democracy this way:

       Democracy is cumbersome, slow and inefficient, but in due 
     time, the voice of the people will be heard and their latent 
     wisdom will prevail.

  For those of us who participated in the countless hours of committee 
meetings, informal discussions, and floor debate on health care reform, 
these words ring especially true. Although the process has seemed 
cumbersome, the ``latent wisdom'' of the American people has indeed 
prevailed: most Americans do not want Government-run health care. They 
especially do not want radical changes that will lead to diminished 
choice and reduced quality. Some political post-mortems bemoan the fact 
that Clinton health reform is dead. But rather than mourn the passing 
of that misguided, heavy-handed approach to health reform, let us be 
glad our democracy still works and that we have the opportunity to 
achieve workable, realistic affordable reforms in Congress next year.

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