[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    CBO REPORT ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

                                 ______


                         HON. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 1994

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, today we will be releasing the final CBO 
report on the bipartisan health care reform bill introduced by myself, 
and nine other Members of Congress evenly divided by party.
  This report will show that it is possible to extend health care 
coverage to 21 million people--and to fully cover 92 percent of all 
Americans--without increasing taxes, creating new entitlements, or 
imposing new mandates.
  I believe, in short, that the new CBO report proves that health care 
is not dead, but that we have a stable foundation on which to build a 
reform effort. I believe the new report shows that when you take the 
politics out of health care, you end up with real results, not empty 
rhetoric.
  Congressman Rowland, I, and the other members of our bipartisan group 
met for weeks in a small office without scores of committee staff, 
without access to resources of the Federal bureaucracy, and without 
special interests camped on our doorstep. And we produced a plan that 
works and that would actually reduce the deficit by over $60 billion.
  Maybe the next Congress and the administration will learn from our 
experience. Next year, let us forget the think tanks and the political 
posturing. What we have proven is that if you have a committed group of 
legislators, all you need to reform health care is a small room and an 
open mind.

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