[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 2 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E52]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      THE INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 16

                                 ______


                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 4, 1995
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, half a century ago, my father introduced 
into the House a bill providing for a program of national health 
insurance. In each of the past 18 Congresses I have introduced this 
bill, both as a testament to the wisdom of the 1943 Murray-Wagner-
Dingell bill and as a hopeful harbinger of an enlightened change in our 
Nation's approach to health care. In almost every decade since, hopes 
were high that such a program might be enacted.
  The bill contains the seeds of the essential elements of a viable 
national plan: Universal coverage, cost containment, malpractice 
reform, and a fair financing system that puts competitiveness first.
  For fully 40 years, the introduction of this bill has reminded us of 
the justice, wisdom, and necessity of national health insurance. The 
consequences of our inaction are apparent. No more families need be 
ruined, nor more industries destroyed, for our imperatives to be clear. 
Let us most forward, with the lessons of history as our guide, to 
finally enact national health insurance.


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