[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 22, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


220 MEMBERS OF THE MAJORITY PARTY VOTED TO DENY AMERICANS CONTINUATION 
                      OF HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I happened to hear the 
comments of the gentleman before me, about all the things that the new 
Republican majority has done for the people of America. Last night they 
had an opportunity to do one of the greatest things they could have 
done for the people of America, and they did not.
  They did not give the people of America the same protection that 
every Member of Congress has, should we decided to leave Congress, or 
should the voters decide for us that we should leave.
  Mr. Speaker, if a Member of Congress wishes to leave or gets fired by 
the American people, he can buy back into the House insurance by paying 
the full cost of the premium. Unfortunately for most Americans, if they 
lose their job, for whatever reason, should the plant close, or should 
the plant just downscale and they lose their job, they cannot buy 
insurance. They are protected for about 18 months, but then they are on 
their own.
  Even worse than that, Mr. Speaker, if in the course of normal 
business a person should just develop or a family member should develop 
cancer, leukemia, or any other horrible disease, they are then locked 
to their job for life, because when they go to apply to a new employer 
for a better job, that employer is going to find out that they have 
cancer, they have leukemia, or a family member has it, and they will 
either be told they cannot take the job, or they cannot get insurance 
at any price.
  Mr. Speaker, last night this body, this Contract With America, had 
the opportunity to change that for 4 million American people; nothing 
special, just give them the same breaks that you and I have, Mr. 
Speaker, you and I who have families, you and I who have kids that can 
get sick.
  The same good deal for a Congressman ought to be a good deal for the 
rest of the people of America, but it was not included in the Contract 
With America. We did not even give 4 million people the opportunity to 
just buy their own insurance policy through their former employer. That 
is wrong.
  So for all the talk of accountability, for all the talk of putting 
people first, the bottom line is that only 4 Members of the majority 
party voted for the motion to recommit, but 222 of the majority party 
thumbed their noses at the people of America.
  I would really like to hear of any Member of this body on either side 
of the aisle explain why it is OK for them to have permanent coverage 
under health insurance, to be able to buy into this policy, pay 100 
percent of the cost when you leave, but it is not OK for the people we 
represent to have that same privilege.
  Last night, 220 Members of the majority party, almost all of them, 
said that is not right, they would not do it. That is not fair, that is 
not accountable, and that is not putting Congress under the same laws 
as the American people.
  This is going to be a long session. We should be here at least until 
Thanksgiving. I want to encourage especially the newer Members of the 
majority party, who are most likely to want to change things, to take a 
second look at this. Let us try to be as fair to the American people as 
Congress is to itself.

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