[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 64 (Thursday, May 9, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H4658-H4659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE NEWBORNS' AND MOTHERS' HEALTH PROTECTION ACT

  (Mr. KLECZKA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, today, in honor of Mother's Day, I am 
introducing a bill to improve health protections for new mothers and 
their babies.
  We have all heard the stories from mothers we represent about the 
difficulties and tragedies that can result from a too-early hospital 
discharge after childbirth. Providers concur that the first few days 
after delivery are critical to both the mother's and the infant's 
health.
  The Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act removes insurance 
mandates that restrict the length of postpartum care mothers and 
infants receive. The bill requires that health plans provide up to 48 
hours of coverage for normal delivery, and 96 hours for caesarean 
section--the accepted recommendations of the American College of 
Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
  The proposal is designed to ensure that post-delivery care is based 
on the unique characteristics of each mother and her newborn child. 
Like the Bradley-Kassebaum bill that overwhelmingly passed the Senate 
Labor Committee, this legislation would return the length of stay 
decision to mothers and their health care providers. The bill does not 
impose a mandate, but rather, removes one, giving doctors more 
flexibility in meeting the needs of their patients.
  All 15 Democratic Members of the Ways and Means Committee have joined 
me in introducing this important legislation. It is my hope that my 
Republican colleagues will join us in a bipartisan effort to pass these 
vital protections for newborns and their mothers.

[[Page H4659]]



                            GAS TAX INCREASE

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, a lot of people think that the President 
has lost touch since he has flip-flopped so many times that maybe it 
has affected his head and his thinking. But it is not true. Bill 
Clinton still feels your pain.
  In fact, Bill Clinton feels your gas pain. He even caused your gas 
pain, 4 cents a gallon, a 30-percent gas tax increase. That is about 
the price of a can of beans with every 10 gallons of gas, about a 40-
cent difference.
  So this summer, Mr. Speaker, what I say to middle-class Americans, 
when you are on vacation filling up your gas tank, spending that extra 
40 cents, go ahead, buy the President a can of beans and send it to the 
White House. That way, not only will Bill Clinton feel your gas pain, 
but he can share in it as well.

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