[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9832-H9833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WE NEED TO GO FURTHER WITH HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas [Ms. Jackson-Lee] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to come to the floor 
this evening to clarify and conclude a debate that we had earlier today 
on the floor of the House. First of all, let me acknowledge that I am 
grateful in a bipartisan manner that this House and the Senate has 
passed the Kennedy-Kassebaum legislation.

                              {time}  2300

  There are many aspects of the legislation that we could cite as being 
positive, and some that we need to have further refinement. But there 
was a dialog on the floor of the House today that I engaged in with my 
friend, the gentleman from Iowa, as to my concern of the heavy burdens 
falling upon our physicians throughout this Nation.
  There is no doubt that I am gratified to have been able to support 
and cosponsor the legislation that was just passed, that allows 
Americans to have portability with their health insurance, and not to 
be penalized for preexisting disease. We need to go further. We need to 
ensure that all Americans have access to good health care.
  At the same time, I am familiar and interact with many aspects of the 
medical profession: those physicians who practice in rural America and 
urban America. In fact, I have served on an indigent health task force 
for the State of Texas, where we were fighting against the closing of 
rural hospitals throughout that State. One of the problems, of course, 
was the inability of many of the physicians to be able to practice in 
those communities because of limited access to insurance that would 
cover those constituents, and, as well, limited access to viable 
hospitals.
  It is those physicians who practice in inner city America and rural 
America who have private practices who I am concerned will be heavily 
burdened with the fraudulent provisions that are so severe in this 
legislation. We want to get rid of the fraud and abuse and certainly 
the bad practitioners, but overall, America's physicians take the 
Hippocratic oath, and all they want to do is to serve their patients.
  If you have an office situation that is small and not necessarily 
computer-processed, and you have an inadvertent staff person who 
repeats the billing to Medicare or some other service, then you are 
charged with knowingly and intentionally and recklessly providing this 
documentation, and are subject to the fraud provisions.
  I really think that we have an opportunity, as this bill is signed, 
to revisit this question and to study this question, to ensure that 
those physicians who serve our most needy of Americans in rural and 
urban centers around the Nation are allowed to do their practice, the 
practice of medicine, and that we

[[Page H9833]]

do not hinder them and tie their hands so they are not able to serve 
those constituents, and that they are not subjected to some of the 
harshest fraudulent provisions that are in this particular legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleagues, Democrats and 
Republicans alike, that we consider whether or not, as we watch this 
legislation progress, that it is not too severe to inhibit those who 
might serve those most needy constituents.


     antiterrorism legislation and the status of american militias

  Mr. Speaker, let me point out two other matters that we have had the 
opportunity to discuss this week. One, there has been a conference 
committee, bipartisan, in which the President has instructed the 
leaders of Congress to respond to the concerns of the American public 
and to pass antiterrorism legislation, which would include wiretapping, 
increased services or increased resources to our law enforcement, and, 
as well, would provide for taggant, what we would call the kind of 
tracking devices, to determine who might have been behind any kind of 
explosive incident or tradegy.
  It seems as if, however, we have not been able to come to a meeting 
of the minds, and that Members of this House, Republicans, have refused 
to listen to the President and to the American public asking for 
greater national security. I hope we can find an opportunity to come 
together on this issue, and not allow partisan politics to divide us on 
this question of terrorism.
  I hope also this House will have hearings on terrorism, domestic and 
international. I would also like my colleagues to join me in the 
support of House Concurrent Resolution 206, which I will offer, that 
will suggest to this Congress that we join together to determine the 
state of militia in this Nation, to determine whether there are those 
who are organized in a violent manner to overthrow this Nation. If they 
are in the form of militia, then we should find them, identify them, 
and prosecute them to the fullest of the law, and certainly the 
Department of Justice should be involved in this prosecution. We must 
not tolerate terrorism, domestically or internationally.
  I would encourage my colleagues in the House to get on with the 
business of an antiterrorism bill, and to join me in this militia 
legislation that will bring individuals to justice who would overthrow 
this Government.

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