[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 6 (Wednesday, February 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           THE REPUBLICAN WAR

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have already said many times on the floor 
of the House how important it is for us to move on an agenda of managed 
care reform for consumer protection; and I have to say today that I am 
very upset to hear that the National Association of Manufacturers is 
down here today visiting Members trying to basically pressure Members 
to not support managed care reform.
  We have an internal memo that basically says that the message the 
House Republican leadership is going to send is that we are at war and 
need to start fighting against managed care reform, and Senator Lott 
says that the Senate Republicans need a lot of help from their friends 
on the outside. ``Get off your butts. Get off your wallets.''
  The Republican leadership is now involved in this special interest 
activity. They are talking about their wallets and getting off their 
butts to try to fight against managed care reform.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have spoken out. They want managed 
care reform. They want quality health care. The Republican leadership 
should not be backed up by these special interest groups that are down 
here today to fight against these important, very important, consumer 
protections that the American people are demanding. This is the 
beginning of the Republican war.

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