[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 41 (Thursday, March 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E468-E469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO DR. RALPH QUELLHORST, OHIO CONFERENCE MINISTER FOR 
               HIS DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE STATE OF OHIO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PAUL E. GILLMOR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2003

  Mr. GILLMOR. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I rise today to 
pay special tribute to an outstanding gentleman, and good friend, from 
Ohio. Dr. Ralph Quellhorst became an Ordained Minister of the United 
Church of Christ in 1962. Shortly thereafter he became an Adjunct 
Professor at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. Dr. Quellhorst 
served on its faculty from 1963-1965. Also during that time, Dr. 
Quellhorst led the congregation of the Emmanuel United Church of Christ 
in Bluffton, Ohio.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1967, Dr. Quellhorst became the Associate for 
Leadership Development for the Ohio Conference, United Church of 
Christ. He served in that capacity until 1975, during which time he 
also served the Eden Theological Seminary as an Adjunct Professor. In 
1975, Dr. Quellhorst left Ohio for New York City to serve as an 
Associate in the Office for Church Life and Leadership, UCC. During his 
service in New York City, Dr. Quellhorst served as an Adjunct Professor 
in the New York Theological Seminary.
  From 1982 through 1992, Dr. Quellhorst served under the Indiana 
Kentucky Conference, United Church of Christ, in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Finally, in 1993, Dr. Quellhorst returned to the great state of Ohio to 
serve as Conference Minister and Executive for the Ohio Conference, 
United Church of Christ, from which he is retiring this month.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Quellhorst boasts quite a long list of educational 
and professional achievements. His first degree was obtained in my 
congressional district at Heidelberg College, located in Tiffin, Ohio. 
There he received his B.A. in Speech. In 1962, he received his B. Div. 
from the Eden Theological Seminary, where he later obtained his M. Div. 
in 1974. Dr. Quellhorst completed his education in 1976, when he 
received his D. Min. from the Eden Theological Seminary. Dr. Quellhorst 
serves on the Heidelberg College Board of Trustees, where he has 
chaired the Academic Affairs, Faculty and Curriculum, Institutional 
Advancement, and Executive committees. He recently served on the 
Heidelberg Presidential Search Committee. In addition to his 
contributions in the academic realm, Dr. Quellhorst has been recognized 
for his humanitarian efforts. In 2000, he was awarded the John Calvin 
Award for Humanitarian Work, which was presented at the 4th World 
Congress of the Hungarian Reformed Churches held in Budapest, Hungary.
  Dr. Ralph Quellhorst has had a significant impact on the lives of so 
many people. He has helped so many in the congregations he has served 
to live a life of goodwill and sacrifice. These chances to give back to 
the public have brought him a lifetime of both personal and 
professional achievement. Ohio is certainly blessed to have had Dr. 
Quellhorst's voice touch the lives of so many in our state.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special tribute 
to Dr. Ralph Quellhorst. Our communities are served well by having such 
honorable and giving citizens, like Dr. Quellhorst, who care about 
their well being and stability. We wish him, his wife, Sue, and their 
family all the best as we pay tribute to one of our state's finest 
citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, it is doubtful that H.R. 663, the Patient Safety and 
Quality Improvement Act, will in fact improve the quality of medical 
care. What is not doubtful is that HR 663 will increase the federal 
government's control over medicine, which I believe is the most 
dangerous trend facing medicine today. Under H.R. 663, federally-
empowered boards and commissions will be empowered to establish new 
medical databases on patient errors, develop standards for health care 
information technology systems, and issue new federal standards 
regarding the packaging of drugs and biological products. Supporters of 
this bill will claim that compliance with the standards promulgated is 
voluntary: however, medical administrators will feel pressure to adhere 
to the federal guidelines for no other reason than to avoid 
jeopardizing their federal funding. Furthermore, it is questionable how 
long Congress will allow the standards to remain voluntary. After all, 
if the federal government is using taxpayer dollars to determine the 
best means of protecting patients, than we ``owe'' it to the taxpayer 
to make sure all practitioners are following federal standards!
  Supporters of having the federal government determine the standards 
for patient safety believe that the federal government is capable of 
determining the best ways to enhance patient safety. However, Mr. 
Speaker, it is unlikely that the federal government can effectively 
identify and popularize a definitive list of best practices for a field 
as diverse and rapidly changing as medicine. In fact, by the time such 
standards make their way through what is certain to be a lengthy 
bureaucratic approval process, the standards are likely to be out of 
date! Furthermore, the standards will inevitably reflect the bias of 
those chosen to be on the patient safety boards. However, many 
practitioners will no doubt feel discouraged from adopting medical 
error reduction techniques not on the ``approved government list.'' 
Thus, the main effect of federalizing the process of developing 
standards of patient quality will be to retard the development of those 
standards.
  I am also concerned about the possible violations of privacy that 
inevitably accompany the government collection of medical data. Of 
course, the supporters of this bill claim that the reporting will not 
disclose any personal information. However, even medical systems which 
claim not to collect personal identifiable information can threaten 
privacy. This is because those with access to the information can 
oftentimes identify the subject of the ``anonymous'' report. I am aware 
of at least

[[Page E469]]

one incident where a man had his identity revealed when his medical 
records were used without his consent. As a result, many people in his 
community discovered details of his medical history that he wished to 
keep private! Just this morning, CNN's web site reported on the poor 
job federal agencies and government contractors are doing in protecting 
the confidentiality of social security numbers; yet we are supposed to 
trust the government with access to even more personal information!
  In conclusion Mr. Speaker, H.R. 663 could actually retard the 
development of innovations in patient safety while promoting yet more 
federal control of health care. In addition, it poses a potential 
threat to medical privacy. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose 
this bill.

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