[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 76 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H4300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, as so many American families struggle with 
the rising costs of health care and with the unavailability of health 
care, I think it is important to keep in mind that roughly one-third of 
every health care dollar goes to wasteful administration and profit. 
The result is that we pay more for our health care than any other 
industrialized country by a wide margin.
  Since American businesses are the main provider of health care in the 
United States, they bear the burden and it is hurting their 
competitiveness. How do we know? Our competition tells us so.
  The CEO of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, the president and CEO of 
GM Canada, and the CEO of DaimlerChrysler Canada had this to say in a 
2002 letter: ``Publicly funded health care thus accounts for a 
significant portion of Canada's overall labor cost advantage in auto 
assembly, versus the U.S. which in turn has been a significant factor 
in maintaining and attracting new auto investment to Canada.''
  The time has come for national health insurance.

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