[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 68 (Tuesday, May 5, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5102-H5103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT PLAYS CRITICAL ROLE IN 
                        VIRGINIA'S 11TH DISTRICT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  And before I begin my remarks on a different subject, I want to thank 
my colleague from California for his remarks about our departed 
colleague, Mr. Kemp. I think it is important that all of us remember 
his sense of decency, civility and collegiality, something we need to 
remind ourselves of in this body today.
  Mr. Speaker, we know that the Recovery Act will save or create 3.5 
million jobs across the country, but today I rise to highlight one of 
many important instances where the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act of 2009 plays a direct and critical role in my own district, the 
11th District of Virginia.
  It is important every so often to take a step back from the macro 
view and look at the Recovery Act's positive impact on the local 
economy. I want to point out the Act's impact on the Greater Prince 
William Community Health Center and the thousands of people the center 
employs and serves in northern Virginia. This nonprofit facility 
provides a wide variety of affordable health care services to the 
uninsured and the underinsured on a sliding

[[Page H5103]]

fee-based scale as well as those with health insurance. The health 
center is the primary caregiver for over 4,000 patients annually, with 
nearly 32,000 patient visits each year. It provides school physicals, 
internal and family medicine, physical exams, disease screening, 
laboratory work and pharmaceutical assistance. It treats diabetes, 
hypertension, asthma, respiratory infections and so many other medical 
conditions. Without this health center in Prince William County, many 
of the facility's patients would be forced to use hospital emergency 
rooms for their primary care which cost all of us about $6 billion a 
year, or they receive no care at all.
  Mr. Speaker, in the weeks before the $1.1 million grant for the 
Greater Prince William Community Health Center which was announced on 
March 2 as part of the stimulus funding, the center's management was 
actually preparing for an orderly and permanent shutdown of this vital 
facility. The economic crisis increased demand for health care services 
and local funding sources had frankly dried up. Nonetheless, the 
dedicated staff of health care professionals continued to do their jobs 
and continued to provide quality health care to the center's patients, 
even though they were not always certain they would ever receive a 
paycheck. The health center management desperately sought private and 
public funding to keep the center going, but the same economic crisis 
that was driving more patients to the health center was also taking its 
toll on this nonprofit provider. At a time when the health center was 
anticipating a doubling of patients in need of its services, the future 
looked bleak. It's hard to describe the sense of relief I heard when I 
contacted the center's management to inform them that the Recovery Act 
had provided a new lease on life. Thanks to the Recovery Act, this 
outstanding community resource will not become another unfortunate 
casualty of the recession but instead will continue to provide much-
needed cost-efficient health care to low- and moderate-income 
individuals and families. And because of this vote of confidence and 
this investment, they've been able to attract additional investment as 
well, ensuring their future.
  I recently toured the Greater Prince William Community Health Center 
and had the opportunity to spend time with care providers and several 
patients. I met with William, a construction worker recently laid off 
due to the economic downturn. He injured his back on the job but after 
being laid off had no insurance to seek treatment for his constant, 
chronic pain. Thanks to the health center in Prince William County, he 
was able to see a doctor, received initial care, and was referred to 
the University of Virginia Medical Center for back surgery. In time, 
thanks to the center, William will recover, be able to return to work, 
and live a productive and hopefully pain-free life. I also met Connie, 
who told me about her father's debilitating diabetes and how financial 
constraints placed his life in jeopardy. Connie heard about the center, 
brought her father there, and today he is on insulin with a much 
improved quality of life.
  Thanks to the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the hardworking staff at 
the Greater Prince William Community Health Center will continue to 
fill a critical need in my district in Virginia. This is only one of 
thousands of examples around our country of the Recovery Act at work, 
saving jobs and frankly saving lives.
  Mr. Speaker, the Greater Prince William Community Health Center is 
not unique. Throughout America, the Recovery Act is having a positive 
impact on the lives of millions of Americans. While no one solution 
will cure the recession overnight, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act is 
one piece of the mosaic of actions this Congress has undertaken to 
restore our Nation's economic health, protect the well-being of the 
American people, and make sure that our economy gets moving again.

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