[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, health care reform is one of the most 
important issues Congress will tackle. Health care costs are too high, 
and we need real reform that ensures every American has access to 
affordable quality care. The single most important tenet of high-
quality care is the doctor-patient relationship. It used to be that 
doctors visited the patient's house. Today patients visit the doctor's 
office, but the principle remains the same: doctors and patients are in 
charge of individual health care decisions. Our top priority must be 
preserving and protecting that relationship.
  To that end, I am proud to be sponsoring and supporting the Medical 
Rights Act, which will guarantee the rights of patients to control 
their own health care by banning government interference in those 
decisions. As Congress moves forward on health care reform, we need to 
ensure that patients and their doctors, not government bureaucrats, 
remain in charge of health care decisions.

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