[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 169 (Monday, November 16, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. AARON SCHOCK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, November 7, 2009

  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, this past Monday night I decided I could 
better serve the citizens of the 18th district of Illinois by hosting a 
town hall meeting to listen to their thoughts and concerns with the 
Speaker's health care proposal, rather than rush back to Washington to 
vote on a resolution honoring man's best friend.
  As I participated in a town hall in Washington, Illinois with more 
than 1,000 people in attendance, I heard a reoccurring theme of 
concern, outrage, disbelief, frustration and fear for what Speaker 
Pelosi's health care proposal could mean.
  The final question of the night came from a young man named Joshua. 
In a room surrounded by those three or four times his age, young Joshua 
had the courage to ask me the difficult question if I supported what 
President Obama wants to do with Healthcare.
  I told Joshua that I've spent my first 9 months in office trying to 
figure out exactly what the President was actually trying to do with 
health care. It is this precise confusion of goals, conflicting 
messages and lack of communication from the Majority which has all 
Americans still trying to figure out exactly what the President and the 
Speaker are trying to do.
  Unfortunately, we've finally learned what they want to do. Tonight, 
under the cover of darkness, the majority finally passed a health care 
plan that will raise taxes, raise health care costs, add to our 
national debt, and hurt America's seniors, families and small 
businesses. Over half those covered in the bill are done so by 
expanding entitlements instead of helping them afford insurance. This 
only exacerbates insurance premiums for ordinary Americans and 
dramatically increases our nation's debt.
  The bill tonight was about expanding the size of government and 
leading us down the road to a no-choice government-run healthcare 
system. Instead of working across party lines to pass bipartisan 
reform, Speaker Pelosi has decided to let the votes against this 
massive entitlement expansion be the only true thing bipartisan about 
it.

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