[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CURRENT HEALTH CARE SYSTEM CANNOT BE SUSTAINED

  (Mr. AL GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the current system with reference 
to health care cannot be sustained. We are currently spending $2.5 
trillion per year. That is a large number, difficult to get your mind 
around it. However, $79,000 a second is something that we all can 
understand. And by 2018 it will become $4.4 trillion per year. That 
would be $139,000 per second.
  For those who say, this is not my fight, I have good insurance, it 
may be that you have not utilized your insurance and you don't really 
know how good it isn't. For those who say I have insurance, I am okay, 
remember that 14,000 people per day lose their insurance. But for the 
grace of God, you may be one of the 14,000 people without insurance 
tomorrow. So please understand this is everybody's fight, because the 
economy of this country is dependent upon how we impact health care.
  Finally, this. In my State of Texas, 6 million are uninsured, 1.4 
million children uninsured. This is inexcusable. There is a difference 
between something being unsustainable and being inexcusable. It is 
inexcusable.

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