[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
             THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSAL ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. PIERLUISI asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PIERLUISI. Mr. Speaker, I support health care reform, but I do 
not support the proposal put forward by the White House, because it 
mistreats 4.4 million Americans living in Puerto Rico and the other 
U.S. territories. They are treated like second-class citizens.
  My loyalty to my party and to our President is beyond question, but 
my principles and my people come first. This proposal violates my 
principles, and it mistreats my people.
  In Puerto Rico, the Federal Government pays less than 25 percent of 
the cost of providing Medicaid services. That is a national travesty. 
The House took important steps to mitigate this disparity in funding. 
Yet the White House proposal does not make a good-faith effort to 
address this inequality. Moreover, the proposal excludes Puerto Rico 
from the exchange but allows noncitizen residents of the States to 
participate. This is discrimination, and it is no way to treat one's 
fellow Americans.
  I do not believe this proposal reflects the President's thinking, and 
I cannot believe my colleagues will allow it to stand. The people of 
Puerto Rico and the other territories fight proudly for their country. 
Their country should fight for them, too.

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