[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Madam Speaker, we have been talking about health care 
reform for nearly a century, and certainly inaction is no longer 
acceptable. The American people voted for and demand reform. They 
deserve our support.
  Health insurance reform is about cost. These reforms slow the growth 
of health care spending and make health care insurance more affordable 
for everyone while reducing our deficit.
  Health insurance reform is about coverage. These reforms will cover 
nearly all Americans, including those with preexisting conditions, and 
will not drop you if you get sick.
  Health insurance reform is about competition. It repeals antitrust 
exemptions for insurance companies and brings them into a regulated 
marketplace to bring down prices for families and small businesses.
  Health insurance reform is about care. These reforms eliminate copays 
for yearly checkups and screenings and ensure that our seniors have 
access to prescription drugs that they can actually afford.
  Health insurance reform returns control to mothers, to fathers, to 
grandparents, and families, where it belongs, not with insurance 
companies, not with government.

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