[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, the great philosopher George Santayana 
said, Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Now 
the Republicans say we should scrap the bill and start all over again. 
In 1994, Newt Gingrich very proudly killed Mrs. Clinton's health care 
effort. We have waited 16 years. Twelve years we had Republicans in 
control of this House. We had 6 years with the Republican Senate, a 
Republican House, and a Republican President--and nothing was offered.
  What you're saying today is, Let's kill the Democratic bill, and 
we'll wait another 16 years to 2026 until we try again. The Americans 
are going into bankruptcy--two-thirds of them because of health care. 
We cannot wait any longer. The time has come for a vote, folks. Let's 
stand up and tell the American people you want to wait until 2026 to 
try again. That doesn't make sense.

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