[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1453-H1454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LET'S HAVE AN UP-OR-DOWN VOTE

  (Mr. POSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POSEY. Madam Speaker, I think that there's unanimous will on both

[[Page H1454]]

sides of this Chamber to take care of the uninsurable people because of 
preexisting conditions right now, but this side is willing to address 
that on stand-alone legislation, or it would have already have been 
passed, unfortunately. I am surprised they keep pounding on that over 
and over and over again.
  Yesterday, in Ohio, the President said the Democrats needed courage 
to pass his national health care plan. Sadly, as we speak, leaders 
across the aisle are meeting behind closed doors to invent a creative 
way to approve the President's health care plan without requiring 
Members of the House to take an up-or-down vote on the actual bill. The 
legitimacy of something as controversial as the health care bill would 
be further clouded by such clever parliamentary maneuvers.
  That's not courage. That's malfeasance. It's an absolute betrayal of 
the public trust, and it would represent an unprecedented abuse of 
power that would take this Nation down a dangerous path.
  We're a Nation of laws. When these laws are not convenient, you 
shouldn't simply ignore them. We should follow them, regardless of the 
outcome; otherwise, everything about our democratic Republic is at 
risk.

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