[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1345
                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, 2 weeks ago, I went to dinner with my 
family in New Haven, Connecticut. As we left the restaurant, a young 
woman stopped me. She said to me, Rosa, can I talk to you for a moment? 
I've been waiting for you. I said, Why didn't you come over to the 
table? She said, I didn't want to disturb you or your family. No 
disturbance.
  I looked at this beautiful young woman with tears in her eyes. And 
she said to me, Rosa, I have lung cancer. I have lung cancer, and I 
cannot get the kind of help that I need. I can't leave my job because I 
will not be able to get insurance. Preexisting condition is killing me. 
Pass health care reform.
  You don't know Melissa Marotolli. I do, and Melissa Marotolli's face 
haunts me every single day. And this is not just one story. It is writ 
large across this Nation, a people who can't leave their jobs; they 
can't get the care they need because the insurance companies have run 
roughshod over them. Yes, they are rationing health care in this 
country. I know where I stand. I stand with the Melissa Marotollis of 
this Nation. My Republican colleagues stand with the insurance 
companies.

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