[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1523]
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. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a physician out of 
concern for my Republican colleagues, many of whom seem to be suffering 
from chronic amnesia or chronic ignorance. When we started talking 
about the possibility of using this ``deem and pass'' procedure to 
finish the job on health care reform, Republicans couldn't run fast 
enough to find a television camera to complain. Fact check: This 
procedure has been widely used since the 1930s and was, in fact, used 
no fewer than 202 times under Speakers Gingrich and Hastert, amounting 
to 30 percent of the rules put forth by the committees under their 
leadership.
  All this hypocrisy is kind of galling. I hope my Republicans can 
recover from this amnesia in time to watch the Congress pass a bill 
that the American people need and want. They do not like the health 
care system that is in this country. They want reform, and we are going 
to give it to them.

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