[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICANS DESERVE BETTER THAN OBAMACARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to respectfully 
ask that my colleagues reject ObamaCare which, if enacted into law, 
will seriously undermine, erode, damage and, I believe, even destroy 
health care in America.
  On substance, the Senate-passed text of over 2,700 pages now pending 
in the House is egregiously flawed. This is truly a bad bill, and it is 
anything but reform.
  On process, the near total lack of transparency and the misuse of 
majority party power to ram ObamaCare through the Congress makes it the 
quintessential example of what is so dreadfully wrong in Washington.
  No wonder growing numbers of Americans are fed up, losing faith, and 
angry at the Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House. No 
wonder millions of people, including TEA Party activists, are demanding 
accountability and defeat of ObamaCare.
  This has been, and is, an unseemly process unworthy of a national 
legislature, any legislature for that matter, especially one with an 
enviable two-century-old history of lawmaking.
  If President Obama wins passage of this bill when it comes to a vote, 
it will be a Pyrrhic victory at best. This is not Congress' finest 
hour.
  Rest assure that if ObamaCare was sound and prudent policy fiscally 
and morally and an efficacious way of facilitating quality health care 
coverage, Members of both sides of the aisle and across the ideological 
spectrum would be lining up to support it. If this was a good bill, 
persuasion rather than pressure would convince a large majority of 
Members to embrace it.
  Instead, blunt force is being applied like a vice grip to convince 
the unconvinced and undecided to cave, conform, and capitulate.
  On cost, ObamaCare is riddled with accounting gimmicks, all designed 
to make the total price appear smaller than it really is.
  In order to avoid sticker shock, ObamaCare collects new taxes, fees, 
and shifts billions of dollars from Medicare for 4 full years before 
benefits kick in. This trick results in an estimated but grossly 
misleading cost of care at some $871 billion over 10 years. But when 10 
years of revenue are matched with 10 years of benefits, the real cost 
comes to a staggering $2.3 trillion.
  I would note parenthetically that ObamaCare will exacerbate 
ObamaDebt. When you eliminate double counting of Medicare costs, Social 
Security cuts, and the use of CLASS Act premiums, the Democrats' claims 
of deficit reduction disappears into another massive wave of red ink of 
some $460 billion over 10 years and $1.4 trillion over the second 10 
years.
  Even without passage of this bill, under the President's 2011 budget 
proposal Federal spending will increase to a record $3.8 trillion in 
2011 alone. By 2020, the President's own 10-year budget analysis 
projects a more than doubling of debt to a record $18.6 trillion. That 
is absolutely unsustainable.
  Because ObamaCare diverts $500 billion from Medicare, there is no 
doubt whatsoever that senior citizens and disabled persons will lose 
certain health benefits they now enjoy.
  Medicare Advantage is protected in Florida, the so-called 
``Gatorade'' fix, but not in my home State of New Jersey or anywhere 
else. Medicare Advantage is used by over 11 million people nationwide, 
including 15,983 people in my congressional district alone.
  The Senate bill slashes nearly $120 billion from Medicare Advantage 
plans, jeopardizing millions of seniors' existing coverage. So much for 
the President's promise that if you like your health plan, you can keep 
it. No, you can't. Not under this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, for the first time ever, ObamaCare forces Americans to 
acquire an approved health care plan or pay a stiff penalty, like they 
have somehow committed a crime. The penalty is huge: the greater of 
$750 per person up to $2,250 per family, or 2 percent of household 
income. No person in America should be coerced into buying medical 
insurance.
  Under ObamaCare, premiums for nongroup family insurance will increase 
by as much as $2,000 per year. The Congressional Budget Office 
estimates that by 2016, premiums will increase by 10 to 30 percent over 
what would have happened under current law.
  ObamaCare would also create 160 boards, commissions, and programs 
which would vest sweeping powers on bureaucrats to determine what 
benefits are covered and not, and at what cost.
  Last September, Mr. Speaker, President Obama stood a mere 20 feet 
away from where I am standing now and told a joint session of Congress 
that, ``no Federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and Federal 
conscience laws will remain in place.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask members to vote ``no'' on this bill when it comes 
to the floor.
  This legislation today constitutes the largest expansion of abortion 
since Roe v. Wade itself, and makes a mockery of that pledge. That 
means more dead babies and wounded mothers.
  Additionally, Obamacare fails to institute real medical liability 
reforms to end junk lawsuits and curb the costs of defensive medicine--
these have long been identified as significant forces in driving up 
health costs.
  The goal of responsible health care reform should be to provide 
credible health insurance coverage for everyone, strengthening the 
health care safety net so that no one is left out, and incentivizing 
quality and innovation, as well as healthy behaviors and prevention. 
This means that the current private health insurance market will have 
to be reformed to put patients first, and to eliminate denials of pre-
existing conditions and lifetime caps and promoting portability between 
jobs and geographic areas, including across state lines. The tax code 
should be modernized to promote affordability and individual control, 
provide assistance to low-income and middle-class families. Medicare 
requires reform to be more efficient and responsive, with sustainable 
payment rates.
  Of course, responsible health care reform will respect basic 
principles of justice: it will put patients and their doctors in charge 
of medical decisions not insurance companies or government bureaucrats. 
It will also ensure that the lives and health of all persons are 
respected regardless of stage of development, age or disability.
  It's time to go back to the drawling board and address what's broken 
and fix it.
  The American public deserve better than what's on the table.

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