[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1565-H1566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H1566]]

  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, this is a defining week in the history of this 
Republic. At no time in history has the Federal legislature mandated 
that everyone in this country buy anything; yet this week we are going 
to mandate, if this bill passes and is enacted into law, that everyone 
in this country under the force of law has to buy health insurance.
  The Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves today because 
they knew that we should be leery of a large central government 
mandating things to even the States that they have to comply with. They 
told us to have a healthy distrust of Big Brother, the Federal 
Government. They told us basically to sleep with one eye open and one 
eye closed because our freedoms could be at risk from within. We are at 
that moment in the history of this great Nation, and we must stand 
strong and resolute.
  In Tennessee where I live, our Democratic Governor, Phil Bredesen, 
has called this the ``mother of all unfunded mandates,'' because it 
forces all these new people into State Medicaid programs. In our State 
it is called TennCare. It is a multibillion dollar mandate to the 
people of Tennessee, and we don't have the money to pay for it. And we 
will not raise taxes to pay for it; we will not go into debt to pay for 
it. It is wrong for the States to be run over like this.
  They carved out the 10th Amendment and gave States some sovereignty. 
There are liberal publications today writing that article VI allows the 
Federal Government to override the States. But that is on matters of 
equality and justice, not a decision of policy by the Federal 
legislature to mandate costs and taxes and debt on its people.
  We must stand strong against this bill this week in the Congress. But 
if it is enacted into law, we must lead a repeal movement to 
immediately, as soon as possible, repeal this bill before it goes into 
effect. And then, if we are not able to repeal it, the Governors of 
this country should come out of their chairs and stand against this 
bill.
  I will tell you, in Tennessee, if I am to become the 49th Governor of 
our great State, we will meet the Federal legislature and the Federal 
Government at the State line to oppose this mandate, because we will 
not raise taxes, we will not go into debt, we will not be violated like 
this. And we must let our Founding Fathers rest peacefully, knowing 
that these living laboratories of democracy, our States, are allowed to 
exist, setting our own taxes, setting our own rules, living in the 
United States but not being run over by the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a defining moment in the history of our country. 
We must be resolute. We must fight with every ounce of our energy to 
stop this Federal invasion and this overriding of States' rights.

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