[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 41 (Friday, March 19, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1714]
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, it is deja vu all over again.
  On December 2, 1993, William Kristol wrote the Republican playbook. 
He said, ``The Clinton health care proposal is a serious political 
threat to the Republican Party. Republicans must therefore clearly 
understand the political strategy implicit in the Clinton plan and 
adopt an aggressive and uncompromising counterstrategy designed to 
delegitimize the proposal and defeat its partisan purpose.''
  He went on to say, ``The long-term political effects of a successful 
Clinton health care bill will be even worse, much worse. It would 
relegitimize middle class dependence for security on government 
spending and regulation that will revive the reputation of the party 
that spends and regulates, the Democrats, as the generous protector of 
the middle class interests, and it will at the same time strike a 
punishing blow against Republican claims to defend the middle class by 
restraining government.''
  Nothing has changed. The Republicans refuse to deal with the problems 
of America and provide health security. They sat for 16 years since 
that date and did nothing. The time has come to pass the health care 
bill.

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