[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 41 (Friday, March 19, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H1720]
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 
gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Fallin) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FALLIN. Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to visit with 
Oklahomans all across our State and to talk about what really concerns 
them; and what I hear from my Oklahomans is they are concerned about 
their families, and they are concerned about their Nation, and they are 
concerned about their jobs and their children's future and how their 
children's future will even look, especially with the debates we are 
having here in Washington, D.C. They are concerned about their jobs and 
the economy and making rent payments, house payments, car payments, and 
paying for prescription drugs. They are concerned about their children 
going to college and about their education.
  I have also had an opportunity to speak to our Oklahoma businesses 
and ask them, What do you think about what we are doing here in 
Washington? And they tell me time and time again that they are 
concerned about the big government intrusion into business, and they 
want government to stay out of their way and let them create jobs and 
let them invest and create opportunities and be entrepreneurs; yet what 
they hear from Washington is we are talking about more rules and 
regulations and more government takeover of industries and more taxes 
and higher taxes and the government expansion of programs like this 
health care bill. They are sitting on the sidelines and they are not 
creating those jobs and opportunities for my Oklahoma families so they 
can feel stable and secure in their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, this health care bill that we are debating this weekend 
will change the course of our Nation. It is going to be a massive 
expansion of the Federal Government, a massive expansion, taking over 
our freedoms, our ability to make our own decisions about our health 
care. It is a massive expansion into one-sixth of our Nation's economy 
in the health care industry. I want my Oklahomans to know that I will 
stand firmly against voting for the Pelosi-Obama health care government 
takeover that we are going to be voting on this weekend, and I will not 
vote for it.
  This vote will be one of the most far-reaching, significant pieces of 
major social policy legislation in our lifetime and will definitely 
affect the future of all of our children. It will change the course of 
future generations of our children. Already our Nation is facing huge 
deficits and large amounts of debt, out-of-control spending by 
Congress, and that is hurting our economy and killing jobs and even 
threatening the stability of our Nation and our businesses and our 
families.
  As we now know, many States are facing also hard times from budget 
deficits, and they are having to cut services and making really tough, 
painful spending decisions about the delivery of services to their 
citizens. States are also having a hard time paying for growing 
Medicaid costs. And now this health care bill, if it passes, will pass 
on down more unfunded Medicaid costs upon our States and create even 
bigger, nanny state entitlement programs, all at a time when Medicaid 
reimbursements are so low that doctors are dropping both Medicaid and 
having a hard time--it is hard to even find doctors who will see 
Medicaid or Medicare patients, especially in our rural areas. In fact, 
I read an article this week that said some pharmacies are not accepting 
new Medicaid patients because of the low reimbursement rate.
  So the question is: Will our children's future and the American 
citizen's future be better if we pass this health care bill? And the 
question will be: Will our citizens be able to choose their own doctor 
or will their doctor be deciding whether to chose them, or will there 
even be a doctor for them to see?
  The U.S. already has a shortage of doctors. We just heard the 
previous speaker talk about how 46 percent of the primary care 
physicians say they may drop out of the medical profession if this bill 
passes. From my State of Oklahoma, it is estimated that this 
legislation will impose over $500 million of unfunded Medicaid 
expansion mandates on our State.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask our colleagues to reject this bill. Let's work on 
creating jobs and opportunities. Let's work on a lasting solution for 
health care reform.

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