[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 42 (Saturday, March 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1796-H1797]
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 Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, this government health care 
takeover has been debated on so many fronts. The President says it is 
to save money; and, yet, Mr. Speaker, in every corner of the planet, in 
every corridor of history, socialized medicine has always cost more, 
not less. Every government health care program the United States has 
ever implemented has cost many times the amount that was first 
predicted. So if this bill saves money, Mr. Speaker, it will be the 
first in human history.
  Democrat leaders say that the government takeover will increase the 
quality of health care; and yet once

[[Page H1797]]

again, Mr. Speaker, every example in history speaks to the contrary. 
Those living under socialized medicine across this planet can only 
dream of living in a free market economy like America, because they 
know that if they have a cold in their country, they can call a doctor. 
But if they have something serious like cancer or diabetes or heart 
disease, they had better call a travel agent and come to America if 
they possibly can.
  Democrat leaders say that this will make health care more accessible 
to the people, and yet we have testimony from doctors themselves that 
say that anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of them say that they will quit 
the practice of medicine if this health care monstrosity passes.

                              {time}  2015

  And it will be the poorest of the poor, Mr. Speaker, who will fall 
off the table when the scarcity of health care resources comes. So much 
for accessibility.
  But the big one, Mr. Speaker. Liberals say that this bill is about 
compassion to those who can't afford health care. But it is such a 
false argument, Mr. Speaker, because there are so many ways that we can 
help those who don't have health insurance without destroying the best 
health care system in the entire world. One of those would be to wipe 
out frivolous lawsuits, the savings of which would pay for a Cadillac 
insurance policy for every last one of the 11 million Americans who say 
they want health insurance but can't afford it.
  And to say this is about compassion, Mr. Speaker, when Democrat 
liberals are doggedly determined to prevent any amendment that would be 
included to stop the taxpayer-funded murder of little unborn children 
is the most insidious distortion of all. Mr. Speaker, nothing so 
completely destroys the notion that this bill is about compassion than 
the arrogant and cruel disenfranchisement of helpless unborn children 
who have no voice in this twisted and corrupt process.
  No, Mr. Speaker, this is not about compassion. This bill is about 
power. It's about robbing the American citizens of power and putting it 
in the hands of left-wing liberal bureaucrats and elitists who think 
they know more about running people's lives than the people themselves 
do. It's about robbing America of one of its greatest distinctives: the 
freedom of the individual.
  I just have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, if left-wing Democrats in this 
Chamber arrogantly disregard the voice of the American people and shove 
this socialist obscenity down the people's throat, the people 
themselves are going to shove it somewhere else in the next election.
  But there are still Members, Mr. Speaker, of this body who are going 
to support this bill anyway because they're willing to sacrifice 
freedom in the interest of gaining either a political advantage or 
somehow some free lunch to them in some capacity. And to those, I would 
just repeat the words of Samuel Adams during the time when there was 
another great struggle in America over whether the power of the 
government or the rights of the people would prevail.
  During the early days of the Revolution, when America was about to be 
born, Samuel Adams admonished those who would give up freedom and 
accept tyranny and government control over their lives in its place. 
And I repeat this admonition to those who would still intend to vote 
for this bill. He said, ``If you love wealth more than liberty, the 
tranquility of servitude more than the animating contest of freedom, go 
home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch 
down and lick the hands that feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon 
you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.''

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