[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

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                               speech of

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. REYES. Mr. Chair, I rise today to express my strong opposition to 
the significant cuts to community health centers included in this bill. 
The Continuing Resolution proposes to reduce funding to community 
health centers by $1 billion, a nearly sixty percent reduction from 
FY2010 levels. Over the past few years, millions of families lost their 
health insurance due to job losses, and they now depend on community 
health centers to receive health care. If these cuts are signed into 
law, 192,834 people in Texas alone would lose access to health care.
  These cuts are especially harmful to the people of my district. 
Border communities face unique health concerns and challenges, and 
community health centers play a critical role. The cuts will have 
devastating effects on the communities and patients who most need 
access to care--patients with diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS, as 
well as children and pregnant women. Community health centers provide 
access to quality health care to those who would otherwise forgo a 
doctor's visit or seek treatment in an emergency when it's too late.
  In my congressional district for example, Centro San Vicente, one of 
many community health centers, provides health services for over 10,000 
people a year. The irresponsible cuts contained in the Continuing 
Resolution will merely shift the burden to local communities, such as 
the district I represent, where local property taxpayers have already 
spent more than $500,000,000 since 1998 to pay for those who could not 
afford to pay for health care at our public hospital.
  Republicans cannot merely ignore the problems that arise when 50 
million people in the United States lack basic health coverage. They 
have voted to repeal the health insurance reform law, and now want to 
cut the very clinics that help lower health care costs by encouraging 
uninsured patients to seek treatment in a doctor's office, not in an 
emergency room, where the costs are substantially higher.
  I understand the need for fiscal discipline, but drastically funding 
to a cost-effective program that has improved countless lives makes 
little sense from both a moral and fiscal perspective.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill which strips funding 
for community health centers.

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