[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 131 (Wednesday, September 7, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5941-H5942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SELECT COMMITTEE NEEDS TO PUT PATIENT PROTECTION AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ON 
                               THE TABLE

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, every household in America knows this: The 
easiest money to save is money you haven't yet spent. That seems like 
common sense.

[[Page H5942]]

  We could reduce the deficit by eliminating spending that is to begin 
in the future, spending Americans simply cannot afford. This new select 
committee could easily achieve almost their entire target of reducing 
the Nation's deficit, and, most surprisingly, almost every dollar would 
come from benefits that do not yet exist.
  New mandates in the Affordable Care Act give the Federal Government 
far too much control, and taxpayers far too much responsibility, for 
financing health care in this country. Given our deteriorating debt, 
the simple truth is we simply cannot afford this new spending.
  The select committee will look to strengthen existing entitlement 
programs--Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security--but also these 
existing entitlements are on the table. So why shouldn't new 
entitlements created by the Affordable Care Act be as well?
  We have this choice moving forward: We can make the select committee 
negotiations as painful as possible or we can have a logical discussion 
about cutting back on spending that we simply cannot afford.
  The select committee is getting to work, and I encourage both 
parties, all 12 members, to put the Affordable Care Act on the table 
alongside other entitlements in need of reform. Failure to stop will 
simply threaten the very fabric of our Republic.

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