[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E63-E64]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPORT FOR ACA--THE STORY OF ONE ALABAMIAN

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 13, 2017

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, More than 20 million Americans 
woke up today with the security of health coverage they didn't have 8 
years ago. Of the Americans who stand to lose their health insurance 
under the GOP repeal plan, 82 percent are from working families, 
including 150,000 enrollees in my State of Alabama.
  Despite facts, Republicans have done a remarkable job convincing the 
American people, even those who are on the exchanges, that the ACA only 
benefits people who don't work. They perpetuate the tired fallacy that 
ACA, Medicaid, and even Medicare recipients are living off the 
government without contributing to our economy.
  Mr. Speaker, this brings me to a story about Hank Adcock. Hank is a 
life-long farmer who has been working on his family farm in Alabama for 
the majority of his 62 years. Back in 2015, his hands got stuck in a 
hay baler and he lost his right hand. Before the ACA, Hank's family 
hadn't had health coverage since the 1980s. His ACA policy ended up 
covering his entire hospital bill, which he says could have cost him 
his farm if he hadn't had insurance. If the farming work that Hank, his 
wife, Sharon, and their children have committed their lives to isn't 
enough to qualify as ``hard work'' to my Republican friends, then I 
suggest we let Hank and Sharon come up here to Washington while we all 
go down to North Alabama to trade jobs for a few days.
  The ACA is far from perfect. This is why I have worked across the 
aisle to try to make meaningful changes to the ACA that don't 
compromise the law's benefits. But after 7 years of engaging in a fact-
free, taxpayer-funded crusade against the ACA, the GOP should have a 
stellar replacement plan that we can all agree on.
  Every member in this body has constituents who have insurance because 
of the ACA. While I understand that the law is unpopular in many 
districts across the country, political expediency has no place in this 
hallowed body, especially when the economy and American lives are at 
stake.
  The American people deserve a Congress that will work together to fix 
what's wrong with the ACA and build upon what's working. We need to 
work towards increased access, market stabilization and cost reduction. 
I stand ready to work with my colleagues to achieve these goals and 
protect the millions of Americans who like Hank were at one time just 
one medical emergency away from financial ruin.

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