[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 27336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     FOLLOW THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, tonight I am asking the Speaker of the House 
and the leadership of the Republican Party to respect the will of the 
American people, respect the demands of the American people, respect 
the vote of this House of Representatives, and quickly appoint 
conferees on H.R. 2723, the Patients' Bill of Rights.
  This country cannot wait any longer for the vital health protections 
included in its important legislation. We cannot afford to have only 
those opposed to those protections at the table negotiating. To do so 
would guarantee that these hard-fought protections would just be 
negotiated away.
  It would be criminal not to include Members from the majority who 
listened to the pleas from their constituents. It would signal the 
intent of the leadership of this House to ignore the protections that 
we fought so hard to include in the bipartisan patient protection plan.
  So I ask the Speaker, I ask the House leaders not to prejudice the 
conference from the beginning. The Patients' Bill of Rights included 
life-saving protections that must be embraced and not thrown out. The 
people have spoken, and we must listen.
  They said they wanted their HMOs to be accountable for decisions that 
HMO bureaucrats forced, and we listened. They said they wanted an 
effective appeals process so that decisions could be challenged and 
lives saved, and this House listened.
  They pointed to States like Texas that have had both strong appeals 
process and accountability. The result of these protections is that few 
plans and no employers have been sued. This House listened. We took 
note, and we took action.
  The people said that they wanted to continue with their cancer 
doctors and obstetricians during the course of treatment or pregnancy, 
and this House listened. They said they wanted to be able to take their 
children to the closest emergency room when an emergency struck, and 
this House listened.
  They said they wanted their doctors to be able to talk freely with 
them about their treatment and the medications they needed without 
feeling gagged by their health plan, and this House listened.
  Mr. Speaker, this House of Representatives listened to the American 
people. Please do not turn a deaf ear to those pleas. This life and 
death issue is too important to play politics with.
  I urge that a conference that includes supporters of Patients' Bill 
of Rights from the majority party be held. They listened, Mr. Speaker. 
Will you listen? I yield back so that the Speaker and the majority will 
listen to the American people.

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