[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 17653]]

                   HEALTH CARE FOR MILITARY RETIREES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Platts). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Mississippi.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. I would like to thank my colleague from 
Hawaii and my other colleagues for bearing with me.
  Mr. Speaker, the point I want to make is, I wish this Member had the 
power to keep some bills from coming to the House floor. I wish I could 
have kept NAFTA from coming to the floor because it has lost so many 
jobs for my fellow Mississippians and every American. I wish I could 
have kept portions of that tax bill that saw to it that half of the 
$1.2 trillion in benefits went to the wealthiest fat cats in America, 
not the average Joes.
  Mr. Speaker, if you can find the time and waive the rules to give the 
fat cats a tax break, you can find the time and you can waive the rules 
to let our military retirees go to the base hospitals. I am asking for 
an up or down vote. Be a decent human being and give us that vote.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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