[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18328]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICA NEEDS A LEADERSHIP TRANSPLANT

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, among all the chaos and the economy and 
Iraq, the administration is bellowing these days about tort reform. It 
is the solution to a national health care crisis, they shout. That is 
the closest thing to a perpetual motion machine and just as phony.
  Tort reform is a smoke screen by the administration to cover its own 
failure to do anything about the health care crisis. The administration 
squandered 4 years and did nothing on premiums, slamming Americans with 
double-digit increases year after year. Americans cannot find decent 
jobs. That is why millions do not have health care. Millions of other 
Americans with jobs cannot afford the premiums.
  But the administration has to cover its tracks, so they launch a 
diversion against the lawyers, and they are blaming the other guy 
because John Kerry actually has a health care plan.
  The President has a plan. It is called more of the same; 4 more years 
of record profits for special interests; 4 more years of skyrocketing 
costs for the average American; 4 more years of failure; and a 17 
percent increase for seniors.
  America needs a leadership transplant, and surgery is set for the 2nd 
of November.

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