[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4649]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS

  (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let us talk about association 
health plans. Over 60 percent of America's uninsured are small business 
owners and their families or the employees who work in a small 
business.
  Now, if you are one of the many small business owners struggling to 
provide health insurance for yourself, your family and your employees, 
I need your help encouraging Congress to pass important legislation 
that would make health insurance more affordable for small business.
  My legislation allowing the creation of association health plans 
would allow small business owners to band together across State lines 
to purchase health insurance as a group.
  This week the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will 
vote on the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005; and on behalf 
of the 43 million Americans who want, need, and deserve access to 
affordable health insurance, I encourage the House to pass this soon.
  Association health plans are the answer. Let us get behind them.

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