[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
             TIME TO PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

  (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, the gentleman from Florida got up here 
and talked about the fact that we should work together as Democrats and 
Republicans. Let us have a little review of history, and I think the 
gentleman was here when it all happened.
  In 1993 and 1994, President Clinton presented a health care plan for 
every American. The Republicans took the position that any plan run by 
the government was a bad one, and they took pride and bragged in the 
next election over the fact that they had killed the Clinton health 
care plan.
  Now, 1994 is more than 10 years, and we have yet to see any proposal 
come out of the Republicans. Not a single member of the Republican 
caucus has been able to get a hearing or lay a bill before a committee. 
There are many of us who put bills before the Congress. The gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich) put one forward, I put one forward, as did the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Dingell).
  Where are the Republican proposals to do anything about the American 
people's health care problem? It is the number one cause of bankruptcy. 
It is time.

                          ____________________