[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WHAT KIND OF NATION ARE WE?

  (Mr. KAGEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, what kind of Nation are we? And is anyone 
really listening?
  Forty-seven million citizens have no health care coverage at all. 
Zero. And the costs, the costs for care are simply impossible to pay. 
People cannot afford to pay for their pills, for their doctor bills, 
for their hospital tests and treatments. They can't even afford their 
cancer treatments. And why? It's simple. They don't have the money.
  And what kind of Nation are we when, in Shawano County in Wisconsin 
at the courthouse, 19 out of 20 families going bankrupt do so because 
they can't pay their medical bills?
  We need a uniquely American solution to this crisis and we need it 
now because my patients can't hold their breath any longer.
  Mr. Speaker what kind of Nation are we? Let's all agree here, right 
now and right here to change this situation. This is a national 
disgrace. My constituents are listening and so are yours. Let's end 
this national nightmare and guarantee access to affordable care for 
everyone everywhere in these United States.

                          ____________________