[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14128]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, Congress is currently operating under 
some of the lowest approval ratings in history, and clearly, the public 
has lost confidence in its Federal Government. Perhaps that's because 
the Federal Government is rapidly moving down a path that shows that 
the government is losing confidence in the American people.
  When it comes to health care, should the government help Americans, 
or should the government actually control everything when it comes to 
health care?
  Our constituents, my constituents certainly, are not asking for more 
government control, particularly in the arena of health care. Perhaps 
Congress should listen and have confidence in the American people.
  The government should continue to play a role for performance 
standards and ensuring everyone is treated fairly, but then it should 
get out of the way and let American hard work and ingenuity do what it 
does best.
  Now, I have spoken to several health care industry experts, from 
former administration officials, current administration officials to 
private citizens with innovative ideas that have worked. In a short 
interview with former Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike 
Leavitt, he hits the nail on the head when he says, We don't have to 
turn the health care system over to the Federal Government. We can 
empower consumers and use the government to organize a system and not 
to own it.
  I encourage people to visit this site and learn more about health 
care reform as it stands before us today.

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