[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 14349-14350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Boehner).
  Mr. BOEHNER. Madam Speaker, Republicans want to work with the 
President and our Democrat colleagues here in the Congress to make sure 
that every American has access to high-quality, affordable health 
coverage. On an issue like this, we need to act, but we also need to 
get it right.
  Frankly, the record the Democrats have amassed this year so far shows 
us why we need to take our time. Think about it. On every major issue 
addressed by Congress and the White House this year, the middle class 
has taken a big hit. Middle-class Americans are paying for a trillion 
dollar ``stimulus'' package that no one read. They're paying for a $400 
billion omnibus appropriation bill with 9,000 earmarks in it. They're 
paying to bail out those who lied on their mortgage applications. 
They're paying for a government takeover of General Motors with no exit 
strategy. And they're paying for a budget that didn't include a tax cut 
that was promised for, yes, you guessed it, the middle class in 
America. And if Democrats get their way, they'll be paying for a 
national energy tax on anyone who has the audacity to drive a car or to 
flip on a light switch.
  Over and over again, the people who follow the rules are being left 
behind by Washington. Are Democrats going to leave the middle class 
behind on health care as well?
  The forthcoming plan from Democratic leaders will make health care 
more expensive, limit treatments, ration care, and put bureaucrats in 
charge of medical decisions rather than patients and doctors. That 
amounts to a government takeover of health care, and it will hurt, 
rather than help, middle-class families across our country.
  The administration likes to say they can expand health care and lower 
costs at the same time, but I think that's just simply nonsense. You 
can't add millions of Americans to the government health care rolls and 
reduce costs unless government takes control of medical decisions, 
rations care, and

[[Page 14350]]

limits treatments, all of which will reduce quality and undermine the 
care that Americans have come to expect.
  Republicans believe there's a better way. Led by Roy Blunt, the 
Health Care Solutions Group is crafting a plan that will ensure access 
to affordable, quality health care for every American, regardless of 
preexisting conditions. This plan will protect Americans from being 
forced into a new government-run plan that raises taxes, rations care, 
and eliminates coverage for more than 100 million Americans who receive 
their health care coverage from their employer. It will ensure that 
medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not by 
government bureaucrats. We want to let Americans who like their health 
care coverage keep it and give all Americans the freedom to choose the 
plan that best meets their needs. We want to improve Americans' lives 
through effective prevention, wellness, and disease management 
programs, while developing new treatments and cures for life-
threatening diseases.
  I hope Democrats here in Congress and the administration will work 
with us to make sure that we do this right. The American people, and 
particularly the middle class who have been left behind, deserve our 
best effort to put these reforms in place that will meet their needs.

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