[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     AMERICANS DO NOT WANT BUREAUCRATS LIMITING HEALTH CARE OPTIONS

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on a daily basis we make 
our own choices. From decisions as simple as paper or plastic, diet or 
regular, decaffeinated or high-test to ones as profound as Republican 
or Democrat and temple or church as the place we choose to worship. We 
come from a Nation of freedom that has allowed us to make choices in 
our lives. But if Democrats have their way, government bureaucrats will 
soon choose our health care. There is a television advertisement about 
a woman whose doctor told her to go get her affairs in order because 
she had cancer and less than 6 months to live. She then chose to go to 
a different provider, and several years later, she is still alive and 
healthy.
  Under the Democratic proposal, an unelected official in Washington 
will be making health decisions for individuals and families across 
this Nation. Patient choice will be a thing of the past unless you are 
wealthy enough to go outside the system. When competition dies, so does 
quality.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons this Nation has the best health care 
in the world is competition and compassion. Let's choose not to lose 
that quality and to continue to be able to go to the physician who can 
best serve our needs.

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