[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19231-19232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1530

               SENIORS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, this body passed a cap-and-trade bill, and 
we had people coming down, friends across the other side of the aisle, 
saying this isn't going to cost jobs, that it's going to create jobs. 
Well, they telegraphed, every time that was said, that they'd not read 
the bill. They assured America that this was going to create green jobs 
and that it wasn't going to cost jobs.
  If they'd bothered to read the bill, they would have seen that, 
before the 300 pages were added and, unaffected by the 300 pages, there 
was a fund created to pay an allowance to people who'd lost their jobs 
because of the bill. It also created a fund that could help them with 
relocation after they lost their jobs because of the bill. They just 
hadn't read the bill, so they were able to come down and, with 
righteous indignation, say it wasn't going to cost jobs. I knew they 
were being honest. They were just ignorant about what the bill said, 
but it will cost jobs, and now we're told that some of us don't care 
about seniors.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm here because I care about seniors, and I know what 
that health care bill is going to do to them. It is going to put 
seniors on lists to get treatment. The lists will be for those who are 
not considered too old to be put on lists.
  If you'd followed the President's own presentation in that townhall, 
Ms. Pam Stern pointed out her mother was nearly 100, and she needed a 
pacemaker. Her doctor said, because of the joy and quality of her life, 
she should have one, but the arrhythmia specialist said, no, not 
somebody her age until he met her. Then he said, Well, of course, she 
needs to have one. So they did and she's now 105.
  So Ms. Stern asked the President, Is there any consideration to be 
given for a certain spirit, joy of living, quality of life, or is it 
just a medical cutoff?
  He went into a long explanation, and ended by saying, You know what? 
We at least can let your mom know that, you know what, maybe this isn't 
going to help, maybe you're better off not having the surgery but 
taking a painkiller. Taking a painkiller, when we've already seen that 
she had another 5 years, and the President wants to say,

[[Page 19232]]

Well, maybe we'll just give you a painkiller and let you die?
  This is going to allow seniors to die who could have a much more 
ongoing, productive life. There is no reason to do this.
  Now, when I and my staff looked at this, the latest numbers we were 
able to get were from 2007 of, roughly, 112 million households in 
America. If you divide that into the amount of money paid into Medicare 
and Medicaid, it's $9,200 per household for every household in America.
  Well, once I saw that, I realized, boy, there is a way for the first 
time in 40-something years to give seniors control over their own 
health care and over their own lives. You give them $3,500 in their own 
health savings accounts that they control. You give them a debit card. 
They have exclusive control. No insurance company can tell them what to 
do with it. Then you buy them private insurance, and they won't have to 
do like my mother-in-law did and buy supplemental insurance on top of 
that. You buy them good insurance. They don't need to do that. On top 
of that, you save the country hundreds of billions of dollars a year. 
Now, that puts control in seniors' hands, and it saves the country 
money.
  This isn't about that. It is about control. This health care bill is 
about control. It's about taking charge of people's lives.
  We had the EPA already say, since carbon dioxide is a pollutant, this 
body has the right to control any entity that puts out carbon dioxide. 
Well, maybe there are people here in the majority who can pick out 
individuals and say, You know what? I'm tired of them putting out 
carbon dioxide. It's time for them to stop. I mean that's how ludicrous 
it gets, except that, once you can control whether people put out 
carbon dioxide, you can control whether they live or not. Once you can 
control their health care, you can have the right to say, You know 
what? I noticed on your credit card purchase you bought some Twinkies 
last month, and therefore, we're not going to provide health care 
unless you quit buying those. I mean this is going to get so intrusive.
  The one thing that's clear is that Orwell was 25 years early, because 
this is going to be so Orwellian with Big Brother looking into 
everyone's lives and having the right to do so once they pay for your 
health care. This will allow seniors to die, waiting in line for lists. 
Do you think that's over the top? I had a Canadian man tell me that 
just a few weeks ago.
  His dad got put on a list for bypass surgery, and he had to wait 2 
years. I said, Why did it take so long? He said, Well, the bureaucrats 
kept moving him back.
  Let's don't kill our seniors. Let's give them control. That's what 
Americans should do.

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