[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19573]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE AND PERSONAL FREEDOM

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, the government-run health care plan, or the 
Waxman bill, is being forced on Americans without a full debate. In 
fact, during the markup in Energy and Commerce, where I serve, we got 
the replacement bill, about 1,000 pages, just about an hour before the 
markup. The markup was discontinued after 1 day. Who knows what is in 
the bill today? But there are some basic principles that all Americans 
recognize.
  As Thomas Jefferson has said with regard to the government and its 
insidious encroachment on everyday freedoms: If we can prevent the 
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of 
taking care of them, we will be wise. This is the pretense that 
Democrats are using to push their healthcare bill.
  Mr. Jefferson also said, Great innovation should not be forced on 
slender majorities.
  It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that a lot is at stake here, not the least 
of which is our personal freedom.

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