[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19577]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     IT'S THE ECONOMY THAT'S BROKEN

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I am very reluctant to criticize the 
President of the United States. He has the most difficult job, as do 
we, and we must work together. But I'm really confused because he keeps 
referring to our health system as broken. I don't know what that means. 
What does it mean when you break a health system?
  When I went to the doctor recently, no problem. I went in, saw him, 
got the prescription, and left. I needed hospital treatment, went in, 
had the surgery, and left. Everything worked fine. It was not broken.
  I think the real problem is that our economy is broken. And I know in 
the State of Michigan, where I live, our unemployment rate for June is 
15.2 percent. If people aren't working, they tend to lose their health 
care because they usually get it through their employer. Starting 
August 24 in Michigan, we expect an average of 18,000 people in 
Michigan to roll off unemployment insurance each month. By the end of 
2009, we expect to have 99,000 people who have lost their benefits. 
That is the problem we must address.
  We have to get people back to work, and when they get back to work, 
they will get their health care back.

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