[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 19666]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      SMALL BUSINESSES CANNOT AFFORD THE STATUS QUO IN HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. HEINRICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. Speaker, I just held a roundtable in my district to 
hear from small business owners on how they feel about health care 
reform. Each of the small business owners agreed that the system is 
broken and that keeping the status quo will only hurt small businesses 
in New Mexico.
  With skyrocketing health care costs, many of these small businesses 
have been forced to consider layoffs and have been forced to consider 
lowering wages. In some cases, discontinuing insurance coverage for 
their employees has been the only way to avoid going out of business.
  There is no doubt that our broken health care system is bad for 
America's small businesses. We can, and we must do better. We need a 
long-term, viable solution that creates stability, that prevents 
insurance companies from cherry-picking customers and businesses. We 
need a solution that supports a healthy workforce and that improves 
employee productivity. Now is the time to reform our health care 
system. Our small businesses cannot afford the status quo.

                          ____________________