[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21217]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. CARNAHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARNAHAN. This was an important August for America and for 
Members of this House. Back in Missouri, I had a number and variety of 
health care forums, from traditional townhalls to telephone townhalls, 
to roundtables of health care experts to kitchen table conversations 
with constituents. What we know is that the current system is broken, 
unsustainable, and unaffordable.
  So the number one contributor to our deficit, to personal 
bankruptcies and costs of those who have insurance has doubled in 10 
years. We also know we consider the source of the opponents peddling 
this information in this debate, the political gamers who just want to 
bring the President down, the profiteers who are making massive profits 
over the broken system.
  We need to have important insurance reforms to reduce costs through 
competition, and this needs to be deficit neutral.
  As Congress reconvenes and we prepare to hear the President tonight, 
we need to continue this great debate, even a spirited debate that we 
have to find commonsense solutions for the American people. That's what 
they expect, and that's what they deserve.

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