[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21524-21525]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THE 19TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS' VIEWS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NEUGEBAUER. Mr. Speaker, like many Members in the House, I spent 
a good part of August visiting with people in the 19th Congressional 
District that sent me here. I had several coffees all across my 
district. One of the things that they spoke loud and clear of is that 
they are very concerned about the direction of their country. And as I 
listened to the President's speech and I listened to some of his 
advisers, they think these people are not Main Street America, that 
they are somehow disillusioned. Well, they are disillusioned. They are 
disillusioned with our government. They see their government bailing 
out banks. They see their government bailing out car companies. They 
see their government taking over every aspect of their lives and now 
wants to take over our health care. I want to read you some of the 
comments from the people of the 19th Congressional District.
  Janie from Lubbock, Texas: ``I am self-employed and pay my taxes. I 
firmly believe we currently have way too much government in our 
business and daily lives.''
  Jennifer from Wolfforth, Texas: ``Keep the government out of our 
health care. Remind them of our broken systems, Social Security, 
Medicare and Medicaid. We don't need another one.''
  Bobby from Lubbock: ``I do not want the government to run my health 
care. America does not need any more debt.''
  Rick from Lubbock asked this question: ``Why can't government cut 
back on its spending like the rest of us have to?''
  Nelma from Lubbock: ``My husband and I were born into very poor 
families. We were able to realize the American Dream. I want this 
opportunity for the upcoming generations.''
  Michael from Lubbock: ``Reform is definitely necessary, but not the 
kind that has been proposed.''
  James from Lubbock: ``Read, understand and apply the Constitution.'' 
A novel idea, James.
  Mandy from Lubbock: ``We want to keep our great insurance that we pay 
premiums for. We don't want to have our tax dollars fund another fiasco 
and become another Canada.''
  Holly from Wolfforth: ``Stop the spending. When I was deeply in debt, 
I stopped buying, worked hard and paid for things slowly but surely. I 
am out of debt now. I did not ask anyone to print money for me or pay 
for me.''
  John from Lubbock: ``Promise us that you will sign yourself, your 
family on the same plan that you force us into.''
  Grace from Lubbock: ``I hope you have listened to the many people 
here in Lubbock who do not have health insurance and who cannot afford 
it.''
  James from Lubbock: ``The U.S. Congress and the executive branch of 
the Federal Government, in particular, should limit their reach to what 
is allowed by our Founding Fathers' documents.''
  Robert from Lubbock: ``We must stop this crazy deficit spending and 
borrowing.''
  Marilyn from Lubbock: ``I hope that you will find a way to use the 
programs already available to cover all Americans.''
  Rosalie from Lubbock: ``Government is spending too much money. Back 
off.''
  Larry from Lubbock: ``In the bill there is language limiting the 
growth of physician-owned hospitals. These hospitals are able to supply 
health care services more efficiently than other community-based larger 
hospitals. I am against this bill.''
  Sandra from Lubbock: ``We need to slow things down and people need to 
read all of the bill before doing any voting.
  Kayla from Lubbock, who attended with her grandmother: ``I am 9 years 
old, and I am wondering why the heck you're spending my future. Thank 
you for listening.''
  Ron from Lubbock: ``When my kids were in college, my friends called 
me the ATM. I don't know the President. I don't want to be his ATM.''
  George from Lubbock: ``As Big Government continues to expand, there 
is a commensurate loss of individual freedom, accompanied by excessive 
spending and an amassing of a ridiculous deficit.''
  Michelle from Lubbock: ``I am a RN in a local emergency room. I am 
personally against the health care bill. How do we fix overcrowding of 
ERs? ER nurses are working twice as hard and seeing twice as many 
patients compared to the past.''
  Jack from Lubbock, ``Say `no' to the government health care and 
protect our borders.''
  Joel from Lubbock: ``Please say `no' to all excessive spending. Some 
of it does not fit with our Constitution.''
  Susan from Lubbock: ``I have been an RN for 34 years. I am tired of 
seeing patients turned away due to lack of insurance. This takes such a 
toll on families and health care providers.''
  Mary from Lubbock: ``Please do all that you can to keep health care 
in our hands, not the government.''

[[Page 21525]]

  Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, these are not people that are off on some 
tangent. These are people that are concerned about their country. They 
are concerned that the government is taking over every aspect of their 
lives. They're concerned that we are mortgaging the future of their 
children and their grandchildren. They're concerned that their personal 
liberties and freedoms are at risk.
  Mr. President and Madam Speaker, it's time to listen to the American 
people and quit giving speeches.

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