[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21800]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         SWEEPING REFORMS LEAVE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS BEHIND

  (Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SABLAN. Madam Speaker, last time I spoke, I pointed out that the 
health care reform bills currently being debated in the House and 
Senate do not include the United States territories. Today, I would 
like to discuss why these reforms are needed just as much, or more, in 
my district as in any other part of the United States.
  There are only 80,000 people in my district in the Northern Mariana 
Islands, but the health care infrastructure there is struggling. There 
is only one surgeon for all three of the populated islands. Common 
equipment that is used to save lives every day across the Nation, like 
a hyperbaric chamber or a heart catheterization lab, is not available. 
Funding at the Commonwealth Health Center, the only hospital, is so 
strained that upfront payment is required before patients even see a 
doctor.
  My constituents are proud Americans who honor and serve their 
country, so how can I explain to them that these sweeping reforms they 
have heard so much about will only leave them behind?

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