[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21992-21997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1630
                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Carson of Indiana). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Meek) is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, once again it's an honor to come 
before the House, and I look forward to always coming to the floor. As 
you know, the 30 Something Working Group,

[[Page 21993]]

we've been working now not only through the 108th Congress but all the 
way up through the 111th Congress. We pride ourselves on coming to the 
floor, talking about issues that are not only facing Americans but the 
challenge that we have as policymakers here in Washington, D.C., to 
make sure that we provide the kind of leadership that the constituents 
in our various districts, the people in our States and, of course, the 
entire country deserve. To try to achieve that is definitely a hard 
thing to do at times but very easy to do when we work together.
  As I start off every Special Order, Mr. Speaker and Members, I just 
want us to continue to stay focused on what's going on not only here 
domestically but also throughout the world, not only our men and women 
in uniform but those that work in the Diplomatic Corps and the State 
Department who are deployed throughout the world. We do know that we 
have individuals who have to clean sand out of their boots and stand up 
on behalf of our country in the theater of war in two areas.
  As of today at 10 a.m., the death toll in Iraq is 4,347 troops and 
soldiers; those who were wounded in action and have returned to duty is 
17,633; also wounded in action, not returning to duty is 3,861. The 
death toll in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, is 830; wounded 
in action and have returned to duty is 1,506; wounded in action but not 
returning to duty is 2,390.
  I think it's important, Mr. Speaker, that every time we get the 
opportunity, we definitely appreciate not only those that are enlisted 
now, but the Reservists, National Guard units, the many veterans out 
there who have served and also their families. We must show them a 
great deal of appreciation to allow us to salute one flag. My uncle 
served in the Korean War and saw a little action in the Vietnam War. He 
recently passed on. He was not only honored to get medical health care 
at the end of his life over at Bay Pines Medical Center in Bay Pines, 
Florida, but he also had the honor, along with many heroes and sheroes, 
to have his final resting place be over at Arlington National Cemetery.
  Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion about this issue of 
health care, and I think that it's important that we continue to have 
not only that discussion but some action. When I first came to the 
floor last week and we reconvened as a Congress, we talked about a 
number of the issues that are facing not only Americans, but we have 
talked about what happened at town hall meetings, and we have talked 
about that we wondered where the President stands. We had a lot of 
discussion going back and forth, whether it be members of the 
Republican Caucus or members of the Democratic Caucus and even our two 
Independents who are over in the U.S. Senate, a great discussion, a 
great discourse, a lot of Congressional Record statements made. A lot 
were entered without an official statement on the floor, but just in 
writing.
  And still this debate continues. We know that we have at least four 
working documents that are out there right now. We know that the 
chairman of the Finance Committee in the Senate has been working, along 
with Senators on both sides of the aisle, to be able to come to some 
sort of resolution where Americans will be able to say that those of us 
here in Washington are working and that we will get to a final 
resolution more sooner than later to make sure that the insurance 
companies are no longer doing what they have been doing to the American 
people and what they are doing to the American people. That is, pushing 
up rates, pushing up copays, and denying coverage for some Americans 
when they have worked very, very hard. Some people pay $300, $400 in a 
paycheck, some personal testimonies, $1,200 for a 4-week period to 
insure their families.
  Now I'm not going to stand here and tell you that they were able to 
do that on their own. They are able to keep not only the CEO's benefits 
at the levels that they are--benefits that an average American would 
never see or paychecks that the average American would never see. The 
average American will never be able to live in the type of gated 
community that some of these insurance executives are living in right 
now. And the executives will never be able to understand what it means 
to visit their doctor and be denied coverage for a procedure that is 
needed. They would never have that opportunity. But I'm not going to 
even blame it on the insurance executives, to say that they have set 
forth the environment in which they are able to stand in judgment of an 
individual's health care, even when there is a doctor that is 
recommending that their patient receive a certain procedure or a test 
that has to be carried out.
  The environment would not be what it is today if the Congress was to 
do its job. If we were to do our job, then we wouldn't have some of the 
horror stories that we've been hearing over a period of time. We would 
not have constituents calling their Congressman or Congresswoman 
saying, I need you to call this 1-800 number for me because I need an 
operation or my husband needs an operation or my child needs an 
operation. We cannot operate that way because everyone can't call their 
Member of Congress or their elected official or the mayor to be able to 
stand for them. It is important, and I come to the floor today to say 
that it's imperative--even adding on to important, even more--that we 
follow through.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm speaking here with a bipartisan voice because 
something that I saw when the President came to speak to us last week--
it seems like it was 2 weeks ago but it was last week--he talked about 
passing a health care package that would not add one red cent to the 
debt. I think that's important. I think that's a value that this 
Congress can embrace on both sides of the aisle. He also said that he 
would not sign a bill that would allow insurance companies to deny 
people based on preexisting conditions or family history. That's a 
value. That's something sound that we can both agree with. I was 
pleased to see my colleague on the Republican side of the aisle in the 
Republican response after the President's speech say, There are some 
things that we agree on, and that was one of them--no longer allowing 
insurance companies to deny individuals on family history or 
preexisting conditions. That was major, as far as I'm concerned.
  I was, once upon a time, a public worker, a State trooper in Florida; 
and even before I was a student at Florida A&M, I was a skycap at the 
airport. I used to carry furniture at the Jewish Home for the Aged down 
in Miami. I have worked in the thrift shop. And even though part of 
that time I enjoyed being on my mother's health plan, I knew what it 
meant to kind of be in that area where, ``I hope I don't get hurt 
because I don't have the kind of insurance that I need as a skycap.'' 
Now it's important that we take this ``no longer being denied on 
preexisting conditions or family history'' and look at that as a 
bipartisan move from this point on. There should no longer be a debate 
on whether we agree on that or not. That's a softball.
  But I want to say, Mr. Speaker and Members, that it took us decades 
to get to that point. The reason why Members are now emboldened to say, 
Well, I agree with that provision, is that the leadership was provided 
to set the environment for them to say yes to that, for Democrats to 
say yes to that, for Republicans to say yes to that, and for our two 
Independents in the Senate to say yes to that, that they agree with 
that as a principle and a bedrock of this health care reform.
  I think something that's also so very, very important--many times 
here on this floor, we have had discussions of urban versus rural. When 
you look at this health care debate, and you look at how Members are 
coming to the table, needing not only the resources to be able to bring 
about a medical home for individuals that do have insurance--and in 
this bill we're achieving that, of making sure that a super, super 
majority, into the high nineties, have an insurance card and that 
they're able to go in and get preventive care and to also go in and get 
a procedure that they need and cannot be denied--but to be able to have 
that, they have to have a medical home. In the

[[Page 21994]]

legislation, we're talking about community health centers having more 
capacity to be able to take on everyday Americans, not just indigent, 
not just individuals that don't have a primary doctor. This is to allow 
individuals that are in the top 1 percent or the top 2 percent of 
income gatherers here in this country to be able to go to their medical 
home, whether it be a community health center or they can go to their 
own doctor, but they'll at least have the capacity to be able to have 
that medical home. This is important in rural America and in rural 
Florida.
  Right now as I travel throughout the State of Florida, there are a 
number of people saying, You know, Kendrick, I kind of like this health 
care thing, but I don't have a car, and I have to drive 2 or 3 hours to 
go see a primary doctor. The reason why that primary doctor is not 
there is because of the lack of Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement or a 
constituency that will help keep that practice afloat. So when you have 
in not only H.R. 3200 but in other work products that are here in 
Congress these community health centers as a foundation, as a base, as 
a bedrock of this health care reform package, I think we would look at 
it from the standpoint of saying that people will have a medical home 
to go to, but they will no longer have to drive for miles and miles and 
miles and lose doctors that come in and do their residency but cannot 
afford to stay in that rural or emerging county as it relates to that 
population because they don't have the backing and the incentives.
  I can tell you in that House product that those incentives are there 
to be able to not only encourage those doctors and medical 
professionals to stay there but to provide a medical home.
  Now I want to let you know that as we look at the different 
proposals--and we know that Members have their own version of what they 
feel health care reform should be--I can tell you with the proper 
leadership, I know that Democrats, Republicans and Independents can 
come together on making sure that we work with a public and private 
system as we see in both proposals, in both House and Senate, one that 
has a private exchange along with a public option that will allow those 
who cannot afford to be a part of the private exchange to no longer 
find themselves in the ranks of the uninsured.
  Now why do I say that, Members? I say that that is key and that is 
important so that the individuals that do have insurance--like myself 
and probably everyone in this Chamber because we are public workers--
that they will no longer take our premiums up throughout America to 
250-plus million Americans that do have insurance because of the 
uninsured ranks there because someone has to pay for their health care. 
And that's the reason why we have the $20 tablet of aspirin. That's the 
reason why a box of tissues in the hospital is far beyond anything that 
you would ever pay for, even if you were to go into the gift shop in a 
Ritz-Carlton to buy a box of tissue. It costs more in that public 
hospital or that private hospital than it costs at some five-star hotel 
because that cost has to be covered someway, somehow.
  It's very, very important that everyone understands, as it relates to 
this overall application of health care, that we have to make sure that 
we provide a public and a private opportunity for individuals to be 
able to receive insurance. I come from a State, Mr. Speaker, where you 
have over 3,500 Floridians that lose their insurance every week. That's 
the reality. That's what's going on. And to just use that statistic as 
some sort of backdrop for a political speech or a backdrop to just make 
a point is really robbery to those individuals of the 3,500 and the 80 
percent of Floridians that do have insurance. It's robbery to be able 
to use that as a talking point without following it up to say that 
action will take place; and we will have a paradigm shift to make sure 
those 3,500 Floridians--which adds up to a little bit over 80,000, 
85,000 Floridians that are losing their insurance every year. And that 
automatically we know for that 80 percent or a super majority of 
Floridians that do have insurance, many of whom, I must add, Mr. 
Speaker, are on Medicare, which I must say is a public option and a lot 
of people would have a lot of choice words if you tried to do away with 
Medicare now.

                              {time}  1645

  I think that it's important that we also understand that in this 
debate Members are going to be misunderstood, but the foundation of the 
debate should be about action. I have a book full of statistics, both 
pro and con. The statistics are not going to help bring insurance costs 
down or make sure that people have health care or make sure that 
individuals do not find themselves becoming bankrupt because one of 
their family members has a medical emergency and their insurance ran 
out in the first 10 days and now they're on their own and they're in 
open water.
  And we have some facilities, believe it or not, legal or illegal, 
denying care to individuals that are Americans, those that have paid 
their taxes and have done all of the things we've asked them to do, but 
based on the fact that they don't have enough coverage, are 
underinsured, and those that find themselves uninsured because they 
cannot afford the premium or they can't afford the copays, they find 
themselves waiting. We have a lot of 50-somethings and early 60-
somethings that are waiting to make it to Medicare for them to get a 
procedure that they should have gotten 7 years ago. And now the 
situation is even worse. It's going to cost not only me more, but it's 
going to cost everyone that I represent back in Florida more because of 
the paralysis of analysis that has taken place here in the halls of 
Congress.
  Let me tell you there were some things that I was very pleased to 
hear during the joint session. I was happy to hear that the President 
was determined to be the last President to deal with this issue because 
I have been in politics now, or, you may say, elected service, as a 
public servant now for 15 years, going on 16 years. I am a second-
generation Member, Mr. Speaker, as you can also appreciate. My mother 
before me served in this House for some 10 years. Then before that she 
served in the legislature and the senate and the House of 
Representatives and worked at a community college. So we come from a 
family of public servants. I was a State trooper, served in the 
legislature for 8 years, came here and am serving to the best of my 
ability.
  I can't remember an election, Mr. Speaker, that I didn't have 
somewhere in a stump speech that I wanted to make sure that we can make 
health care affordable for all Americans and bring down the costs of 
health care for those that are paying too much and getting too little.
  This health care reform package is more of a bill of rights for those 
of us that are out here punching in and punching out every day, signing 
in and signing out every day, making sure that we raise our children 
and do the things that we need to do to make this country strong. This 
bill and this concept of reform is not only for health care insurance 
but making sure that no American that pays for insurance finds 
themselves in a situation where they've sacrificed what kind of milk 
they buy, need it be soy milk or regular milk; or what kind of bread 
they buy, need it be the bread on sale or whole wheat bread; or what 
kind of eggs they buy, need it be organic or nonorganic eggs. It should 
not be based on the fact that, well, I have to pay $400 or $300 out of 
every pay period to be able to cover health care costs for my family, 
for it to be there when we need it, and then they find themselves in a 
situation when they need it and they pull that card out of their 
wallet, Mr. Speaker, thinking that they're on their way to getting 
something, to only find out that the card that they had in their wallet 
wasn't even worth the plastic that it was made out of.
  They find themselves paying out of pocket, even before, some $25 to 
$3,000 or $1,600 of money that they didn't have in the first place--I'm 
going to break this down--going to the credit union trying to get a 
signature loan. This is for real. This is what happens in America. This 
is what happens in Florida every day. Calling family members, 
disclosing to third cousins the personal

[[Page 21995]]

medical crisis that they're going through that's quite personal in many 
cases, to be able to swallow pride and ask them for help when they've 
been paying $200, $300 out of their pay period for health care 
insurance. That's not what it's about.
  So I'm seeing, Mr. Speaker and Members, and I'm pleased to see, that 
the debate is now moving forward. We agree that something should 
happen, and something will happen. And the leadership, from the 
executive branch to legislative leaders, are saying if there are 
constructive components that can be placed into this insurance reform 
legislation, then we definitely would like to hear it.
  Now, I, for one, have not and will not in this debate come to the 
floor to advocate any Canadian-style plan that's just a public plan. 
That's not what it's about, even though we know that Medicare is a plan 
that's similar but not the same. Medicare has private entities that are 
there that are helping to close the gap, but the Federal Government is 
making sure that our seniors that have paid into it have something to 
fall back on.
  I can tell you also that when we look at this issue of health care 
and we look at the experience that real Americans and, I would add, 
Floridians are going through today, I wanted to come here today with 
really a voice of what the everyday individual is paying and what 
they're getting. 535 Members between the House and Senate. I think it's 
important that people understand that our experience is totally 
different from the everyday American or our constituents' experience. 
In 7 years in Congress, I must say that I have had some family members 
that have had a medical dilemma. I haven't been denied anything. I'm a 
Member of Congress. I don't think my constituents, and I said this last 
week and I will say it this week, elected me to say, Kendrick, I want 
you, your wife, and your two children to have better health than I 
could ever have. I just want you to have that, and that's the reason 
why I'm showing up early at seven o'clock on a Tuesday morning to vote 
for you.
  No. I think they voted to say that I know that you know what I'm 
going through, and I'm sending you to Washington, D.C., to give voice 
to my cause. And the cause of the everyday American is making sure that 
government will not be a part of the handshake deal, need it be a 
Democrat or Republican administration.
  The fact that doctors are spending more and more time on the phone 
talking to someone in Sioux City, Iowa, like David Letterman would say, 
in a cubicle, trying to convince them that their patient needs a 
procedure or a test and that they need to cover it, they should not 
look at that person's file and say, Oh, well, you've had this, that, 
and the other. Well, I don't think that you're eligible for it. If 
you're paying for it, you get it. That's the school I come from.
  So I think that it's important that no matter what your economic 
background is, you go into work every day and you buy health care 
insurance, you're in an exchange, and you have put forth the sacrifice, 
that you weren't able to put dollars into a college fund, that you were 
not able to do the things that you wanted to do, need it be whatever 
your religion may be, that when it comes around to that time of year, 
you weren't able to provide the kinds of things you wanted to provide. 
You were not able to have that vacation that you were looking forward 
to that you feel you needed to do. You could not go off to the church 
or synagogue or what have you, off to camp to study more, or the 
mosque, that you could not go because financially you're too busy 
paying more every year into your health care insurance.
  It's not on that individual that's trying to have adequate health 
care, Mr. Speaker and Members; it's on us. We have the responsibility, 
Democrats and Republicans, to meet that common ground to be able to 
make it happen.
  Now, for those leaders, I must add, need it be here in Congress or in 
a State or in a local community, sitting on the sideline of the biggest 
debate that has everything to do with the multinational companies that 
are U.S.-based being at a competitive disadvantage because of the lack 
of policy here on this floor to set the stage so that health care costs 
are not where they are right now, they're at a disadvantage. And when 
they're at a disadvantage, that means that they cannot provide jobs. 
That goes all the way down to that small business.
  I talk to small businessmen and women every day, need it be through 
e-mail or by talking on the phone. And they say, You know, Kendrick, it 
pains me when I try to buy insurance as an employer, and people don't 
talk about that a lot, based on the individuals that I employ and based 
on their health care background, I pay more because I'm in a rural part 
of Florida where, probably, the diet is not what it should be or 
whatever the case may be or family history or what have you, and that 
plays a factor.
  I have talked to businessmen and women that have a plant here and a 
plant there, and it costs more for the plant over here in this county 
versus the other county. So I don't know what goes into this whole 
insurance coverage and what the executives look at, but I can tell you 
this: That's painful for that individual that's providing jobs, because 
they know that their insurance is not adequate enough to make sure that 
their employees who helped build their company to where it is today, 
who allow them to live in the house that they live in, who allow them 
to celebrate the kind of life that they celebrate--they care about 
those individuals because those individuals made their company and 
built their family name, if that company is named after their family, 
to what it is today. So there is an attachment that's there.
  So I think it's important when we look at this health care issue, we 
have to look at it from the perspective that not only does it deal with 
everyday Americans, it deals with everyday business, and it deals with 
everyday health care workers.
  I will close out this segment on this point: It's nothing like a 
health care worker, need it be a CNA, a certified nursing assistant, or 
an RN, a registered nurse, or a specialist, a doctor who has been in 
the profession and even primary care doctors; we are going to need an 
army of these primary care doctors in residency spots to be able to 
create what we call this medical home, so that people will have 
somewhere to go with their insurance card.
  To have them in a profession that they know that's bleeding 
constantly and that's hooked up and that's in ICU because of the cost 
of insurance and the cost of coverage and the level of coverage that 
everyday Americans are receiving--we have public hospitals that are 
going under and that are finding themselves in budget crisis and even 
private hospitals where staffing levels have been cut back. And when 
you come to a State like mine in Florida, I helped pass the legislation 
as it relates to nursing home staffing levels, making sure that our 
frail and our most vulnerable have the kind of staffing that they 
deserve. But when it becomes a challenge on the reimbursement rate to 
be able to make sure that that staffer is there for that individual 
that has put their loved one in a nursing home or in a hospital, they 
should not have to watch.
  I was in Gainesville just a week ago over the Labor Day holiday, and 
I talked to a young lady who came up to me at a picnic and said, 
Congressman, my mother is in the hospital.
  She didn't know me. But she said, Since you're the congressman, I 
want to talk to you. My family works a schedule out to go sit with my 
mother in the hospital because the staffing level is not what it should 
be. That's what's going on out there.
  Now, if something were to happen to me right now, Mr. Speaker, and I 
hope it doesn't, but if something were to happen to me, I don't have to 
worry about anything. I will get over to Bethesda or somewhere. I don't 
have to worry about it because I'm covered. I'm a congressman.

                              {time}  1700

  People are going to put me in a room somewhere, I'll probably have a 
private

[[Page 21996]]

room and an open mic, press the button, there will be no waiting for my 
care. But that's not what this is about.
  So if we were to replace Members of Congress with people who have 
health care crises, then maybe we will have a better situation as it 
relates to bipartisanship to be able to find some common ground on 
health care.
  So I challenge our Members here in this Congress, you can talk about 
the sideshows, you can talk about the small things that are going on--
or they could be important back home--but when you have an issue like 
health care reform that's before this Congress, it took great courage 
against the naysayers to create Social Security, which is providing 
opportunities for individuals that, when they lose everything else, 
Social Security is there; when someone passes on and they're able to 
leave their survivor benefits, even if they didn't make the kind of 
money they would like to have made, they didn't leave the kind of 
inheritance that they would like to leave to their children, to be able 
to leave a survivor benefit for a child or a spouse.
  Or when someone is injured on the job and they fall into disability, 
that Social Security is there. It's not going to pay for everything, 
but it's going to pay for something. You've been paying for it out of 
your check. You mess with Social Security now, you have a problem.
  I'm so glad, Mr. Speaker, the 109th Congress, when the previous 
administration wanted to privatize Social Security and we fought it 
back with not only dialog on the floor, amendments in committee, 
holding town hall meetings back home, we fought it back. And if Social 
Security--and if folks had private accounts out there running in the 
stock market last September, where would Social Security be right now 
in the trust fund? Members, I want to make sure that everyone 
understands that it takes courage.
  Medicare, in the sixties, you know, some naysayers, oh, the 
government is trying to--no one is trying to take over anything, just 
want to make sure that the seniors have coverage in their time when 
they need it at 65, that they can take the option. If they want to use 
their Medicare or they want to use their private insurance, that this 
country will not turn their back on them.
  And now in this legislation we expand the Medicare trust fund and 
really work towards stomping out not only waste, but corruption, and 
also bringing it under some sort of control so that we don't find 
ourselves in a situation like what happened with Medicare part D 
prescription drugs. Let's pass a great idea; let's not worry about how 
we're going to pay for it and increase the debt.
  So I go back to saying, when the President said he would not sign a 
bill that would raise the deficit more than where it is right now, that 
was music to my ears because we're here--and I've been on the floor for 
almost 7 years now talking about these issues. Some of the individuals 
have been talking about the debt. I'm like, where were you when all of 
this was happening and you said nothing about it and you did nothing 
about it? And now we're trying to do something about it in a bipartisan 
way to make sure that we don't put on to the debt, which I think makes 
perfect sense.
  But Medicare, looking at it from where it is right now, it is a 
public option. And the public option, I must say, Mr. Speaker, the 
small part of this bill is far more conservative than Medicare: A, you 
have to fall under a certain income requirement; B, you have to first 
go into the exchange to get the private insurance. But you also have to 
be insured and covered.
  That means individuals that don't have skin in the game now, people 
that are saying, hey, I'm going to throw the dice, I'm going to go to 
CVS, I'm going to go to Walgreen's, I'm going to go to whatever store 
they go to and I'm going to medicate myself, and then I'm going to find 
myself in a situation to where I've got to go to the doctor because I 
have this lump in my neck or I have this pain in my side, or I finally 
went to the doctor after my wife or my significant other pushed me to 
go only to find out that now I have a situation that I must go in, now 
they find themselves in the emergency room. And everyone that has 
insurance can look forward to $1,000, $1,200 either in copays or 
premiums the following year because that individual was not insured. 
Now, some people make that choice of saying I just want extra money to 
spend; most make that choice because they can't afford insurance.
  I think it's important that we note that Congress had courage to 
start Medicare; and because of that courage, so many seniors, 65 years 
old, have a Medicare card in their wallet. It's first up right under a 
driver's license or right under their debit card to pull out because 
it's the card that they pull because they have it. And now every town 
hall meeting that I had--and Mr. Speaker, I had town hall meetings, 
there were no requirements, you didn't have to come to my office and 
show that you live in the 17th Congressional District in Florida. You 
didn't have to go through the magnetometer before you came in; 500 
seats, come in, sit. We're going to have a civil discussion, and if you 
disagree with any position that has been taken, respect the next person 
and allow that individual to speak.
  That's American, that's bipartisan, and that's what we will continue 
to do, Mr. Speaker, because when we pass this insurance reform as it 
relates to health care, that's not going to be the end. This plan right 
now, the way it stands, will not be fully implemented until 2013. 
That's a long time. Some of it will be implemented as it relates to 
patient rights and insurance rights faster than other components of the 
bill.
  But I want to tell the Members and I want to share with the Members, 
as we go and we talk to our constituents, we should not just fall for 
the low-hanging fruit of saying, well, if someone is perfectly healthy 
and says, well, you know, I don't feel we need to do this, I think that 
it's important as a leader--because sometimes you have to share with 
people things that they may not see from a broader perspective--to say, 
yeah, I don't know what they're doing in Washington, they don't need to 
do--I mean, this Congress is made up of individuals that have been 
elected--especially here in the House, you have the greatest democracy 
here in this Chamber because you cannot be appointed to this unless 
you're appointed to be the Chair while we're trying to find a Speaker 
or what have you.
  But as it relates to a general Member of Congress, there is a special 
election called. If someone was to come to the well and say, I'm 
resigning, there are no appointments; you have to be elected to this 
body. So this is democracy at its best, and nine times out of 10 come 
from the ranks of the legislature or some city council or an individual 
that just got fired up on an issue and started knocking on doors and 
found themselves in this Chamber.
  But so many times in Washington we look at this change agenda, we get 
stuck on this thing of who we had lunch with last or how leaders get 
drawn out. I don't think that leaders come to Washington, D.C. to sell 
out; I think they're drawn out. And what I'm saying about being drawn 
out is that you find yourself walking around the Halls here in 
Washington, D.C. and you get enough people, how are you doing, 
Congressman, Senator, good to see you, you know, great speech, it was 
good, you know, you start listening to those individuals--even though 
it's okay to get compliments--versus those individuals that are back 
home that are fighting this health care crisis. We have to make sure 
that everyone understands that.
  And so I tell my constituents, if you agreed with the last word out 
of my mouth or not, you tell me what you feel and we will have a 
discussion on it, and we will do the best to try to give you the kind 
of representation that you deserve. So I think it's important that we 
bring reality to this debate.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm going to close by saying that it's important that we 
continue to get input from the public. It's important that we continue 
to share with our colleagues the importance of bipartisanship. It's 
important that we are responsible for what we say and put into the 
Congressional Record. It's important that we allow this process to

[[Page 21997]]

move forward so that we can have a working document from both House and 
Senate that can then go to Congress and that we can vote on this floor 
in the affirmative for.
  In every piece of landmark legislation, Mr. Speaker and Members, 
there will always be sections and components of that legislation that a 
Member will disagree with. I haven't seen a Member say, you know, 
everything in that bill, I love it. That's like reading a book and 
saying, I agree with every chapter; I thought it was a good read. There 
is always some comment about that eighth chapter could have been a 
little better or more work could have gone into the twelfth chapter.
  But I think it is very, very important that everyone understands, in 
the final analysis, when we look at health care reform, that every 
Member, every Governor, every mayor, every city council person, every 
Member of Congress has to be engaged and has to make sure that it is 
not about their health care; it's about the health care of the people 
that they represent.
  So if you have health care, I'm bringing your health care costs down 
because you will have more of a choice and competition will be there to 
bring your health care down. If you have health care, the quality of 
your health care will go up, and you will be able to see your doctor 
and you will be able to continue to move on. And in the bill we have 
here under consideration in the House, if you leave your job, you can 
keep your health care.
  The ongoing bleeding of Medicare will be repaired and reformed. The 
ongoing health care crises in so many communities that are weighing 
down small businesses will be better because of action. And so I think 
that there are some principles there that those of us that have been 
elected to lead--I'm not talking about standing on first base looking 
at second and saying I'm not going to try to steal second. I'm going to 
stand here and I'm going to let that person, when they hit, they may 
get a single, but I'm going to stand here to make sure that I can make 
it to second base. It's not time for that kind of leadership. It's time 
for you to cheat up to second base and try to take it because you're 
taking it because you want to win.
  And we want to make sure that the people in this great country of 
ours win. We want to make sure that they have health care. We want to 
make sure that small businesses are able to provide health care for 
their employees. We want to make sure that health care providers can 
provide the most professional health care that they can. We want to 
make sure that we, as leaders here in Congress, that we go see the 
wizard and go get some courage, and get a heart while we're there, and 
share with people the things that should be shared with them even if 
it's the minority view. Discourse is good, action is better.
  Mr. Speaker, it was, once again, an honor to come before the House, 
and I look forward to coming back. As we break for this week, hopefully 
we will come back ready to do business at the top of next week.
  I feel good about the direction that this debate is going in; the 
Republican response after the President's address, a lot of things that 
we agree on. That means that we are heading north on this issue.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________