[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22706-22707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              CMS GAG RULE

  (Mr. HERGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page 22707]]


  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, we are now on day 5 of the Obama 
administration's gag order barring Medicare Advantage plans from 
telling their enrollees about the benefit cuts that will result from 
the Democrats' health care bill.
  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actually overturned a 
Clinton-era ruling that said ``prohibiting such information would 
violate basic freedom of speech and other constitutional rights.''
  Yesterday, Ways and Means Republicans formally requested a hearing to 
investigate the CMS gag rule.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to get to the bottom of this and find out 
if the administration is politicizing Federal agencies to stop 
Americans from learning the truth about his policies.

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