[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      SMALL BUSINESS SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, I have been a family physician for over 30 
years, and that is why I believe the Democrat health care reform 
proposals being circulated in Congress right now are bad for American 
families, bad for American seniors, and bad for American small 
businesses.
  If we allow a government takeover of health care, a $544 billion 
surtax is going to be imposed on the so-called rich to pay for this 
awful plan. Who are these ``rich'' people, Mr. Speaker? They are small 
business owners. Small businesses create 7 out of 10 jobs, yet we are 
about to cripple employers and guarantee that the 10 percent 
unemployment rate that we currently face will only continue to rise. 
The result of these new taxes on jobs will be the loss of an estimated 
5.5 million jobs.
  Overall, Americans will suffer $820 billion in new taxes; another 
broken promise by the President. Democrats also want to impose another 
$208 billion in new taxes on businesses that can't afford to pay for 
their employees' health care.
  Why are Democrats pushing a government takeover of health care?

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