[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 25782-25783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. Speaker, as a substitute for a plan that actually 
controls health care costs, the Senate majority leader has devised a 
gimmick. Under the plan announced yesterday, the Federal Government 
imposes billions of dollars of taxes on all 50 States, imposes billions 
in unfunded mandates via the Medicaid program, increasing the debt load 
of every citizen, creating a new government-run insurance program that, 
according to the CBO's official analysis, is more expensive than the 
status quo. Individual States can opt out, but their citizens

[[Page 25783]]

cannot opt out of the taxes, and they can't opt out of the debt, and 
they can't opt out of the job losses that will result from these higher 
taxes and debt.
  Real reform will not require gimmicks or job loss. States should not 
have to pass laws to save themselves. Real health reform lowers costs 
by empowering patients. If we give patients direct control over health 
care dollars and the information they need for value-conscious 
decisions, we will have reform.

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