[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. BACA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, we need health care reform right now. We need 
it on behalf of the 47 million people who don't have insurance. We need 
it on behalf of the 217 in my district who don't have any insurance.
  They talk about costs. What costs are going to go up if we don't do 
anything about health coverage?
  Right now, many of our seniors are suffering. They're wondering how 
they're going to pay their health care bills, how they're going to put 
food on the table and how they're going to take care of themselves. A 
lot of youth are asking: How are we going to provide health insurance 
for a lot of us who don't have it?
  We owe it to the American people. This is not about maintaining the 
status quo, and this is not about protecting the insurance companies. 
This is about doing something for the American people. It's time that 
we have a health plan that covers all Americans to make sure that we're 
not left out, to make sure that everybody has the ability to enjoy 
their quality of life and to be able to say: You know what? I know that 
I'm going to get coverage, and it doesn't matter where I am.
  I am not going to maintain the status quo. With the Republicans, it's 
all about maintaining the status quo, and that's not what America 
wants. We need to make sure that we have a health plan.

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