[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1445
                            JUST SAY ``NO''

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting debate points 
that we are listening to today is the assertion that somehow what we 
need to do is just allow people to sell insurance across State lines, 
and that's going to solve all our problems. Well, first of all, you can 
buy insurance today across State lines. What we don't do is allow 
somebody who incorporates in a State with very weak protections and 
minimal provisions to go in and undercut the laws of other States that 
seek to protect their citizens. You can buy insurance as you see fit. 
It's just that people who are going to play in a market have to play by 
the rules, and if somebody cheats, then there is an opportunity to use 
the local insurance commissioner to protect the consumer.
  Under the legislation that we're proposing, the only thing that 
changes is that for the first time, some of the States that haven't 
protected their consumers will have higher standards. This is a good 
thing.

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