[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25803]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, the rule of medicine is do no harm, and the 
rule here in the House of Representatives should be to build on the 
success of some of our States.
  What are the Republican ideas for medical care reform? First, the 
Medical Rights Act, which says Congress should make no law interfering 
with decisions that you have made with your doctor.
  Secondly, no reform is serious unless it has lawsuit reform in the 
United States.
  And third, you should be given a right as an American to buy coverage 
from any State in the Union if you find a plan that is less expensive 
or more flexible for yourself or for your business.
  We should avoid the mistakes of some States and repeat the successes 
of others. The smoking hole of health insurance in the United States is 
the State of New Jersey. No lawsuit reform, incredible administrative 
burden, it costs $5,500 a patient to insure someone in New Jersey. The 
best State in the country, California, where they have cut their costs 
to half of the New Jersey rate, but they have rock and rolling lawsuit 
reform in their State. What we should do is not pass the bill that is 
coming up next week, a $400 billion tax increase in the teeth of the 
Great Recession and a $400 billion cut for Medicare.

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