[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26539-26540]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. ROE of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, they say the definition of 
insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a 
different result, which perfectly describes the House Democrats' health 
care reform bill.
  For months now, I have been trying to explain in every forum possible 
how this bill is taking the worst parts of the universal health 
programs in Tennessee and Massachusetts and combining them into one 
monstrosity of a program. Unfortunately, passing theory that sounds 
good but has failed is more important to our Democratic colleagues than 
actually getting reforms that work.
  This is why it matters: the reforms being proposed will decrease 
access, decrease quality and increase cost of care for the vast 
majority of Americans. I can say this unequivocally as a physician and 
as a Tennessee resident who has experienced TennCare firsthand. Small 
businesses that are dealing with the worst recession in years will have 
to lay off workers and cut back on wages to deal with these new 
mandates. Individuals who are scrimping and saving to get by will see 
their taxes and costs increase.

[[Page 26540]]

  Some good will come of this bill, but the bad results that we know 
from experience will happen should be reason enough to scrap this bill 
and try to agree on a bipartisan bill that will work.

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