[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26548-26549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. PETRI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, health care reform is important, but it 
shouldn't come at the expense of the public's

[[Page 26549]]

number one concern: the gut-punch of joblessness. The massive plans now 
under consideration threaten to disrupt one-sixth of our economy 
through tax hikes and punishing regulations. This is all in the service 
of a health care bill that is a budgetary train wreck. This bill forces 
drastic changes on a deeply divided public. It promises radical 
government intrusion in every sector of health care. It will have the 
effect of breaking the President's promise that you can keep what you 
have. It will not bend the cost curve down. It will burden the States 
with huge new mandates. It will send insurance premiums through the 
roof. It cuts Medicare, seriously threatening popular Medicare 
Advantage plans; it allows for government funding of abortion; and 
there is no real liability reform.
  We need health care reform, but we can do better than this. We must 
do better than this.

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