[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. FORTENBERRY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. Mr. Speaker, we need to strengthen health care. We 
need to improve health care outcomes for all Americans, and we need to 
reduce costs, especially for families and small businesses, while 
protecting vulnerable persons. The question is how.
  The current bill is very risky. It is nearly 2,000 pages and will 
cost $1.3 trillion. It shifts the cost of what we have been doing to 
more government-run health care without reducing the cost drivers that 
have gotten us into the very circumstances we find ourselves in. It 
reduces the funding for important Medicare programs. It increases 
burdens on small businesses. It passes on costs to States, and it will 
reduce health care liberties for millions of Americans, including 
forced payment for abortion services.
  The solutions: We should shift our health care culture to the focus 
of prevention and wellness. We should allow for commonsense reforms 
like the portability of insurance, the buying of insurance across State 
lines, the creating of new insurance risk pool models for small 
businesses and families, of appropriately addressing preexisting 
conditions, and of expanding opportunities for health savings accounts.
  No one disputes the diagnosis. Our health care system must be 
strengthened. Let's get it right, Mr. Speaker.

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