[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27123-27124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. SESTAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage the House of 
Representatives to stay in session until this health care bill brought 
forward this weekend is passed. I do that because about 4 years ago I 
lived down the street in Children's Hospital with my daughter, struck 
with a brain tumor. Given just a few months to live, we began our 
chemotherapy after the brain operation.

[[Page 27124]]

  There was a young boy, 2\1/2\ years old, diagnosed with acute 
leukemia next to her, where we heard social workers argue for six hours 
whether that youth, whose parents didn't have health insurance, could 
stay.
  I have always thought in my 31 years in the military how well we 
invested here in Congress in our military's health care plan because of 
the dividends it gave to me, for example, when I went to an 11\1/2\ 
month war, and yet my family and my daughter were taken care of and I 
was focused on the mission.
  We lose $200 billion a year in lost productivity because of the under 
and uninsured. Our small businesses pay an 18 percent tax in higher 
health care costs because we have not taken action over the last 10 
years.
  I urge my colleagues to stay in session, because doing nothing is not 
who we are.

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