[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        CLOSED HEALTH CARE RULE

  (Mrs. BIGGERT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that Republicans continue 
to offer constructive ideas to improve the health care bill, Democrats 
still insist that we are the party of ``no.'' Earlier today I submitted 
an amendment to improve the Medicare waste, fraud and abuse enforcement 
provisions in H.R. 3962, and Democrats will say ``no'' to even allowing 
my amendment to get an up-or-down vote.
  According to a recent report by ``60 Minutes,'' Medicare loses over 
$60 billion a year to fraud. My amendment would strengthen the Medicare 
enrollment process, expand certain standards of participation and 
reduce erroneous payments. There is no excuse for continuing to make 
payments to empty buildings and businesses that have never existed.
  Mr. Speaker, this closed process has prevented me and many of my 
colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, from offering intelligent 
and well-constructed amendments that would save taxpayers money and 
improve health care access for all Americans.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this government takeover 
of health care.

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