[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27127]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  (Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the truth has now come out, 
and the fact is that you can go to jail if you do not buy into the 
Speaker Pelosi health care bill.
  One of the most onerous provisions of the Pelosi health care bill is 
the so-called ``individual mandate.'' This is a provision that will 
force every single American to buy into their health care plans whether 
they want to or not.
  Back when Bill Clinton was President back in 1994, the CBO said, ``A 
mandate requiring all individuals to purchase insurance like this would 
be an unprecedented form of Federal action.''
  And how does the government force this mandate? If you don't buy 
their insurance plan, they will fine you 2.5 percent of your entire 
income. And what happens, you may ask, if you don't pay that fine to 
them? Now we know the answer: You could be sent to jail, literally. 
Section 201 of the code says that. That's right. The Joint Committee of 
Taxation has declared that you will be eligible to be fined up to 
$250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 5 years if you do not comply with 
this new plan.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a bad bill. It will hurt consumers. It will hurt 
families. It will hurt everyone else. And it may send Americans to 
jail.

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