[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27132-27133]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this has been an engaging 
debate and discussion by my colleagues, and it is a momentous time in 
our history.
  Earlier this evening, I reminded my colleagues of the imagined debate 
for those of us who were not here when Medicare was introduced to the 
American people. Medicare can document the number of lives that were 
saved. And we are privileged to have in the House Chairman John 
Dingell, who was here during that debate and who has crafted this 
legislation based upon decades of attempting to achieve universal 
access to health care for all Americans.
  My friends are talking about how we rushed this legislation through. 
They obviously have not kept up with history's stories. For America has 
been working on providing access to health care for all Americans since 
the 1930s, the 1940s, the 1950s, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s.
  We must come to grips with the collapsed system that allows 18,000 
people to die because of lack of insurance, that has a number of States 
with high uninsured rates, meaning that their population is uninsured.
  It seems like an oxymoron to suggest that a city that can be called 
the energy capital of the world, with all of the attributes and 
wonderful neighborhoods that Houston has, the spirit of the people, 
NASA, so many things to call America, and yet our numbers are very high 
for those who are uninsured, hardworking Houstonians who desire to have 
access to health care.
  This is not an indictment of the facilities in our community that 
work very hard to make this happen. The Harris County Hospital 
District, for example, the Texas Medical Center, the number of 
hospitals outside of that area, including St. Joseph's Hospital, the 
physicians and nurses and clinics that work in the area all work hard 
to provide access to health care.
  But, Mr. Speaker, it's not enough. And our friends on the other side 
will introduce legislation tomorrow that they call ``cost saving,'' 
that will merely insure 3 million people. Well, I wonder what decision 
would have been

[[Page 27133]]

made about Medicare if we had thought about penny-pinching, not cost 
containment, not being efficient, penny-pinching. And that is what's 
going on on the other side. There is no vision about what will happen 
if we wait one more decade without debating health insurance.

                              {time}  2000

  I have heard some of my friends say, ``Kill the bill.'' Well, we're 
killing Americans, and I believe most of us would rather not engage in 
those kinds of theatrics.
  I believe that small business owners, of whom we are very concerned, 
will have the ability to secure insurance for their employees. All the 
time when I listen to them, they are committed and dedicated to their 
employees. They are the backbone of America. This bill exempts 86 
percent of small businesses from the requirement to offer or to 
contribute to coverage by increasing the thresholds for exemption from 
a $250,000 payroll to a $500,000. It decreases obligations for 
employers of payrolls between $500,000 and $750,000. It allows those 
employees to go into the exchange.
  Small employers and the exchange: It increases the size of small 
employers automatically allowed to purchase coverage through the 
exchange, which will include the public option, of up to at least 100 
employees within the first 3 years. It permits an additional expansion 
to even larger employers in future years. A small business tax credit 
modifies the policy to limit the tax credit to a 2-year period per firm 
to help firms transition to providing health care benefits to their 
employees.
  Health insurance co-ops provide startup loans to establish not-for-
profit, or cooperative, health plans that compete with private insurers 
and the public insurance option all in the vein of bringing down costs.
  It provides veterans and members of the Armed Forces the assurance 
that members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families have 
access to the exchange, to obtain health insurance if they choose and 
that they fulfill their responsibilities to have qualified health 
insurance if they are enrolled in a VA health care or TRICARE.
  Remember, this legislation will allow Americans to keep their 
insurance. I am proud of that. As well, there is a definitive decline 
in the percentage that Americans will have to pay of their income for 
health insurance coverage. That is not the case now, and that is why 
you find so many Americans without health insurance.
  Mr. Speaker, I would only say it is time now to move on health care 
reform.

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