[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11566-11567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT PLAYS CRITICAL ROLE IN 
                        VIRGINIA'S 11TH DISTRICT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  And before I begin my remarks on a different subject, I want to thank 
my colleague from California for his remarks about our departed 
colleague, Mr. Kemp. I think it is important that all of us remember 
his sense of decency, civility and collegiality, something we need to 
remind ourselves of in this body today.
  Mr. Speaker, we know that the Recovery Act will save or create 3.5 
million jobs across the country, but today I rise to highlight one of 
many important instances where the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act of 2009 plays a direct and critical role in my own district, the 
11th District of Virginia.
  It is important every so often to take a step back from the macro 
view and look at the Recovery Act's positive impact on the local 
economy. I want to point out the Act's impact on the Greater Prince 
William Community Health Center and the thousands of people the center 
employs and serves in northern Virginia. This nonprofit facility 
provides a wide variety of affordable health care services to the 
uninsured and the underinsured on a sliding fee-based scale as well as 
those with health insurance. The health center is the primary caregiver 
for over 4,000 patients annually, with nearly 32,000 patient visits 
each year. It provides school physicals, internal and family medicine, 
physical exams, disease screening, laboratory work and pharmaceutical 
assistance. It treats diabetes, hypertension, asthma, respiratory 
infections and so many other medical conditions. Without this health 
center in Prince William County, many of the facility's patients would 
be forced to use hospital emergency rooms for their primary care which 
cost all of us about $6 billion a year, or they receive no care at all.
  Mr. Speaker, in the weeks before the $1.1 million grant for the 
Greater Prince William Community Health Center which was announced on 
March 2 as part of the stimulus funding, the center's management was 
actually preparing for an orderly and permanent

[[Page 11567]]

shutdown of this vital facility. The economic crisis increased demand 
for health care services and local funding sources had frankly dried 
up. Nonetheless, the dedicated staff of health care professionals 
continued to do their jobs and continued to provide quality health care 
to the center's patients, even though they were not always certain they 
would ever receive a paycheck. The health center management desperately 
sought private and public funding to keep the center going, but the 
same economic crisis that was driving more patients to the health 
center was also taking its toll on this nonprofit provider. At a time 
when the health center was anticipating a doubling of patients in need 
of its services, the future looked bleak. It's hard to describe the 
sense of relief I heard when I contacted the center's management to 
inform them that the Recovery Act had provided a new lease on life. 
Thanks to the Recovery Act, this outstanding community resource will 
not become another unfortunate casualty of the recession but instead 
will continue to provide much-needed cost-efficient health care to low- 
and moderate-income individuals and families. And because of this vote 
of confidence and this investment, they've been able to attract 
additional investment as well, ensuring their future.
  I recently toured the Greater Prince William Community Health Center 
and had the opportunity to spend time with care providers and several 
patients. I met with William, a construction worker recently laid off 
due to the economic downturn. He injured his back on the job but after 
being laid off had no insurance to seek treatment for his constant, 
chronic pain. Thanks to the health center in Prince William County, he 
was able to see a doctor, received initial care, and was referred to 
the University of Virginia Medical Center for back surgery. In time, 
thanks to the center, William will recover, be able to return to work, 
and live a productive and hopefully pain-free life. I also met Connie, 
who told me about her father's debilitating diabetes and how financial 
constraints placed his life in jeopardy. Connie heard about the center, 
brought her father there, and today he is on insulin with a much 
improved quality of life.
  Thanks to the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the hardworking staff at 
the Greater Prince William Community Health Center will continue to 
fill a critical need in my district in Virginia. This is only one of 
thousands of examples around our country of the Recovery Act at work, 
saving jobs and frankly saving lives.
  Mr. Speaker, the Greater Prince William Community Health Center is 
not unique. Throughout America, the Recovery Act is having a positive 
impact on the lives of millions of Americans. While no one solution 
will cure the recession overnight, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act is 
one piece of the mosaic of actions this Congress has undertaken to 
restore our Nation's economic health, protect the well-being of the 
American people, and make sure that our economy gets moving again.

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