[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3535-3536]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. TIERNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. TIERNEY. Madam Speaker, if my previous colleague thought that the 
Democrats were going to get slaughtered for passing this bill, a few of 
them would cut out of the herd and help pass it. But that's absolutely 
not the case. This year-long debate and the bipartisan health care 
meeting show that Democrats and Republicans do agree in some areas. 
Both agree that the status quo isn't working for Americans; both agree 
that waste, fraud and abuse should be removed from the system; both 
agree that we should invest in prevention and wellness.
  The bill has incorporated several Republican ideas into its proposal, 
but

[[Page 3536]]

Democrats and Republicans have a profound disagreement on the proper 
oversight on insurance companies. We believe that insurance companies 
need to be held accountable with minimum commensurate standards to help 
keep premiums and industry abuses down. Republicans believe that 
insurance companies should have a freer hand and should be free to 
raise rates and reduce, and even eliminate, coverage. We believe that 
the most effective way to reduce premiums for all Americans and 
businesses, large and small, and the only way to cover all people with 
preexisting conditions is to make sure that everyone is in the 
insurance system. Republicans disagree, and their plan will not outlaw 
discrimination against people with preexisting conditions. Those are 
profound differences, Madam Speaker, and that's why we need health care 
reform.

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