[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Ms. KILROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KILROY. Madam Speaker, I believe that a great strength of our 
democracy is in our First Amendment. It allows for the robust exchange 
of ideas and opinions. I welcome that. I want to hear what my 
constituents are thinking, what concerns they have, concerns about how 
health care will work for them. I want to listen to them discuss the 
lack of health care and how that affects their life, the high cost of 
health care and how they are coping with that.
  I have held town halls, roundtables, small groups, over 20 meetings 
in my district over health care. And this week demonstrations for and 
against health care reform were held in front of my district office.
  Unfortunately, some of those opposing health care reform went too 
far. Instead of making their arguments against the bill, they engaged 
in abusive language directed at one of my constituents who suffers the 
terrible ravages of Parkinson's disease. They treated him like a 
beggar. They threw dollar bills at him. They did not respect his 
humanity, did not respect his right to give his opinion on the health 
care bill. This type of protest goes too far. It has crossed a line.
  The health care legislation is about respecting each other's rights 
as human beings. And when it comes to needed medical care, it should 
respect our rights as citizens to express our opinions.

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