[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10104-10105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, the centerpiece of President Obama's 
2008 Presidential campaign was the promise of health care reform. He 
told us, time and time again, that every President has seen the urgency 
of reform, that all of them had attempted reform, and none succeeded.
  President Obama reminded us of the fact that having more than 40 
million uninsured Americans is unacceptable. It is not only bad for the 
individual, but it is for the American economy. It is bad for hospitals 
who absorb the loss for these indigent patients or shift the costs to 
other patients.
  During the campaign, the President went on to painfully highlight the 
unfair practices of some insurance companies in making people think 
they have quality insurance policies, when, in fact, in many instances, 
it is not worth the paper it is written on.
  After fierce debate, and after the right-wing Tea Party instilled 
unfounded fear in the hearts of good

[[Page 10105]]

Americans, the Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, and it is good 
policy for the American people. But there are those who have exploited 
the legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act, and now we await a ruling 
from the Supreme Court on the act's constitutionality.
  Should the Supreme Court decide to undermine the most vital provision 
of the law, the individual mandate, one thing will be clear: it would 
be an act of judicial activism and judicial overreach, placing the 
Court firmly in the role of Congress.
  Precedent for the Affordable Care Act already exists. Social Security 
is a program which all Americans are required to pay into and to 
participate. Car insurance is mandated in almost every State; yet the 
Supreme Court is on precipice of possible unfastening the linchpin that 
makes true health care reform attainable.
  Such a decision would confiscate benefits that the public and 
businesses largely support. Lifetime coverage limits could be re-
imposed on 100 million Americans. Seventeen million children with 
preexisting conditions could lose insurance coverage, and 6 million 
young adults may be forced off their parents' insurance plans.
  Preservation of this law means 40 million uninsured Americans will be 
insured. It creates state-run health exchanges to give consumers 
maximum choice when selecting a policy, and it contains skyrocketing 
costs in medical care. The Affordable Care Act will lower insurance 
premiums driven by uncompensated care for the uninsured, saving the 
average family in North Carolina $1,400 a year.
  Mr. Speaker, the Affordable Care Act has already paid great dividends 
in my district. Under the law, 94,000 seniors have received Medicare 
preventive services without paying a dime. More than 5,000 young adults 
have health insurance when they previously did not. About 400 small 
businesses received tax credits to expand care to their employees; 
34,000 children with preexisting health conditions can no longer be 
denied.
  As a policy-maker representing 700,000 people, I hope the act will 
remain intact. As a former judge, I hope the Supreme Court recognizes 
the impact an unfavorable decision will have on the role of Congress.
  We cannot let the perfect, Mr. Speaker, be the enemy of the good. We 
should explore ways to improve upon the law instead of ways to further 
deny Americans access to affordable health care.

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