[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11054]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   TEXAS' DECISION NOT TO EXPAND MEDICAID AND THE VOTE TO REPEAL THE 
                          AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, by refusing to 
expand Medicaid to cover millions of sick, low-income adults, Texas 
Governor Rick Perry has joined the growing list of Republican Governors 
who have decided to put partisan politics before the health of their 
residents.
  6.2 million Texans, including 1.2 million children, lack health 
insurance, the highest number of any State in the Nation. Medicaid 
expansion would drastically decrease Texas' uninsured rate from an 
astonishing 25 percent to just 9 percent.
  Without the Affordable Care Act, millions of uninsured Americans will 
continue to seek primary care in our Nation's overcrowded emergency 
rooms, leaving taxpayers, property owners, to foot the bill. As a 
nonpracticing registered nurse, I am all too familiar with this 
scenario, which has placed a tremendous burden on our Nation's hospital 
systems.
  Madam Speaker, the highest court in the Nation has spoken, and it's 
time for us to move forward for the American people.

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