[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14403]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HEALTH CARE IS A CIVIL RIGHT

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I think the real message should be that 
the President should not negotiate against the civil rights of 
Americans. Sometimes it's important for those of us who have had life 
experiences to reflect on them.
  I remember as a younger girl riding in a segregated railcar, isolated 
from others because of the color of my skin. Civil rights have 
expanded, but there are many who stood against them--the 1957 bill, the 
1964 and 1965 bills. Americans will find out that health care is a 
civil right and that this is one of the most historic and life-changing 
bills ever passed--the Affordable Care Act.
  Rather than stand in the way to defund ObamaCare, I want to stand 
with the young cancer victim who will now be able to get insurance. I 
want to stand with the young child who had leukemia and who was denied 
insurance and died. I want to stand with small businesses that will now 
be able to provide health insurance for their workers.
  I want to stand with understanding that, in fact, this bill is going 
to work. That's the fear on the other side. They are willing to defund 
the government because they don't want America to know that one of 
their civil rights--good health care--is coming and going to work.
  I ask everybody to go to HealthCare.gov because your civil rights are 
coming on October 1.

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