[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 15071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
 OPPOSING THE CR THAT DELAYS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE 
                                  ACT

  (Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, at the time that President Obama was first 
inaugurated, it was clear to most Americans that we had a crisis in the 
health care system: the cost of premiums was skyrocketing every year, 
millions of American families did not have health insurance, and many 
of the health insurance plans that existed were inadequate, providing 
coverage that was essentially useless when someone had a serious health 
problem or a preexisting condition. Our seniors enrolled in Medicare 
were, in many instances, paying hundreds of dollars each month for 
drugs.
  Now the Affordable Care Act in immediate effect addresses this 
crisis. Already, the Affordable Care Act has permitted millions of 
Americans to visit a primary care physician without copayments, 
prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against people with 
preexisting conditions, and now parents are keeping their children on 
their health insurance plans until they're 26 years of age.
  As of Tuesday, across our great Nation, people without health 
insurance at long last have the ability to enroll in health care 
exchanges. The Affordable Care Act, it's the law of the land.

                          ____________________