[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15482]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          LEAVING THIS WORLD A LITTLE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, ``Try and leave this world 
a little better than you found it.'' Those were the parting words of 
Robert Baden Powell, a soldier, writer, and founder of the world 
scouting movement. This was a message to all Scouts that was found 
among his papers after Powell's passing in 1941.
  I am a scouter, Mr. Speaker. It is part of who I am, both as an 
American and an elected official proudly representing Pennsylvania's 
Fifth Congressional District. Scouter Powell's words today are part of 
scouting's principles, to always leave the campsite cleaner than when 
you found it. It is into service, serving others, and making the world 
a better place. They also ring true in the debate taking place now in 
Washington.
  Today we are saddling future generations with mountains of debt. We 
have made promises we cannot keep. We are leaving the next generation 
worse off than our own. We face a Nation with grave challenges, 
challenges that aren't being addressed. The fact of the matter is that 
Congress has yet to deal with the real drivers of our debt, a large 
portion of which is health care costs.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't care who won the White House or which party 
holds the majority in Congress. Why? Because not until we actually 
tackle the tough issues, the tough challenges, can we honestly say that 
Congress or the White House is doing what is right for the country. 
Right now we aren't making necessary progress, not on our budget and 
deficits, not on our long-term debt, not on bringing down the cost of 
health care. Though we have made some progress on spending, we are 
nowhere near where we need to be.
  We are also leaving the health system worse than where we found it. 
Here are just two letters from my constituents that my office has 
received.
  Tina, from Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, writes:

       Please do not vote in any way to continue funding the 
     Affordable Care Act. It in no way improves the situation of 
     the average American. Yes, it provides another option for 
     health insurance, but the rates are no more affordable than 
     the private insurances; and therefore, if a person cannot 
     afford the private insurance, there is no way they will be 
     able to afford the government plan. In addition, the act 
     places further strain on the system and will cause the 
     shutdown of more hospitals, cause more physicians to leave 
     the system, and further crowd our Nation's emergency 
     departments.

  Catherine from DuBois wrote:

       I am fortunate to have good insurance through my employer. 
     However, I found out from them that they may provide a lesser 
     form of health care due to the no-Cadillac plan. They 
     understandably want to avoid a penalty for providing a good 
     plan. This seems unfair to me, as if we are being penalized 
     for working and having a good employer. If they are willing 
     to provide a good health plan, why should they be penalized 
     and why should they have to lessen our coverage? I am very 
     distraught about many layers of the health care plan that are 
     starting to come to light. I don't know if anything can be 
     done.

  I cannot stand idle as Congress acts like it is solving problems 
when, in fact, it is failing to tackle the tough issues, health being 
one of them. Let me be clear that a government shutdown is 
unacceptable. However, each day we stall and fail to deal with these 
challenges, the worse it gets for the next generation.
  The real debate needs to be about how we get our fiscal house in 
order and set a course of long-term job growth. Not until then will I 
be satisfied. It should be about addressing the challenges the people 
elected us to solve. Again, not until then will I be satisfied. It is 
about trying to ``leave this world a little better than you found it.''

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