[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 18034]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               OBAMACARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Black) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, since ObamaCare implementation began on 
October 1, the President has spent much of his time talking about the 
malfunctioning Web site. However, I would remind the President of his 
own words several weeks ago: ObamaCare is more than just a Web site.
  The Web site was supposed to be the easy part, and as more people 
sign onto it, they will be made aware of the real problems with 
ObamaCare. In fact, when the millions of Americans currently losing 
their health care plans try to log on to healthcare.gov, they will be 
met with drastically increased premiums, skyrocketing out-of-pocket 
costs, and reduced access to the doctors and hospitals they know. These 
problems are in direct contrast to the repeated promises made by the 
President.
  My constituents are rightly concerned with these broken promises and 
are regularly contacting me and my office to voice their concerns. For 
instance, Jillian in Sparta, Tennessee, wrote to me:

       Every year in the past, my health care insurance has 
     increased by a small percentage--sometimes 5 percent, 
     sometimes 7 percent. This past week, I received my new 
     premiums for 2014. They increased by 250 percent. Same plan, 
     same coverage, same insurance company.

  And Jillian isn't alone. Nearly three times as many Americans say 
they have been hurt rather than helped by ObamaCare, according to a 
recent poll. This from a law that the President promised would lower 
insurance premiums by as much as $2,500.
  Mr. Speaker, ObamaCare is much more than a Web site. It is an 
unmitigated disaster. The effects of this law are wreaking havoc on our 
health care system and exposing the President's broken promises to 
Americans across this country.
  My House Republican colleagues and I have tried repeatedly to protect 
Americans from this law, but the only way to do so is for Democrats to 
join us. For instance, the Senate can act right now to pass the 
Fairness for American Families Act that was passed out of the House 
this summer. This legislation would give fairness under ObamaCare by 
delaying the law's mandate for people, not just big businesses.
  The President may be all in on his health care law, but that doesn't 
mean congressional Democrats need to follow him off of a cliff.
  As disapproval of ObamaCare continues to rise, I ask my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle to distance themselves from ObamaCare and 
join us by trying to protect the American people from this law's 
disastrous effects.

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