[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 784]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PROTECT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Correa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to protect the Affordable Care 
Act. Today I urge you to give the Affordable Care Act the same chance 
we gave America's other great healthcare program, Medicare, way back in 
1965.
  Today Medicare covers over 55 million Americans and is a staple for 
senior care. But let's go back in time and remember what people were 
saying about Medicare in 1965. The American Medical Association said 
Medicare is an ``invasion of the voluntary relationship between the 
patient and the physician.''
  The then-Republican leadership said the bill will cost too much. It 
will never cover enough seniors. It will make taxes too high, and we 
will be broke within 2 years.
  Those are some of the quotes from The New York Times in 1965.
  Today, 52 years later, Medicare is one of the most efficient 
healthcare systems in our country. Why? Because we gave it a chance to 
flourish.
  Mr. Speaker, when we come together on behalf of the American people, 
we get things done. I ask my colleagues today: Do not repeal the 
Affordable Care Act. Instead, let's move past the politics of repealing 
the ACA. Let's learn from five decades of Medicare. Let's give 
Americans the healthcare coverage they want and they deserve, because 
in 60 years, it won't really matter whose name is on the program. But 
what will matter is that we came together and stopped the repeal. What 
will matter is that we fixed the ACA and made it work for every 
American.
  The American people deserve good health care. If folks have issues 
with the ACA, then let's fix those issues. Let's make the ACA better. 
But to rip coverage from 30 million people, to destroy 2.6 million 
jobs, and to add $350 billion to our deficit is not a good thing.
  I ask my colleagues today to keep the ACA.

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