[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2522]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               ACA STORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Keating) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, this beautiful child is Charlie.
  Charlie is an infant from Westport, Massachusetts. Charlie's dad has 
a green card and his mom is an American citizen.
  Charlie's mom wrote me to share their family's Affordable Care Act 
story, an important one, yet, in many respects, not that uncommon.
  When Charlie was born, his mother had to postpone her Ph.D. ambitions 
because she needed a full-time job to support her family. Although she 
has two master's degrees, she is working over 40 hours per week in a 
restaurant. That restaurant doesn't offer benefits, so Charlie's mom 
has to purchase her own health insurance policy for her family. The 
Affordable Care Act has helped them find the health plan they need at a 
price they can afford. Charlie's family got covered.
  Charlie's mom also wrote me to tell me that, on January 21, she came 
to Washington and marched with women from around the world because of 
the fact that all families like hers should have health care, for all 
children like Charlie who need health care, and because she believes 
Americans should want all their neighbors to be healthy.
  I agree with Charlie's mom. We should all have access to essential 
healthcare services. This is a family working to make it on their own, 
not seeking transitional assistance from the government, sacrificing to 
move their family forward, striving to succeed, to earn the American 
Dream. The Affordable Care Act provides them this opportunity.

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