[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          THE HEALTHCARE BILL

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, just a little bit of history.
  Let me, first of all, say happy St. Patrick's Day. Many know that the 
Irish fled in the 1800s, if my history is correct, because of the 
potato famine. We welcomed them as immigrants, and as an early member 
of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee, I remember the 
Irish sitting in our hearing room saying: Remember the Irish as relates 
to immigration.
  We all have come from someplace to do better. This last week, I sat 
in the Budget Committee listening to debate on the healthcare bill. I 
stand here today to argue vigorously against the Medicaid changes: $880 
billion taken away from Medicaid for low-income, hardworking Americans; 
the language that was added to the bill to instruct that we should not 
incentivize or that we should make sure that able-bodied men do not get 
Medicaid.
  Well, let me say this. In the spirit of those who have come to this 
Nation, this bill cannot stand because it ignores the vulnerable and 
the people who need health insurance, who are, themselves, either 
addicted or have families.
  I want to stand for what America is right for: its values. Let us 
vote down a healthcare bill that does not help America become unsick.

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