[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                      HEALTH CARE, NOT WEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I will say today what I said when 
we were working to pass the Affordable Care Act, what we said when we 
were having some 181 witnesses to appear over a 2-year period having 79 
hearings: I said then that I would fight to make sure that health care 
would not become wealth care in the richest country in the world. I 
still stand on that basic premise.
  We cannot allow health care to become wealth care in the richest 
country in the world. Wealth care is where the wealthy will receive the 
very best care that is available; and the poor will get care, but it 
won't be health care. It will be sickness care. It will be sickness 
care because, when they are sick, they will be able to go to an 
emergency room and get care. When they are sick, they will be able to 
get emergency care, which will cost all of us more, but they won't get 
preventive care. They will get stabilized if they have diabetes, but 
they won't get the continued care that they need to treat that disease. 
We don't want, in the richest country in the world, health care to 
become wealth care.
  Recently, we had a piece of legislation that was going to accord the 
400 richest families in this country $7 million a year. That was what 
the bill would have done that failed. The 400 richest families making 
$3 million a year would get $7 million additional every year in the 
final analysis ad infinitum. That is $7 million additionally.
  We are the richest country in the world. We can afford to take care 
of those who find themselves living in the streets of life who cannot 
take care of themselves. We cannot allow health care to become wealth 
care in the richest country in the world. How rich are we? Well, one 
year a man made $3 billion. By the way, he is not the only person to 
make this kind of money. I just use this kind of example.
  A minimum wage worker making $7.25 an hour, it will take that worker 
198,000 years to make $3 billion. That man making $3 billion will get 
the best wealth care this country can afford. But we have got to make 
sure that those who are working at minimum wage, working full-time, 
living below the poverty line, make sure that they get the best health 
care.
  I am a proud Texan. I love my State, but I don't like what we have 
done when it comes to health care. Texas has refused to help those 
living in the streets of life. We look out for those living in the 
sweets of life. We take care of them. But Texas has the opportunity to 
receive $100 billion--with a B--to expand Medicaid.
  Medicaid expansion, this is for those persons who are not as 
fortunate as we are here in Congress who will have the best health care 
in the world, by the way, as we cut health care for those who cannot 
afford it, as we cut the expansion of the Affordable Care Act for those 
persons who would get Medicaid, as we cut Medicaid. We are going to 
have good health care.
  Texans who happen to be oil barons and rich, are going to have good 
health care. We are going to have good health care. But those who need 
Medicaid, who could benefit from the $100 billion that the State of 
Texas has refused to accept and has never said that it wasn't needed, 
are not. There has never been a case made for a lack of need for the 
$100 billion to help Medicaid expansion for people who are in need of 
help and need of health care.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow this in the richest country in the 
world--and we are. Don't let people try to convince you that we are 
broke. We are not broke. We can afford to take care of people who need 
health care.
  I will close with this: we ought to have a sense of responsibility 
for every person in this country who may get sick. There is this notion 
of, but for the grace of God, there go I. If we had been fortunate 
enough to have good health, remember, you may not always. But for the 
grace of God, there go I.

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