[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10032-10033]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               WEALTHCARE

  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 rise today because I love my 
country and because I refuse to support the Senate ``wealthcare'' bill. 
It is not healthcare, but ``wealthcare.''
  It is a ``wealthcare'' bill because it will cut more than a trillion 
dollars from healthcare. In so doing, it will transfer approximately 
$238 billion to high-income earners.
  It is a ``wealthcare'' bill. It will rob the poor, who need 
healthcare, to reward the rich with ``wealthcare.''
  I refuse to support it. I refuse to participate in the concentration 
of wealth that has taken place.
  Currently, according to Oxfam, eight people own as much wealth as 
half the world. This was as of January, 2017. There are eight people 
with as much wealth as half the world.
  Mr. Speaker, Big Business and the super rich are fueling inequality 
not only in this country, but around the world. They do so by dodging 
taxes. They don't pay their fair share of taxes. They do so by driving 
down wages.
  Many people assume that the country cannot afford healthcare because 
the people that we live in and around don't have what the super rich 
have. My friends, America is not a poor country. The wealth is just 
concentrated at the top. Those who are at the bottom and in between 
believe that the country can afford things that it can't. This is all 
about the concentration of wealth.
  They are using their power to influence politics. You can't speak 
truth to power if you are afraid of the big banks. You can't speak 
truth to power if you are afraid of the Big Oil companies. You can't 
speak truth to power if

[[Page 10033]]

you are afraid of the big insurance companies and big pharmaceutical 
companies.
  If you are going to speak truth to power, you have got to stand up to 
the people who are driving this country into a Third World position. I 
refuse to participate in it.
  Mr. Speaker, currently, 1 in 10 on the planet are living off of $2 a 
day. In this country, millions are going to go without proper 
healthcare, if the Senate ``wealthcare'' bill passes. They will go 
without proper healthcare, while millions in bonuses are going to be 
accorded those who are with insurance companies and receiving a part of 
the ``wealthcare'' transfer.
  Mr. Speaker, in this country, the top 10 percent hold 76 percent of 
the wealth. In the United States of America, the top 10 percent hold 76 
percent of the wealth. They are able to get away with it because they 
convinced all of us that one day we might hit the lottery and be in the 
same position as they are and control the world.
  Well, my friends, if you don't hit the lottery and you have to 
continue your life, you ought to have decent healthcare in the richest 
country in the world.

                              {time}  1045

  You ought to have the best healthcare that we can provide, in the 
richest country in the world. We are not a Third World country, and I 
will not participate in this transfer of wealth that is taking place so 
that those who are wealthy can do more with more.
  It seems that we believe that if you are poor, you can do more with 
less. But if you are wealthy, you need more to do more. This is a 
shameful, sinful circumstance that we find ourselves in.
  As for the Senate ``wealthcare'' bill, it is a piece of trash, and it 
ought to be thrown on the ash heap of history.
  No one who believes that people are equal and deserve good healthcare 
can, in good conscience, vote for that bill. I am glad they pulled it, 
but I hope that they will improve it to the extent that I will be able 
to vote for it. But if they do not, I say to you without question, 
reservation, hesitation, or equivocation, I will not support that 
transfer of wealth, that bill that would concentrate wealth, and I 
won't support the tax bill that will concentrate wealth, if there is 
one.
  This has got to stop. This inequality of wealth has got to change. We 
have got to turn it around. Let's do so by providing good healthcare 
and not ``wealthcare.''

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