here in washington as well. dana, thanks very much. it would have been something, wouldn't it, john, if the president and/or the first lady would have come over and watch this vote unfold and sit up in the gallery. >> that would have been unprecedented in my time here in washington in 22 years. it's wonderful that her family is there. because however you feel about this legislation, they're going to have a big vote tonight. this debate will continue through the election year, this is a victory for the speaker. her caucus may pay a price politically. her party may pay a price politically. see how it plays out. she's been tenacious. this was at the abyss. she decided it was not. she worked the president from backing down to a more modest bill and worked her caucus and going to get 216 plus, 220 maybe. you think of the speaker and the legislation, you have to applaud her success in getting to the finish line.

now how many seats will she lose as a result of this vote tonight. rebrand the conversation between now and november. there's a big challenge, wolf, for the democrats on the price tag for this. that's one of the most succe successful republican arguments. the speaker made a promise to do what's called the doc fix, increase what doctors get when they treat patients in the medicare and medicaid program. that's going to cost more money. the bill they're voting on tonight will reduce the deficit. much if not all of that goes away. and you have one of the congressmen from kentucky saying both democratic and republican governments saying this is going to cost the states a lot of money. >> a larry king live at midnight eastern. a live edition at midnight. we're going to continue our special coverage here. we're getting ready for the roll

call on historic moment. and a separate roll call on the reconciliation bill and all of this will culminate later tonight with the president of the united states going in to the east room of the white house to speak to speak directly to the american people. he's been working on this directly with nancy pelosi, the speaker, harry reid, the senate majority leader for more than a year. but that effort is about to pay off. and it's a significant moment for these democrats, for the president, they've worked tenaciously. and all of those officials like the white house chief of staff rahm emmanuel, for example, whose stock was going down, all of a sudden the stock could be going back up. >> funny what happens in washington, wolf. we look back on this, we have to look back to the vote for social security, you have to look back to the vote for medicare. no matter where you are on the political spectrum on this, this is how important this vote is. because it will change the way people behave in this country. all of us in our families and all of our children. so, you cannot understate the

significance and the importance of this. one other thing that's so interesting to me is that this is a vote for more government in the congress. you say, kevin, it's just out of sync with the rest of the country. so look at this. barack obama proposes a plan that has more government involvement in your life at a time when trusting government is lower than it was during watergate. and they're passing this. they clearly are going to be political consequences. the debate will change and we'll have to see who's on the right side of history because there won't be any votes on this. >> i want to bring back this whole issue of the impact it will have on people. if you've spoken movingly about your family and your own experience with lack of health care and your mother, for example, who was a relatively young woman when she died -- correct me if i'm wrong, she did not have health care. >> she worked like so many of

our fellow citizens every day of her life. when my -- my dad is a veteran, shout out to my dad and all of the veterans out there who enjoy their health care. my mother took sick. she didn't have a regular doctor. she worked every day. her employer did not provide health care for her. so she went to emergency room like so many americans who don't have the ability to get regular treatments, and by the time she arrived at the hospital, it was too late. she had a blood clot in her lung -- her lungs. when they went in to perform the surgery, she had a heart attack. so sadly my mother passed away. so tonight, so many families can rest assured this bill will help americans live below the poverty line, $10,000 for a family of four, $23,000 for an individual. so this will give them the ability to go out and purchase health insurance, or the ability of small businesses to go out

and provide health insurance to their employee. so this is a victory for the american people. i understand the politics and i will debate the politics. we have 225 days so i look forward to all of that debate. but for tonight, this is a victory for those americans who are suffering that need a chance to go and see their doctor. >> kevin, i want to have you weigh in but i want to bring back david gergen right now. david, the country is on the verge, only moments away from the roll call. moments away from the house of representatives passing health care reform, the exact version that the senate passed. then it will go to the president for his signature? wolf, i've just come from greeting a group leader from -- young leader from around the globe. and i can tell you people all over the world are watching tonight. they're curious. they've been watching -- they've been wondering about barack obama's leadership. they've wondered for a long time why the world's most advanced industrialized nation does not provide health care for

everyone. and they also wonder whether we can afford it. they have some of the sags division same divisions that americans do going back to john king's point. but it is certainly an historic night, the biggest piece of legislation since the 1960s, since medicare. and also yet just the first piece of social legislation past 60 years that has been voted on in an entirely partisan way. and that, i think, is a disappointment to many americans even as we welcome in the idea that we're moving toward universal coverage. >> another 32 million or so, kevin, americans over the next few years will get access to health insurance as a result of this legislation. but they're still by the year 218, 2019 will be 20 million others who remain without health insurance. it will cost money presumably. even though the cbo says there will be a deficit. they'll work on it. they'll be constantly savings from medicare and other

expenditures but it will wind up costing money. here's the question -- what's wrong with spending money? potentially a lot of money -- in order to provide health insurance for many americans? >> i don't think it's anything wrong with it. again, it's a fundamental approach on how we do it. right now, i think there's no doubt that republicans and democrats alike, independents, all agree this is an historic moment. but the question is will it be an historic burden 20, 25 years from now on our countly financially. the problem with spending the money is how we spend it and whether or not it suffocates the long term -- the short term and the long term growth of our economy. that's why republicans have always professed in getting the greater access, driving down costs, but we don't think we should have had a one-siz one-sized-fit-all federal mandate that's unique to health care populationings. so i think that again is the argument. there's no doubt it's historic. but republicans believe it's an

historic mistake. >> we'll take a quick break. the final arguments before the roll call. that's coming up after this. ♪

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republican congressman paul ryan of wisconsin, a rising star in the party, is speaking right now. take a listen. >> from hawaii, to maine, to wisconsin, to florida, america is an idea, it's the most prohuman idea ever designed by man kind. our founders got it right when they wrote in the declaration of independence that our rights come from nature and nature's god -- not from government. should we now subscribe to an ideology where government creates rights, is solely responsible for delivering these artificial rights, and then systematically rations these rights? do we believe that the goal of government is to promote equal opportunity for all americans to make the most of their lives? or do we now believe that government's role is to equalize the results of people's lives? the philosophy advanced on this

floor by this majority today is so paternalistic and so arrogant, it's condescending and it tramples upon the principles that have made america so exceptional. my friends, we are fast approaching a tipping point where more americans depend upon the federal government than upon themselves for their livelihoods, a point where we, the american people, trade in our commitment and our concern for our individual liberties in exchange for government benefits and dependencies. more to the point, madam speaker, we have seen this movie before and we know how it ends. the european social welfare state promoted by this legislation is not sustainable. this is not who we are and it is not who we should become. as we march toward this tipping point of dependency, we're also

accelerating toward a debt crisis, a debt crisis that is the result of politicians of the past making promises we simplily cannot afford to keep. deja vu all over again. it's unconscionable what we're leaving the next generation. this moment may mark a temporary conclusion of the health care debate, but its place in history has not yet been decided. if this passes, the quest to reclaim the american idea is not over. the fight to reapply our founding principles is not finished. it is just a steeper hill to climb and it is a climb that we will make. on this issue, more than any other issue we've ever seen here, the american people are engaged. from our town hall meetings to scott brown's victory in massachusetts, you have made your voices heard and some of us are listening to you.

my colleagues -- [ applause ] -- let's bring down this bill and bring back the ideas that made this country great. >> gentleman yields back his time. [ applause ] does the gentleman from south carolina wish to yield any time? >> could i ask again, we're trying to even out the time and we had a 20 to 15-minute difference between us. we thought after mr. ryan spoke. can you tell us what the difference at this point is? >> when mr. camp will have 20 minutes. the gentleman from south carolina will control 15 minutes. >> would you like to use additional time? >> my time is expired.

>> it's the gentleman from south carolina's time. >> okay. okay. >> first recognize mr. -- of california for a unanimous consent to request. >> i ask unanimous consent for one minute the strong support of this legislation. >> without objection, so ordered. >> mr. israel from new york is -- >> the gentleman may extend his remarks. >> i also ask unanimous consent to -- >> they're trying to figure out how much time both sides have left. the democrats and the republicans at 6:42 p.m. eastern. they were spoelzed to have two hours of debate, one hour for the democrats, one hour for the republicans. that's the house of representatives time is clearly not precise, it's 9:15 p.m. eastern. it's a half an hour than it was supposed to be. you know what? that's what happens.

this is historic. let them go on a little longer. continue to watch what's going on. said and done, the final two speakers will be john boehner, the republican leader, the note leader, and nancy pelosi, the speaker, will have as long as they want, basically, to make their wrapup statements for roll call. i want's a done deal, as far as we can tell. the 216 votes needed to pass this senate version. the democrats will have it. then they have a motion to recommit as they say the democrats will win that one. and finally tonight, they'll have a separate roll call on a so-called reconciliation bill which the democrats will be able to pass as well, sending that to the senate with some changes to the senate version p version and a fight in the coming days in the senate over that. we want to remind you as well when all of this house action is done, the president of the united states will go to the east room to speak to the american people. we thought that could happen in the 10:00, 10:00 p.m. eastern hour, but, you know, it could go later, it could go earlier.

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awake with aches and pains and more time asleep®. advil® pm. the better night's sleep. mike pence, one of the republican leaders is now making his final speech. >> when you mandate every american, have government-approved insurance, whether they want it or need it or not, when you create a government-run plan paid for by

job-killing tax increases, you provide public funding of aborti abortion, that's a government takeover of health care and the american people know it. the american people want to face our challenges in health care with more freedom, not more government. and this really is about freedom. the more i think about this debate, the more i think about what ronald reagan said in 1964 -- he said then and now, it's about whether we abandon the american revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives better than we can plan ourselves. it's a day we gather in the old house chamber for a time of worship and prayer, members of congress are doing it for 200 years. a chamber filled with statues of great americans, sam huston, blue wallace, robert fulton, william general nings bryant, soldiers, heroins of freedoms passed. as i sat there, i thought of

that bible verse that says, we're surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses. standing here tonight, i believe we are as well. and not just those looking in tonight from here and around the country, but by those who have gone before. men and women who did freedom's work in their time. who persevered. who made this the greatest nation on earth possible. now it's our turn. we can reform health care without putting our country on a pathway towards socialized medicine. we can reform health care by giving the american people more choices, not more government. so i say to my democratic colleagues -- stand with those who have gone before. and made the hard choices to defend freedom in their time. stand with us. stand for freedom. and the american people will

stand with you. >> the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from south carolina. jha from south carolina. >> mr. gentleman, i recognize the request from the gentlewoman from ohio. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and suspend my remarks about this health care legislation. >> once again, mr. speaker, can you tell me if the times are equal, more or less. >> the gentleman from south carolina has 13 1/2 minutes, the gentleman from michigan has 16 1/2 minutes. >> would you like to have the next -- >> gentleman, do you redefense -- gentleman, do you reserve? gentleman from michigan? >> thank you, plk, at this time i yield two minutes from the distinguished gentleman from california. >> the gentleman is recognized for two minutes.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this is the people's house. and we're sent here to represent the people throughout america. some are actually in the gallery. some marching around this building. some are sitting at home watching on tv or they're in their car driving back from church and many of them have been calling this congress. and they've been asking one thing -- why does washington refuse to listen? they see what many on this side of the aisle see -- the arrogance of washington. we're here to represent our constituents which is why we're asking why are we voting on a health care bill today that empowers government instead of the people? survey after survey demonstrates the unpopularity of today's bill, not only the substance of it, but thethe deals, and the short cuts that led us to where we are today. but the deal is being pushed

through because the majority in this congress refuse to listen to the people. the speaker has even said that she believes that she has to pass this bill to people can find out what's in it. the logic here is washington knows better than the people. all of this at a time that washington borrows 43 cents out of every dollar it spends, adding to our national debt, mortgaging our children's future. and this $2.4 trillion bill will steal even more money from the children's future at a time when this administration in congress are poised to run up a debt more than any administration combined. it doesn't have to be this way. we could have easily found a positive bipartisan agreement on common sense health care reforms that reduce the costs, increase competition, and increase access to all raising the debt. today is a legacy vote for members of this people's house, and i urge my colleagues to start over and craft the bill to solve the problem.

>> the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from south carolina. >> all right, we'll continue to watch what's happening as they're getting ready to wrap up this debate. nancy pelosi will still speak. john boehner the republican leader will speak. they will then have the roll call. and our coverage will continue after this. what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer. alka-seltzer plus. rushes relief for all-over, achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus.

democratic congressman james clyde of south carolina, the number three democrat in the house is now speaking. >> of the 21st century. and tonight we will take a significant step to move our country forward. i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from michigan. >> mr. speaker, at this time, for just the purposes of the unanimous consent request, i yield to the gentleman of pennsylvania. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> i seek unanimous consent to expand my remarks of this health care bill. >> i yield two minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from washington state, ms. mcmorris rogers. >> gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i know some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are

undecided. i sincerely urge you to vote no. this is the wrong bill at the wrong time. at a time when 15 million americans are out of work, it's the wrong time to hit small businesses with more taxes and more requirements. but the time when premiums are surging for working families, it's the wrong time to pass a bill that everyone acknowledges actually going to increase premiums. at a time when we have a $3.8 trillion budget, 40% of it is deficit spending, 40% of it is on the credit card, it's the wrong time to pass a new massive government spending program. and at the time when americans are losing trust in congress, it's the wrong time to strike backroom deals and pass a bill over the will of the people. everybody in this body acknowledges the need for real health care reform, but this health care reform will make things worse, not better for the people we serve. we should not let the hunger to do something, anything, trick us in to passing a bill that will

cripple free enterprise and permanently diminish the freedom of the american individual. today i'm reminded of a quote by president ford -- a government that's big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take it all away. this is a time for courage and clear thinking. i urge my friends on the other side of the aisle to join in standing with the american people and vote against this bill. >> gentlemlady yields back her time. south carolina. >> i yield two minutes to mrs. schwarz. >> gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. health care reform represents the largest deficit reduction measure in nearly a generation, while controlling the rising cost of health care for families and businesses and improving access to and quality of coverage for 95% of americans. this plan strengthens coverage and health care for all americans, including provisions that i have fought hard for,

prohibiting insurance companies from excluding coverage for pre-existing conditions, for children and adults, prohibiting insurers for dropping coverage when you get sick or placing annual or lifetime limits on benefits. ensuring that all insurance policies use plain, easy to understand language, so that consumers know what they're buying can honestly compare their choices. allowing young dulls up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents' policies. offering tax credits to small businesses so they can afford to provide insurance coverage for their employees. eliminating co-payments for benefits for seniors and closing the prescription drug benefit doughnut hole, making sure we close that doughnut hole. promoting the education and research initiatives for our teaching hospitals and academic medical training centers which train the next generation of doctors and nurses.

focusing on primary care, to ensure that americans particularly those with chonnic diseases have access to health care. we create new incentives for the development of new cures and treatments. and incentiveizing collaboration among health providers by new payment reforms that promote high quality, efficient delivery of care. these provisions and others in health care reform ensure new consumer rights and protections for those with insurance, with costs, families, businesses, and for our nation. and it extends affordable meaningful coverage to 32 million americans. health care reform is vital to the health of americans and the health of our economy, the status quo is unacceptable. >> gentlemenlady's time is expired. >> i urge a yes vote. >> for the purpose of unanimous consent request, i yield to the gentleman from california. >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous

consent to revise and extend my remarks in opposition to this flawed health bill. >> without objection, so ordered. >> mr. speaker, i yield three minutes to the distinguished gentlemenwoman from west virginia, ms. caputo. >> thank you, mr. speaker. for a moment, let's think of this bill as a blanket, a blanket of health care legislation that may be draped across america and its population in the coming years. unfortunately, this blanket is woven not from all hands working together, but from strong arm, deal making, and disheartening, a resistance to listen to the american people. the cloth has been cut behind closed doors and the cut is tinged by partisan hands. too short in some areas, too long for others, woven to cover the winners and leave out the losers. once this blanket of legislation is laid out, those that huddle beneath it will find it does not provide the real health care

reform it needs for their families. in fact, it will be a wall of government between them and their doctor. the huge holes will not protect the cold wind of job loss, new taxes, government bureaucracy, and increased health care costs, and though we hear of coming patches in the future, in all likelihood, it will be of the same flimsy fabric of broken promises. all of america will feel the weight of this uncomfortable burden, the real cost of the $2.2 trillion bill will only increase in the future. states like mine, west virginia, will feel the weight in huge budget short falls caused by millions of dollars in unfunded mandates. states must balance their budgets and will be forced -- >> in order -- >> gentleman is correct. house is not in order. the house will be in order. gentlemenlady will continue. >> states must balance their budgets and be forced to absorb the massive increase of medicaid spending demanded by this bill. but the full burden will be paid by those who enjoyed this

beautiful spring day, playing outside in back yards across america, little do they know as they play, we are in the cusp of burdening them with generational debt. the speaker and her team will drape this legislation across the citizens, ignoring the pleads against it, and america will, again, shake its head in disbelief and ask how washington can turn a deaf ear and be so disconnected from the american people. if we stand here in obedience to our purpose, the congress will be an effective representation of the people of the united states, we should stop this unfortunate endeavoendeavor, ta step back, and listen. listen to the heart beat of america, the beat that yearns for true health care reform, the beat that asks for bipartisan government committed to solving america's problems. the beat that asks that we put america's families first. america deserves this, america deserves to be heard.

>> gentlelady yields her time. the gentleman from south carolina. >> mr. chairman, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from florida. >> the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> without objection, so ordered. >> thank you, mr. speaker, i thank my friend from south carolina. i heard a wise man once say that you never saw a great country with an uneducated and unhealthy population. we're headed there. 67,000 uninsured, underinsured in the congressional district i represent will be helped by this bill. we all know the statistics of the spiraling costs of insurance and the ever increasing percentage of uninshoor sureds in our own districts across the nation. this is an unsustainable path. i ask you, how high do the numbers have to go before we act. >> we're going to continue to watch what's happening on the floor of the house of

representatives. they're getting ready to wrap this up. we will be hearing from the two leaders, the speaker, the minority leader, they'll be speaking, nancy pelosi and john boehner. and then the roll call will begin, history will unfold. our coverage will continue after this.

we're watching what's happening on the floor of house of representatives right now. they're continuing the debate. they're continuing their arguments for and against health care reform as invisioned by the democrats. the leaders are still getting ready for their summation, their closing arguments. then the roll call. sanjay gupta is here with the best political team on television. lots of confusion about medicare right now. because this legislation is supposed to take, what, a half a trillion dollars in medicare spending over the next ten years, $15 billion a year and use it for something to pay for the health insurance for the uninsured and getting a lot of e-mails from seniors out there who were worried about their beloved medicare. what's going to happen to their medicare? >> it depends on who you ask. the supporters of this say --

none of that $50 billion is coming out of inefficiencies that exist within medicare, fraud which exists in medicare. this is real. i heard a case of a group of people in florida billing medicare to the tune of about $80 million over a period of several years on behalf of several doctors who haven't been living for ten years. so this is the type of fraud that's going on. it's real. so some of that will help it. but obviously there's a concern that some people's benefits also go away with medicare. john brought up an interesting point earlier -- the whole idea the way the physicians are reimbursed since the balanced budget amendment in 1997, there was an idea that medicare is going to grow in terms of the costs, keep up with inflation. for health care providers salaries, they wanted to tie that more to the economy. so there's this complicated formula called the sgr. things were fine when the economy was doing fine. when the economy started to take a downturn, there was a concern that the reimbursements to

physicians would drop off. so every year this happened, congress has essentially stopped the cuts so physicians' salaries could stay the same. as part of the senate bill, those cuts are in place, 21% reduction in physicians' salaries which is why you're saving $200 billion over ten years. if congress gets in and waves those cuts off again over the next several years, there goes your deficit as john mentioned. >> and the flip side of it is, if they don't, the doctors are saying -- there has been a trend in the past few years they'll drop out of the program, they'll stop taking those patient which is would challenge the whole goal of it to expand acce accessibility to get more people in to the system. there's a tug-of-war. a lot of it is a very legitimate policy debate and some of it, of course, is politics. >> there's a difference with the way the states get reimbursed for medicare. the states are better of doing more with less. some states use a lot more care and get reimbursed at higher rates. and that's a real problem for members of congress.

>> say it in the bill -- remember early on, we had all of the graphics and you show, you know, a patient in medicare and mcallen, texas and so much in the costs are so much higher than a patient that goes to the cleveland clinic here or out in colorado and there was talk of wellness and preventive care and trying to bring it not equal but bring the coverage in line. did that go by the wayside? >> i don't know if they broke it down by states like that. they invested more in the things that will cut down on medicare costs across the board. but you're right, for the same outcome, better outcomes in hawaii, for example, $5,000 per medicare patient as opposed to $16,000 per medicare patient in florida. that's disparities. part of that is demographics. the patients are going to be sicker or not take as good care of themselves in certain places. that's significant. >> you looked to this because medicare is critically important

to so many millions and millions of seniors who are watching us right now. and they're -- they're wondering -- i don't know if we have a good answer -- as much as fraud and abuse there might be in terms of how much money is being wasted in medicare, if you're going to take $500 billion in -- and reduce that in the projected growth of medicare over the next ten years, won't that affect seniors? logically speaking, are you taking half a trillion dollars away from medicare, that's going to have an impact. >> i was gone on the white house.gov website. because an excellent fact sheet on how this impacts people who are currently on medicare. the bottom line is the system as it currently exists is broken. what the white house and the congress and cbo scored basically shows that this bill will not only reduce the fraud and inefficiencies in the system, will streamline the process so that long term, we have a strong adequate health care system that will provide

seniors with the coverage they need. it also in the short run -- in the short term, will close the so-called doughnut hole, this -- you know, when seniors go out there and buy their prescription medicine? right now they -- if they reach a certain point, they don't have a -- they don't have the money to cover it. it will give them an immediate $250 to cover their prescription medicine. and to john's point about the so-called physician's reimbursement, the $200 million correction that's needed, what speaker pelosi and others have said is, yes, we've got to address this. we don't want the doctors to stop treating medicare and medicaid patients is they found a way to pay for it. everything that we proposed, it's paid for. >> i want david gergen to weigh in on this as well. the plan calls for cutting $500 billion in the projected rate of growth in medicare in the next ten years? what's going to be the practical impact of that on seniors.

>> all of this medicare debate has been stirring up opponents of the bill, a few points. first of all, when the bill started, the doctor fix which is $200 billion will cost us $200 billion over ten years was include in the original plans for health care reform. they took it out. so that it wouldn't -- they wouldn't have that $200 billion cost in the bill. the way they got to a -- to a surplus over ten years was by taking that doctor fix out of there. now, there is a suspicion that -- >> david, i'm going to have you hold your thought. david hold your thought for a moment. because eric cantor, the number two republican in the -- in the house is speaking. i want to hear what he has to say. >> the joefrt of americans don't care for it either. sadly, mr. speaker, the only bipartisanship we've seen surrounding this overhaul has been in opposition to it. and there's a reason for that. health care is a very personal

issue. and this overhaul will impact every man, woman, and child in this country. it will even affect future generations that have not yet been born. mr. speaker, this overhaul will have a huge impact on our parents, our spouses, and our kids. this is something that they'll be paying for for the rest of their lives. and for too long, mr. speaker, the majority in this body and the president of the united states have refused to listen to the american people. so, mr. speaker, i have a message for those americans. we hear you. we hear you loud and clear. because we believe this

government must stop spending money that it doesn't have. and this $1 trillion overhaul will do the opposite. we believe that this government must stop piling debt upon our children and grandchildren and this $1 trillion overhaul will do the opposite. we believe that this government must stop raising taxes on small businesses and families. and, mr. speaker, this trillion dollar overhaul will do the opposite. we believe that america is the land of innovation and that government must stop crippling job creators and entrepreneurs with oppressive mandates and taxes. and this trillion dollar overhaul will do the opposite. mr. speaker, we believe that in america, our government must not force those who fundamentally object to abortion to have to pay for it. and this -- and this trillion dollar overhaul does the

opposite. and we believe in building upon what works in our current health care, mr. speaker, so that doctors in america can continue to provide the best care in the world, and this trillion-dollar overhaul does the opposite. and, mr. speaker, we believe that families and patients should have the freedom and the right to choose the doctors they want. and this trillion-dollar overhaul will begin to take that freedom away. mr. speaker, if there's one thing that the american people have learned over the past year is that we are truly at a critical time in this country. we are at a cross roads. this trillion-dollar health care overhaul put for us today has caused a lot of fear and uncertainty. it's the latest part of an agenda that is being forced upon the american people that attempts to seize more control

over the economy and our lives. the choices we make on deficit spending, higher taxes, energy security, and health care, they're all important. they're important because they will all determine what kind of country we want to be. and mr. speaker, the choice before us is very clear. the choice is whether we want to become a country that is unrecognizable or one that will fulfill the american dream -- >> gentleman's time has expired. >> i ask for 20 more seconds. >> i yield to the gentleman 30 more seconds. >> -- or one that will fulfill the american dream, so we remain the most secure, most prosperous country in the world. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues today to listen to the people and vote no against this legislation. and i yield back. >> gentleman from south

carolina. >> mr. speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent of request, i yield to mr. akron of new york. >> i rise in enthusiastic support of this historically important bill, ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection, the gentleman will be charged. gentleman from south carolina. >> for purposes of another unanimous consent request, i yield to the gentle lady of california. >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection. >> for purposes of unanimous consent, request i yield to mr. tree house from ohio. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to advise and extend my remarks in support of this health care legislation. >> without objection. >> gentleman from south carolina.

>> mr. speaker, i now yield one minute to the gentlewoman from south carolina, miss mccollum. >> gentlewoman is recognized for one minute and the house will be in order. >> mr. speaker, beyond the walls of this capitol, there are millions of americans who can't afford health insurance and they live in fear of getting sick. millions more are discriminated against by insurance companies because they have pre-existing medical conditions. in my own life, as a child and as an adult, i've lived without health insurance. a dear, dear niece of mine has a pre-existing condition. that makes her uninsurable. passing health insurance reform is not a political game, it's personal. it's about real people's lives. when we pass this bill, we will will save lives. families will be protected, millions of americans will no longer live in fear. today, i will vote to end discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

today, i will vote to extend health care to 32 million americans. and when this bill becomes law, health care security will finally become a reality for the american people. mr. speaker, i yield back. >> gentleman from michigan. >> at this time, i reserve, i believe that the gentleman has more -- >> we have one more speaker before -- we have one more speaker before the speaker. and we anticipate mr. boehner speaking before the speaker. >> all right, yes. at this time, i will yield to the gentleman from california for the purposes of a unanimous consent request. >> mr. speaker, because of the confusion over its legal effect, i ask unanimous consent that the text of president obama's executive order referring to abortion funding, that it be considered as a freestanding amendment to the text of hr-3590 and we be allowed to vote on it separately.

>> the chair cannot entertain such a request unless it's been cleared. gentleman from michigan -- >> mr. speaker, parliamentary inquiry. parliamentary inquiry. >> gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. >> mr. speaker, is such unanimous consent request -- is it, in fact -- >> in order? >> -- in order under the rules of the house? >> -- has indicated that request for these matters must be cleared. the chair is not obligated to instruct members on the rules of the house. >> mr. speaker, with respect, may i make a further inquiry, mr. speaker? >> gentleman may inquire. >> would that request, if it were cleared, be considered

germane to the bill under consideration? >> do not respond to hypotheticals. >> mr. speaker, additional parliamentary inquiry? >> gentleman may proceed. >> when i am informed that it must be cleared, do i understand that to mean it must be leered by the speaker or the majority leader? >> leaderships on both sides must clear these matters. i'm sure the gentleman knows that. >> i thank the speaker. >> gentleman from michigan. >> mr. speaker, how much time is remaining? >> gentleman from michigan has three and one quarter minutes remaining. and the gentleman from south carolina has four minutes. >> mr. speaker, for purposes of a unanimous consent of request, i lead to the gentlelady from

ohio, miss capito. >> without objection. >> all right, they're continuing some final discussion before the speaker of the house, the republican leader, john boehner, before they make their final statements, before the house floor. we'll continue our coverage right after this. at sharp, our goal

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the cts luxury collection. he takes vicks dayquil... ♪ ...and gets his power back. vicks dayquil. powerful daytime cold and flu symptom relief. ♪ it's approaching 10:00 p.m. here on the east coast. this debate is getting ready to wrap up. we're waiting to hear from the republican leader, the minority leader of the house, john boehner. he will speak, make the case against the democrats' version of health care reform. and then the speaker, nancy pelosi, she will be the final speaker going into the roll call. the roll call will then last for about 15 minutes. it will be electronic and then we will see whether or not the democrats have the 216 votes necessary. by almost all accounts, they do. they won the support of several