exchange. as a doctor, i support the bl and want it passed out of energy and commerce this week because it gives family doctors like me the support we need to spend time listening to our patients and managing their care. it removes barriers between doctors and their patients. for those in this country who have never had full access to quality and comprehensive care we welcome the ball even though we know it will cost a lot to begin to close the health care gap this is a our dysfunctional system has created. we cannot afford not to do it. lives are at stakes and there's enough savings in this bill to pay for it. to everyone who is holding this bill hostage, get out of the way and let us pass h.r. 3200 so everyone can have the health care they deserve and need. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lance: thank you, mr. speaker. for the second time this month, nonpartisan congressional budget analysts have told congress that the democratic health plan would increase, not decrease, our nation's burgeoning long-term health costs. on saturday, the congressional

budget office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep medicare spending in check would in reality save almost no money. the bill's proponents had touted the panel as critical to paying for the massive $1.5 trillion health care legislation. the c.b.o.'s reasoned analysis comes on the heels of an earlier budget report showing that the democratic health care proposal would add to our already tremendously growing debt of $11 trillion and rising. i once again call upon the democratic leadership to put aside its proposal and work with the centrist republican tuesday group on an affordable and effective alternative that we have proposed in good faith. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. yarmuth: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, one of the things that are being perpetrated by those trying to stop health care reform is that

this is going to be somehow dangerous to small businesses. well, small businesses know what it is to feel the pain of a dysfunctional health care system. they know that 60% of their owners and workers and their families are uninsured. they know that their premiums have gone up 129% in just the last nine years. they know that they pay 18% more in premiums and their deductibles are twice as much as somebody working for a large firm. our reform measure creates competition so that small businesses have the same bargaining power, the same opportunities as the largest companies in this country to provide health care for their families and their owners and we also know that we're providing a tax credit to help those small businesses do what they want to do which is to provide their employees with health care. so forget the miss, re-- myths, rely on the facts. that is the best thing we can do for small businesses, helping them and their families and their employees provide stability in their health care situation. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and extend and revise my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. austria: mr. speaker, as i travel across my district, in talking to our farmers, manufacturers, what they're asking me is what are you doing to bring back jobs to ohio? what are you doing to save jobs? what are you doing to turn this economy around? and, mr. speaker, the stimulus bill certainly has not yet improved our economy. this chart next to me shows what the administration projected would happen with unemployment numbers as a result of the stimulus and what's really happening is you can see the dark line is what would happen with the stimulus package. the light line without the stimulus package. and most importantly is this dotted line which is what's really happening and that is skyrocketing unemployment. in ohio our unemployment rate has reached 11.1% in june, the

highest it has been in decades and this is unacceptable. and now, if we don't do this health care reform package correctly it could hurt small businesses and may cost jobs. we're going the wrong direction. mr. speaker, i ask you, where are the jobs? and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- mr. cummings: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cummings: i rise because we cannot wait another moment to pass health reform. we need health care and we need it now. the american people cannot wait. health care delayed is health care denied. it is our moral obligation to lead the way. every day that we wait, 14,000 americans lose their health insurance. people losing their health, their homes or their very lives because our health system does not work for them. this is not right. it is not just. it is not fair.

and we can do better, we can do much better. 46 years ago at the march on washington, i said, they tell us to wait, they tell us to be patient. we cannot wait, we cannot be patient. and i say today, we want health care reform and we want it now. we must answer the call and pass health care reform and pass it now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? mr. fleming: i ask unanimous consent to speak to the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. fleming: mr. speaker, a couple weeks ago i launched house resolution 615 that simply says that if you vote for a government-run system you should be willing to sign up for it. so far i've had a number of republicans sign up but not one

democrat. since launching h.res. 615, that calls for members to sign up for government health care, if they vote for it, it has received tremendous grassroots response. we now have over 100,000 americans who have signed up in support. the signatures represent all 50 states with supporters of the billed a mentment about its accountability of congressional lawmakerto the people. this message has resonated across america for one simple reason. and the people of this country are sick and tired of being the victims of bad laws while their elected representatives are exempt from the same laws. it is obvious that nobody in washington wants for themselves a bureaucrat standing between them and their doctor, and an expensive health care delivery system and abandoned when thought to be too old or too expensive to care for. so why should americans?

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. inslee: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. inslee: mr. speaker, our current health care system, and it really is not a system, is not up to the standards of america. and i want to address this issue of cost. our wages have been going down a black hole of health care costs. health care costs are rising two to three times faster than our wages. if we want to know why we're having trouble making ends meet it's because our money is going into health care much faster than our wages are improving. now, what do the other party have to solve this problem? nothing. we are offering some suggestions on ways to have higher quality health care costs and reduce the cost, reduce the rate of medical inflation.

there is one principle we ought to have on a bipartisan basis. you can't be something with nothing. i'm encouraging our members across the aisle to join us to bring change to this system so we can restrain the rate of medical inflation and pass health care reform. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio rise? ms. schmitt: -- mrs. schmidt: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. schmidt: i rise to ask the question, where are the jobs? my constituents all over ohio want to know, where are the jobs? in my home state of ohio unemployment has risen to 11%, we are the seventh highest in the nation. every single county in my nation have 11% or above. and last night i was given more devastating news.

the department of energy has determined it will not provide loan guarantees to consfruct the american centrifuge project in piketon, ohio. you know, while campaigning last fall, then candidate obama wrote, and i quote, under my administration energy programs that promote safe and environmentally sound technologies and are domestically produced, such as the enrichment facility in ohio, will have my full support. i will work with the department of energy to make those loan guarantees available. i guess that promise is equivalent to the promise to save or create three million jobs. mr. speaker, i'm asking you, where are the jobs? the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? ms. jackson lee: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: mr. speaker, let me tell you very clear, medicare in 1965 has saved lives. can you believe it's been six

decades, 60 years, since we've been able to come around to getting a public option for health care reform? now, six decades later, america has debated this broken system but we're closer than we have ever been before, and the american people understand 83%, high numbers, they want a public health insurance option. they get it. premiums have doubled over nine years. you ask yourself the question, can i afford to pay $1,800 a year more every year for a family of four? health care reform will keep americans from financial ruin. go to the bankruptcy courts. catastrophic illnesses have shoved americans into these courts. they've lost all that they have. we have to stop it now. we want to put doctors in charge between doctors and patients, not the insurance companies whose main opportunity is to say n-o, no. the american people get it. public health insurance option, that's what we're doing and we're doing it now.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? -- alabama rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. rogers: mr. speaker, last week one republican after another asked a very simple yet relevant question to the house democratic leadership, where are the jobs that you and the president promised almost six months ago when you passed that gigantic $787 billion stimulus bill? you see, the answer to that question is important that the american people are to have any confidence when the democrats who not only run the house but are now in total control of this entire city boldly promise that a new government health plan costing $1.6 trillion financed by $818 billion in new taxes on individuals and small businesses. and at the end of the day, all that new spending and all those new taxes are only going to just create more debt and more concern. mr. speaker, the american

people know better, and they have genuine concern about what they're seeing come out of their federal government. republicans know our health care system needs repair. we nust don't want to see it destroyed all in the name of making it better. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? mr. arcuri: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. arcuri: thank you, mr. speaker. we certainly can appreciate the passion on both sides of the aisle with respect to health care. this house is not debated a bill of this importance in many years. but one thing that we can't forget is that we need to continue to focus on transportation. we have before us right now a transportation surface transportation re-authorization bill that must be re-authorized by the house of representatives. we have bridges that are collapsing throughout the country. we have roads that are in -- that are deteriorating. and i hear my colleague from the other side of the aisle

that says, where are the jobs? the jobs are out there now from the stimulus bill where money was given to the states and they're repairing the roads and fixing the bridges. we need to continue that. there's no better way to create jobs and no better way to keep our infrastructure the best in the world than to spend money through transportation. i strongly urge my colleagues to continue the work on re-authorization of the transportation -- surface transportation bill. thank you, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i stand in support of freedom of speech. democrats are telling republicans we are no longer allowed to use the words government-run health care in communication with our constituents. yes, that's correct. republicans will be forced to use only democrat-approved language when describing their attempted government takeover of health care to our constituents or else.

democrats told republicans if we do not use the words democrats give us to describe their health care reform bill then members will have to pay the postage personally. apparently, the democrats feel they can control what the public thinks about their bill by dictating how we talk about it. i know america's smarter than that. call the speaker at 202-224-3121 if you think this censorship should stop. last time i checked, this was still america where freedom of speech is our hallmark. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. comments through the chair. for what purpose does the gentlelady from colorado rise? ms. diget: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. degette: mr. speaker,

anybody who asks we don't need to reform our health care system is ignoring the fact that we have the most expensive health care system in the world but we have some of the worst results among industrialized nations. we have one of the worst results in maternal and child safety. we have one of the worst results in infant mortality, but yet at the same time our costs continue to go up. premiums, health care premiums doubled in nine years growing faster than wages. bank -- health care costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the united states right now. and in the next 10 years, $1 out of every $5 will be spent on health care. the bill that we are looking at in energy and commerce is a good bill. it allows people who want their health plans to keep them, but it also puts forward a public option that will compete with those plans, not government-run health care, but it takes the insurance companies' profit

margin out of it and makes them compete on behalf of the american people. we need to pass health care now. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> in order to support the democrats' health care plan, we're asked to accept three arguments that are absurd. first that the government who pioneered $600 toilet seats is going to control our health care costs. second that the same government that runs fema is going to make our health care system more efficient and responsive. and third, that the same government that runs the i.r.s. is going to make our health care more compassionate and understanding. frankly, i doubt it. instead of putting government in charge of our health care decisions, let's put patients back in charge. we can do that by using tax

credits to bring within the reach of every family a basic health plan that they can choose, that they can own, and that they can change if it fails to meet their needs. that's what the republicans are proposing. it's a much better way. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection. >> a fine republican president teddy roodsvelt said the worst thing you can do in a moment of decision is nothing. we are charged with measures of action or inaction. that's why the american recovery and reinvestment act was about investing in our people, our country, our roads, our bridgesing our schools. they are already starting to show the difference. i see signs all over my district that this job was created by the american recovery reinvestment act. i must say we have sent billions of dollars overseas to

build brand new iraqi roads, iraqi schools, iraqi buildings. but it's time to invest in our people. will we put america back to work? will we delay or make a difference? will we lead or block? will we invest in our people, our country, our way of life or will we send that money overseas? we have the decision, will we act or will we not. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise? >> to address the house for one minute. >> without objection. >> i heard from a business in my district, he wants to hire new employees. he's concerned that the mandates imposed on him would mean he wouldn't be able to create new positions. he's not the only small business owner concerned about the economic well being of our country. we passed a massive bill we called a stimulus but which failed to create jobs and a cap

and trade bill which will cost us .5 million jobs. while every member of this body wants to make sure americans have access to affordable health care, it's vie call we have the ability to create jobs. let's not kill jobs before small businesses even create them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, the american people voted for change last november. my new jersey constituents voted for change. now we have a historic opportunity to bring about change as we deal with one of the nation's most daunting challenges. the need for health care reform for over 46 million uninsured men, women, and children throughout our nation. in addition, we need to help working people and middle class people who who in many cases have to pay huge out of pocket

expenses or have been dropped when facing serious medical conditions. this debate has been going on for six decades and the time for action has come. here in the house of representatives, we have already held 79 hearings on health insurance reform in just over two years. we cannot put this problem off indefinitely. i urge those who stand in the way of progress to either step aside or to join us in coming up with a solution to help men -- help mend a broken system. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from wyoming rise? mrs. lummis: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. lummis: the president of the united states said if you like your health care plan, you can keep it but that's not the case. i was in wyoming over the weekend and i talked to small business people who have health insurance who have calculated

what will happen if the democrats' plan takes effect and if it takes effect, they will be able to pay the 8% penalty in the bill and shift their employees on to the government plan and save money. it will cost them less money to take their private insurance, jettison it, take their employees off it, pay the 8% penalty and put them on the government plan. the government plan will be less comprehensive, and their employees will suffer. mr. speaker, this is not health care reform. i ask you to join the republicans with a plan that will address affordability, portability, accessibility in a way that will not cost the taxpayers trillions of dollars. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from brooklyn rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection. >> you'll hear a lot of people who are opposed to the democratic plan to reform health care. you know why? they have health care. they have a choice already. if you want to make a phone call, dial 202-004-3121, asker ask for your congressman say, will you give up your health plan? some of them are old enough to have medicare, which is, that's right a government run plan are you prepared to give up that? i don't believe that they are. the fact of the matter is, some of the republican party don't want this problem fixed because they're doing just fine. they've got choice, they've got the federal plan, they've by the way, they have medicare, a government-run plan, and the rest of the country can be damned. we are saying something else. we want the american people to get at least as good as my friends in the republic party have. we want choice, affordability

and lower costs and lower taxes for all americans that it's the democratic plan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. >> without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the democrat leadership in this house is bringing forth a health care reform bill with a public option for the stated purpose of instituting competition with the private sector, making the private sector insurance business better. at the same time, they're bringing forward legislation to reform student lending. today, there is a private option prefered by 80% of colleges and universities in this country and a public option where the government takes over the student lending business. the legislation we're going to bring up, perhaps this week in this house, eliminates the private option and leaves only the public option.

kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? about the designs on the future of the public option in health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new mexico rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, we come here today and we continue to hear this important debate as it surrounds health care. well, i hope that there's not any disagreement that the health care system we have today is broken. we continue to hear from our friends on the other side of the aisle that we need to contain costs we need to extend coverage we need to be looking after people. we've got a plan, mr. chairman. mr. speaker, we have a plan on this side of the aisle with our democrats that's come forward that will say to insurance companies no more taking away health care from those that are sick that can happen today. no more keeping insurance from those that are sick today because they have something called a pre-existing condition. as i travel across the district, across the great state of new mexico, we get to

hear from people we look them in the eye. they tell you they're sick. they tell you that they can't afford their health coverage. they tell you they lost their job. where do they go today? what about their kids? well, it's time we looked those people in the eye, those people that have entrusted us to do a good job on their behalf and tell them we're here oto act for them. we're going to fight for that public option, fight to give them choice. it's time to act now for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. there's no one on our side of the aisle that we have reforms, the comment this is a this is totally broke and totally unworkable are hyperbole, done to try to incite a riot, i suspect.

40 million jobs will be lots of this -- will be lost with this plan. steven lang tells me if he's required to put this 8% tax on his business, because it's a low margin business, because he gets medicare reimbursement for 90% of his business he won't be able to pass on that cost, and he'll have to cut his employee base. his employees take care of the most vulnerable, frail, and least capable people in our society. folks at the end of life. cutting the service to them should be not something we ought to do. the physicians in the group say do, no harm. first do no harm. i would argue this health care plan ought to be the same thing, first do no harm. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> think about what this health care bill will do for you if you're over 65 years old or you love somebody who is of 5 years old. if you're over 65 or love someone who is over 65, a mother or father, think about that here's what it will do for you. it will dramatically reduce and eliminate co-payments for you. that's right, for you. because the democrats understand that a $10 or $20 or $50 co-payment, that's a lot of money for you. if it keeps you from going to the doctor when you need to get care, that's a shame. the second thick it does for you is eliminates the doughnut hole, the doughnut hole that torments people in into chees choosing between paying their rent or paying for the medicine they need to stay alive. that's eliminated this bill is good for you if you are 65 or over. it's good for your mother or father if you're not. that matters a lot because the democrats care about you.

thank you, mr. speaker, i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the administration and this congress spent over $1 trillion on the so-called stimulus bill and they laid down a benchmark for what would constitute success. they did it. according to their own benchmark, that was that unemployment would be capped at 8%, and that there would be an immediate creation of 3.5 million jobs. where are those 3.5 million jobs we were promised? not only have they not been created, an additional two million jobs or more have been lost since that bill was passed and unemployment wasn't capped at 8%. it's over 9.5%, again. their own numbers. so what's been the response to this obvious dismal failure? more of the same. more borrowing, more spending of your hard-earned money.

their health care bill will cost americans an additional $1.2 trillion, cut medicare for senior citizens by hundreds of billions of dollars, that's in the bill. and will result in a loss of an additional 4.7 million jobs. again, common sense. it's time to stop wasting taxpayer money, stop irresponsible borrowing, and focus on job creation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman ice time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. skyrocketing private health insurance costs are already crippling small businesses. last week, i sat down with one of my constituents to hear about her situation. christine is a small business owner and employees nine workers at her company. she has been paying the full cost of premiums for her family, employees in her -- and her business because she knows how important health insurance is.

unfortunately, christine recently got a call from her broker saying the premiums are going up 20% in august. now christine is forced to pass on part of that cost to her employees, hire fewer employees or stop offering them health care jal together. that is the status quo we're dealing with and it is unacceptable. we must do more to help small business owners who are trying to do the right thing by providing for their employees. congress must pass comprehensive health reform to ease their burden. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? mr. bilirakis: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. bilirakis: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to strongly oppose efforts by the majority to rush through this chamber and misguided health care experiment that will cost jobs and put the government in charge of health care. the democrats' bill will tax

small businesses, raise already sky-high unemployment in my state, and cut health care for seniors to pay for government-run health care. this will limit consumer choices, increase wait times and empowering federal bureaucrats to make health care decisions. the trillion and a half price tag will increase the already crushing debt some in congress have been piling on our children and fwrand children over my objections. the best way too help expand health coverage to the uninsured is to make health care more affordable. two of the easiest and most effective ways to do that would be to incur preventive care and enact medical liability reform. i urge my colleagues to reject this government takeover of health care. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend

my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. many economists who have advised congress advise that the unemployment rate would continue to climb even after the recovery and reinvestment act were approved simply because neglect and measures that put us into a deep hole, where an administration spent down a surplus into a deep deficit was going to take a while to recover from. and so now with the investments made through that recovery act, i am very hopeful that in my district we will get good news, as g.e., which is corporately headquartered in my district, has made application for some of the d.o.e. moneys. because of the transparency, the moneys released needs to be greatly accounted for. battery worlds will allowed for a diremembersity of battery manufacturing, that will have

these batteries used for generation purposes and for providing for the resources for transportation fleets, both large and small, and certainly working on investments that will restore intermittant energy supplies. mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. tonko: i withdraw my request and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. the democratic leadership has reportedly trying to find a compromise on health care reform. the only problem is they're compromising with themselves than with republicans. democrats have been trying to blame their fate to find broad consensus on health care reform on republicans but this ignores the facts. the facts are three committees, the house democratic leadership sat down and drafted a bill with no republican input. these same democratic leaders have then made changes to the bill based on concerns raised by other democrats.

now, democratic leaders are continuing their negotiation with a different group of democrats in an attempt to secure 218 votes in their own caucus. since republicans aren't invited to these negotiations, here's some free advice from the house floor. if you're having this much trouble getting a majority of their conference to support your bill, then you're going to have an even bigger problem with the american people, particularly when they find this bill undercuts the president's promise to allow them to continue the health care if they like it. republicans have many ideas on how to reform health care and make insurance more affordable for small businesses, families and reduce costs across the system. let's scrap this partisan plan and start over with what we all agree on and get health care right for the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? ms. johnson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, it's interesting of what i'm listening to. this sounds like 15 years ago when president clinton tried to

reform the health care system. this time we must do it. the increase, just to small businesses to cover their employees, has gone up 129% since the year 2000. workers pay more. small business workers pay an average of 18% more in premiums. how far do we have to go before we have the common sense to change it? if anybody disagrees with the bill, read it. that's the first thing we must do. read the bill. i have read the bill. it's a good bill. it's so unfortunate that the influence on this house is coming from insurance companies who have been in control of health care for the last 30 years. we must change that. they've given out $100 billion around here. we must change it. the people need this health care reform. right now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the

gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and ask permission to address the house for one minute my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mckeon: thank you, mr. speaker. the democratic leadership has been demanding that we pass health care reform this week. that's very, very important, even though the bill doesn't take effect for five years. you know, this is the bill. my constituents have been asking me to read the bill. and i've been working on it. we now have three iterations of this bill. i would like to advise my senior friends at home to read it. let me -- page 331. read about medicare advantage reform and how they're going to take $168 billion out of medicare advantage to help pay for some other people. read a little bit on page 425, 424, start reading how they are going to have you at 65, go in and have a planning session with a health care consultant on how you're going to die.

please, read the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. lee: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. lee: thank you, mr. speaker. 47 million uninsured and the wealthiest and the most powerful country in the world is unconscionable. health care should not be a privilege, it should be a right. the average american pays an extra $1,100 in premiums to support a broken system. premiums have doubled in nine years, growing three times faster than wages. our health care reform plan does not, mind you, it does not call for a government takeover. we intend to lower costs, have no more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care and an annual cap on out-of-pocket expenses. if you like your doctor or your plan, you can keep it. and, yes, a real robust public option keeps health care costs

down for those who choose private insurance. it's time to take the profit-making industry, insurance industry out of making health care decisions. medical decisions should be made between a patient and a doctor. medical decisions should not be made based on who profits. profit motives and making health decisions will not provide for affordable health care for every man, woman and child. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. hunter: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hunter: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to ask why the obama administration and the liberal democrats in this congress are playing russian roulette with the welfare of the american people. this administration and the democrats in this congress seem not to care about jobs but put all of their time into spending as much as possible and as little amount of time as possible. cap and trade or the national

energy tax passed by democrats last month is the equivalent of a $3,000 annual tax on every single american family. and it's estimated over 2.3 million jobs are going to be lost because of it. and the liberal health care gamble. it's not even russian roulette when it comes to government-run health care. it's like jumping off a 20-story building and thinking it's not going to kill you. the democratic health care plan is economic suicide. the health care bill will impose a 5.4% surtax on 1.2 million small businesses and it will increase the federal deficit by $239 billion over 10 years, the most devastating, it's going to kill up to 4.7 million jobs because of the burdens it places on small business. if you want to get every american health care, then get every american back to work. america runs on jobs and small business. less government, more americanism. that's how we save this country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one

minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, there are some republicans and some blue dog democrats who care more about protecting the profits of insurance companies than they do about bringing health care reform to the nation. health care premiums have doubled in nine years and growing at three times the rate of wages. meanwhile, 46 million people remain uninsured and they can't see a doctor to take care of their chronic condition like breast cancer, like diabetes. so what's more important, dollars and cents or life? i am pro-life. and that's why i support health care reform, and i'll yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from north carolina rise?

ms. foxx: i ask permission to address the house for one minute, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: i agree with my colleague, i'm pro-life too. that's why i oppose the democrat health plan. mr. speaker, in the midst of a major recession, the house is considering health care legislation that will place new punitive taxes on small businesses. we need job creation, not job destruction. and small businesses are our best hope for emerging from this economic downturn. but not if we tax them out of their job-creating potential. i've heard from scores of small business owners in north carolina who are struggling to keep their businesses running and who want nothing to do with the taxes and burdensome government mandates in the house health care legislation. mr. speaker, we need health care reform in america. i support reform that puts patients first and that won't destroy small businesses. republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of their health care, that makes sure we bring down the cost of health care for all americans and that ensures affordable access for all americans and is pro-life

because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. titus: thank you, mr. speaker. families in southern nevada have been hit hard during this economic recession. unemployment is at a 25-year high, and our tourism industry has struggled as the national economy has slowed. but already the economic recovery package that congress passed is beginning to provide assistance to 95% of nevadans in the form of tax cuts. over the past few months, the making work pay tax credit has put extra money in the pocket of workers. nevada's also received more than $75 million to extend unemployment benefits for those struggling to find work. seniors and veterans have received a $250 recovery

payment, and schools in nevada got $340 million to keep teachers from being laid off and to develop programs. funding through the recovery package is also -- has also helped nevada's efforts to create a clean energy economy. just yesterday, 13.8 million dollars was announced from the department of energy to help fund energy initiatives that will lead us to the next steps creating clean energy jobs. clearly, the recovery act has helped the people in nevada. thank you, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. lee: for months now my constituents in western new york have been asking, where are the jobs? well, take a look around. are they in the recently passed national energy tax that devoted more than 50 of its 1,300 pages to light bulb regulation and just two paragraphs on carbon-free

nuclear energy? or are they in the 1,000-page government sponsored health care proposal without so much a mention for malpractice liability reform to dramatically reduce premiums on struggling americans? or maybe they're in the recently passed $700 million welfare program for wild horses. the majority has shown it doesn't know how to create new jobs outside of -- for those of new federal bureaucrats, but it certainly knows how to create new burdens for our children and grandchildren. this week alone, our treasury is set to sell off a record $205 billion in debt. let's start working together to implement responsible solutions to the serious challenges facing our nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> to -- i ask unanimous coent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, last week at

the president's press conference, the american people got a firsthand glimpse of the attitude they can expect if there is in fact a federal takeover of health care when the president said this incredible statement. he said some doctors will take out a child's tonsils, not because it's in the best interest of the patient, but because they make more money. if you ask the american people the question, do you trust politicians or your doctor, i bet 100% said their doctor. and yet the president made this statement. th what we need in this health care debate and this reform says you and your family and your doctor will make your health care decisions, not some federal board in washington who thinks they're all-knowing. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, where are the jobs? they're certainly not in the

so-called stimulus package that passed this congress and haven't created any jobs. in fact, we've lost millions of jobs since that package passed. they're certainly not in the cap and tax legislation that passed this congress six weeks ago. that legislation will cost millions of american jobs and mr. speaker, they most certainly are not in this so-called health care bill the democrats are offering today that will cost an estimated $4.7 million jobs as employers find they can't pay the tax being imposed upon them and we see the jobs going overseas to countries where they can afford to do business. this is not the right way to preserve the choice for the american people in their health care. it is not the right way to make sure that our health care in this country is available to the many, many, many hundreds of millions of people who receive it today. we need to reform our health care system with legislation that deals with medical malpractice reform work association health plans, with

thing this is a cut down on the cost before we address this massive tax increase. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection. mr. lungren: mr. speakering in the debate we've had over health care, we republicans have attempted to try and communicate our concerns to the american people and we developed a simple chart that explained the bureaucratic morass that will exist between you the individual patient, and your doctor. we've been told we can't send this out because the majority party objects to it. first of all they said they didn't know whether it was

true. second, they said we didn't somehow substantiate it and third they don't like house democrats' health plan. so they suggested we put on a disclaimer. i've come up with a disclaimer. the democrat party assumes no responsibility for providing this information to the plern people maybe they don't like the majority party assumes no responsibility for providing this information to the american people. the house demples assume no responsibility. maybe this is what we ought to put up here, the president and the house democrats assume no responsibility for providing this information to the american people because they know if the american people knew, this is what happened to them, this is what would be put between them and their doctor they wouldn't support it. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute? >> without objection. >> we can argue over the

details of health care reform legislation, we know one things for sure. costs are guaranteed to increase if we do nothing. the status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. unfair trade deals and skyrocketing health care costs have devastated manufacturer manage my state of michigan over the past decade. last month, i heard from a small manufacturer in my district at a health care forum in michigan. karen told me her manufacturing firm employees seven people and covered 100% of her employees' health care costs. she said, we're trying to do the right thing for our employees. yet we have to compete with those who provide little or no health care. the said that a quality, affordable health care system that covered every american would not only provide needed care for the uninsured, but would also help level the playing field for small business owners like her. colleagues, it's time to put partisan politics aside on this issue and put companies like

roche manufacturing first. we need a uniquely american health care system that costs less and covers more to help small businesses compete in our global economy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? >> i ask unanimous consent -- mr. walden: i ask unanimous con sent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: wok. mr. walden: there's no question it's time to reform the health care system. but a government takeover is not the solution. putting the government bureaucrat between your family and your from is not the solution. and losing the health plan you have today is not a solution. yet the democrats' bill would do just that it puts a bureaucrat between you and your doctor, doesn't have real reform two of three americans won't be able to keep their plans, according to independent analysis and it does nothing to bring down the costs and drives up the deficit by over $239 billion. meanwhile if you're out in places like oregon, rural oregon, the c.e.o. of asante

health systems in oregon said the government option under the democrats place plan would be the death nell for hospitals since i pays medicare rate which pay 76% of his hospital costs yet 52% of his patients are out of medicare. if it increases to 75% of their patient the hospital has to close its doors that plan does nothing to rein in costs. let's reform health care in a way that puts patients first and doesn't destroy small business. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and relt rhett my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: wok. mr. broun: mr. speaker, when it comes to passing the health care bill, leadership insists that this will happen. speaker pelosi claims to have the votes to get it passed on this floor. if that's true, madam speaker,

then show us the bill. if the rhetoric coming from the democrats is true, and they are planning to steam roll a trillion-dollar health care experiment through this body before august, let's see it. let's debate it. let's let the americans see it. the american people deserve to see a bill with plenty of time for an open and honest debate about exactly what's in store for them if this partisan experiment is passed. the american people have seen enough smoke and mirrors about the washington bureaucrats. they'll be inserted directly between patients and physicians. they've seen smoke and mirrors about how many people will be forced off their current health care plans. they've seen enough smoke and mirrors about the real cost of this plan. if you have the votes, then clear out the smoke. show us the bill. finally, give hard-working americans answers to their questions. show us the bill, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise?

>> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. >> without objection. >> mr. speaker, this congress is responsible for putting in place one of the largest tax cuts in american history. as part of the american recovery and reinvestment act. we can see this benefit of the plan throughout all communities in our country and because of this legislation, 95% of working americans are receiving tax cuts through making work pay tax credit. which is a refundable tax credit of up to $400 per worker, $800 for couples filing jointly. this is an immediate tax relief for over 110 million working families at exactly the time they need it. because of this legislation, families can also find tax relief through an expansion of the child care tax credit, through a new $2,500 tax credit for families to help send more of our children to college. in addition to this tax relief,

the recovery plan has provided tens of millions of dollars of investment to -- for improvement projects like the improvements that have been made to infrastructure and roads throut our country. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. akin: thank you, mr. speaker. the democrats are proposing to take over 20% of the economy. they're proposing to spend a couple trillion dollars in doing that and they're going to put bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions. now this is not really a new idea. this has been tried a lot by other countries. it's called socialized medicine. the question before us is this. it's a straightforward question. if you get sick, where do you want to be treated? do you want to travel to europe? do you want to travel to canada? or do you want to stay in the

good old u.s.a.? i had that experience nine years ago here. i was elected newly as a congressman. goit the first physical i'd had in 10 years because i had lousy health care. they told me, yeah, you're doing great, congressman akin, except one thing. you have cancer. when you hear the word cancer, it causes you to stop and think. because of the american health care system, i'm standing here today. but i'll tell you the statistics of what would happen if you were in the united kingdom. 50% chance you'd be dead with the type of cancer i had. that's the question. who is going to provide the health care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> ski unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'm here today to talk about -- i mentioned this last week. last week i talked about, back in the 1982 recession, we had unemployment rates at the level

in my state of kentucky of over 11%. my father lost his jobs. he was one of those. he worked for ford motor company and they closed the plant. my father, because of what happened in this house, back in 1982, they cut taxes and cut spending and put faith in the american people my father went from one who lost his job to starting a business and becoming a job creator. what has this house done in this democratic majority in the last six months? made it easier to sue businesses, raise energy rates on businesses if it passes the senate and made it -- made mandates on business for health care coverage at an 8% payroll tax. i believe we need to cut taxes, cut spending, and put faith in the american and get people working again. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i have news for the american public. the system is working. the congress is working, the energy and commerce committee is working, the reason that the

speaker and the president can't get their health care bill through is because there's not consensus on it. i want to congratulate the other 22 republicans on the energy and commerce committee united against this bad piece of legislation. i want to also congratulate the seven to 10 blue dog democrats and conservative democrats on the same committee. the reason we're not supportive of the president and the speaker's plan is because it's bad for america. doesn't solve the problem. costs too much. got too much bureaucracy. the word shall is mentioned almost 2,000 times tavepls trillion-dollar hit on the economy and it doesn't solve the problem. we have, we the republicans on the committee, have over 80 amendments we wish to offer. our blue dog friends have over 20. i ask the speaker and chairman waxman to bring the bill up for markup, let it be an open, transparnte markup. if it takes us until september or october to get it done right, it's better to get it right than do it badly. the system is working.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman tees -- the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i'm proud pob part of the effort to improve health care in this country. i have heard from countless iowans about the need to change the system. i have also heard we need due reform. the university of iowa, the health care collaborative and the concord coalition sent me a letter. they stated, i quote, we believe the primary focus for lawmakers should be improving the value of health care, unquote. i agree. the iowa democratic delegation and others reached a compromise with leadership that improves the value of health care. i want to thank leadership and staff for those in favor say aye work. it will provide significant cost savings so we are rewarding quality of care, not quantity. iowa has been a lead for the quality care and i'm glad that iowa and other high-gault,

low-cost regions will be rewarded for what's right for patients. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker over the last few week,000,000 office has been flooded with letters, faxes, phone calls and emails from all types of citizens throughout northwest florida. the messages all say the same thing. stop the government takeover of our health care system. the majority party's proposed legislation cost over $1 trillion. it could cost the -- increase the deficit $240 billion and raise the cost of health care for an american family. mr. speaker, this is not the way to reform the american health care system. americans want more choice for health care, not fewer choices. they want to choose the doctor they see, and when they want to see them. they don't want their medical decisions made by a faceless bureaucrat here in washington, d.c. floridians are not willing to have their health care rationed and they do not want the government takeover of health care that the majority in

congress is proposing. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? or the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> request permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> when a member of congress is sworn into office you get a pin, a voting card and access to a health care purchase exchange. every member of congress has the ability to choose a plan through the federal employee health plan, which when you boil down the health care reform bill that's passed the ways and means committee and the education committee is exactly what is going to be before the house. for example, the minority leader from ohio has as a member of congress the opportunity to choose 13 different plans under the federal employee health plan. that's what the obama health care proposal plans to do for all americans. so when the time comes for the vote, ask your member of congress whether they're prepared to give to the people

of america exactly what the people of america give to members of congress and that vote should be yes. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dent: thank you, mr. speaker. the issue this week is health care and jobs, jobs, jobs. you know, a friend of mine who employs many people in my district and provides very good health benefits said to me recently that the policy proposals coming out of washington are impeding job creation and scarring people. he's right and there are five issues that are driving his concern. first, a stimulus bill that spends too much, borrows too much and delivers too few job. two, a budget that doubles the national debt in five years and triples it in 10 years. three, a card check bill that's undemocratic and binds arbitration. four, a national energy tax, cap and trade that will cost

66,000 jobs in pennsylvania and jack up electric bills, natural gas bills and prices at the gasoline pump for consumers. five, and now a house health care bill with enorm tax increases and mandates on small businesses and businesses of all sizes. enough is enough. time for washington to get out of the way and let job creators do what they do best, create jobs. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise >> request to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. richardson: the american people know something for sure, and that is premiums have doubled over the last nine years growing three times faster than what we've seen in wages. the american families know that they're spending more than $1,000 a month than what they've had to do in the best. so let's talk about what really the american solution is. it's having lower costs for consumers, to no longer have co-pays or deductibles for preventative care, to have an annual cap to end that cap on out-of-pocket expenses, to end the rate of increases for

pre-existing conditions and, of course, looking at group rates. we're ready for action. we've had six decades of discussions. we've had 45 hours of bipartisan debate, and 79 house hearings. it's time and it's time to move now. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, last night i made thousands of phone calls across my district in a teletown hall meeting and i listened to my constituents and two phrases emerged. the first one was fear. they're afraid of the recklessness that would allow us to begin a massive new program, the experts agree will not reduce health care costs and will devastate the economy before we fix medicare which they know will be bankrupt in eight years. they're afraid of the arrogance that lead some to conclude that a government committee or a government bureaucrat will make a better decision about an

individual's health care than that individual can make with their doctor. and they're also afraid of the short-sightedness of creating a plan that will result in rationing health care to seniors and creating longer lines and waits for the procedures they need. but they're also grateful. they're grateful for those of us that will listen to them and try to bring some common sense and balance to the health care debate by stopping this race to a government takeover of their health care system and who will work instead for a system that finally puts our patients first. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nebraska rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. fortenberry: we must build a culture of wellness, including good incentivizing. move to patient-centered care. and creating models can help this goal. this is the right solutions for

strengthening america's health care and they should be the basic components of a national debate. the current debate focuses loosely on a public option. this new option may transfer millions of americans against their will, mr. speaker, from their current insurance to a goost plan and will add to our unsustainable fiscal conditions. it will not resolve the underlying problems driving cost for small businesses and families. we have the opportunity in the next few weeks to do something right and good for the american people. to strengthen our nation's health care by improving health outcomes while reducing cost and protecting vulnerable persons. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. on the failed stimulus bill that added $1 trillion to our nation's debt, also leading to

about another two million people losing their jobs in this country, and then that cap and trade energy tax proposal that literally would run millions of jobs out of our country, most americans across the nation are saying, where are the jobs? and instead, the latest proposal by president obama and speaker pelosi is this attempt to mandate a government takeover of our health care system. and you know, the president goes out and he gives these speeches and he says, under his plan if you like the plan that you have, you can keep it. well, unfortunately i don't think the president has read his bill, because if you look right here in section 102 of the bill, it says that the government health care czar is going to be able to take away your health care plan even if you like it. it's right here in the bill, mr. president. another part of the -- mr. speaker, what the president says is anybody who makes under $250,000 a year won't pay any more in new taxes. once again, maybe the president hasn't read his own bill, but in his health care bill right here in section 401, tax on individuals without acceptable

health care, $29 billion in new taxes. read the bill. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from balm rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong opposition to the democrat majority's government-run health care plan. that's a phrase that the speaker of the house does not want us to use. she's told us we can't use it in our frank mail. we have to use the public option. well, to use a word that the president apparently likes, american people aren't stupid. they know it's government-run health insurance, and they don't want it. they know that the democrat majority proposes to cut costs by rationing care, by deciding whether you get to go to the doctor, which doctor you get to go to, if you need a specialist, which special you get to go to, when you get to go, if you need surgery, when you get to go, if you get to go, and most importantly, end of life care for our seniors. the government wants to decide

whether or not certain seniors will get procedures they need to enhance their quality of life and whether or not the computer module that they use, or computer model, determines that's not the highest and best use of their health care dollars. the american people don't want that. they want real reform just like the republicans do. we want to have cost control, we want quality and we want access with real reforms like tort reform. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings or our audible conversation is in violation of the rules of the house. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida rise? ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. we all agree that real health care reform is a necessity. but in the haste to get this done, the wrong approach to

achieve this worthy goal would be to increase taxes, especially on our small businesses. these vital small business owners are already straining not to cut jobs and wages. most small business owners want to offer health insurance to their employees, but they simply cannot because the already inflated costs just continue to increase. what we need is true health care reform that brings down the cost of care in our country. we find creative ways to hide the actual costs of taxes and mandates, that makes no sense for americans, no sense for our small businesses and certainly no sense for our future generations who will be straddled with a lot of debt. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentman from florida rise? mr. diaz-balart: perm is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

-- diaz-balart i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. diaz-balart: the american people know we are losing a half million jobs each month, and yet they saw this democratic majority pass an energy bill that will raise utility rates for every american. now they see the obama white house and the democrats pushing to drastically raise health care and raise taxes on small businesses to pay for their government takeover of health care. the people know that will mean millions more jobs lost. we need tax credits, mr. speaker, to help make health care more affordable and accessible, not massive tax hikes. we need job creation, we need more jobs, not massive layoffs caused by massive tax increases. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas rise? mr. boozman: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. speaker. i agree that the cost of health care has become expensive for my constituents, too expensive for my constituents and all americans. what we need is to reform the current system and not turn it over to the government. letting patients choose the coverage that meets their health care needs should be the focus. this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. just ask my constituents, brad and christy norwood. they became the proud parents of brison in may of 2008. at birth he appeared to be a healthy baby boy, but during a routine exam, a nurse found a heart mr. murphy:. one week later he underwent surgery to correct the problem, and thankfully today he's a happy, healthy 1-year-old.

his parents hate to think that if this proposed health care plan had been in place the decisions about brison would have to go through a government bureaucracy and possibly would have taken too long to save his life. let's not put brison's life or anyone else's in the hands of a government bureaucrat. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? mr. mchenry: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mchenry: thank you, mr. speaker. the democrats' health care bill is bad legislation, but don't take my word for it. all you have to do is look at the chaos on the other side of the aisle. as their leadership freely admits, august would be like kryptonite to their proposal. if they truly believe this legislation was a cure-all for health care reform, they would relish the opportunity to send their members home to build public support for it.

but, no, the democrat leadership is in desperation mode because they know their bill will not hold up under public scrutiny. so let's tap the brakes. let's engage our constituents and the american people about this discussion about our goals for health care reform. august can become health care month in america if only the democrat leadership will listen to reason, and we can engage our constituents in this debate. the democrats' goal should not be to get this done fast but to get it right, to get it right for the american people. that's what i'm fighting for, and that's what this debate should be all about. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i wanted to take a moment and speak about two very important elements in the health reform initiative that we are considering in the house. both of these are things that will help to strengthen the relationship between the physician and their patient.

the first is something called medical loss ratio. that's a technical term. it basically means how much does that insurance company use of the premium you give them to actually spend on medical care. if they don't spend at least 85 cents on the dollar, it means they're not giving the kind of care to the patient that they deserve. the second important thing is the investment in preventative care that we're going to make in this bill. so that a physician can spend more time with the patient, their elderly patients all across the country who wish that their physician could spend a little bit more time with them to really understand their situation. we don't reimburse that for right now, but going forward we can do that and that will promote the relationship between the physician and their patient and lead to overall better care for that patient and a better relationship with that patient's family. and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise

mr. herger: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. herger: house democrats plan to -- republicans want to have competition among health plans. unfortunately, the house democrats' health care bill is light on cost control and heavy on government control. a recent "new york times" editorial expressed support for the house bill but described the prospects for lower health care premiums as, quote, unclear, end quote, distant. mr. speaker, if that's the -- -- if that's the best they can say about it, we need to start over. we need a bill that gets health care costs under control without bankrupting our country or setting the stage for a complete government takeover of our health care system. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. shuster: mr. speaker, the obama administration, congressional democrats promised us that the trillion dollar stimulus they passed and put into law would create jobs immediately. last month alone we lost almost half a million jobs. unemployment stands at 9.5% and going higher. it's clear that the stimulus package didn't work. and the response has been, first they passed an energy tax that's going to make america less competitive, drive american jobs offshore. they are now in the process of spending on appropriations process, increasing spending, by 12%. now this week we are trying to ram down a health care plan that's going to raise tkses -- taxes on american business, cost jobs, and force people into government-run rationed health care plan. all one has to do is look at this chart to understand the complexities and inefficiencies they are going to put into this system. i might add this is a chart they won't allow republicans to mail out to our constituents to try to explain the complexities they

are going to put into health care. and the height of hypocrisy is committee republicans offered an amendment that would force all members of congress to participate in their health care plan. what did they do? they voted it down. they won't allow the congress to be under the health care plan that they are trying to pass. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> unanimous consent to speak for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as the house majority presses hard to force-feed congress a government takeover of health care the next few days, it would be very instructive to answer the question just who are the uninsured? the most recent census bureau report of 2,000 stayed there are roughly 46 million people in the country labeled as uninsured. 9.5 million were noncitizens. 18 million were between the ages of 18 and 30. 12 million people had household incomes less than $25,000 which means they already qualify for

existing public health care programs. 7.3 million had annual incomes higher than $84,000 putting health coverage within their own financial reach. and 9.1 million were uninsured for less than one year. and half of these people regained their health coverage within four months. this leaves 7.8 million lower income americans who can be characterized as the long-term uninsured. yet the majority is promising a trillion dollar legislation that significantly expands the federal responsibility. how do they pay for it? taxes, more taxes, more taxes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. if the need to reform our health care system wasn't so serious, the democrat government takeover of health care might actually be humorous. it's laughable that their idea

of cost cutting reform is a bill that will increase the federal deficit by $239 billion over 10 years, and includes a $1.3 trillion spending increase. only in washington, d.c. does cutting cost mean spending more money. america's small businesses, including our nation's farmers, are going to be hit the hardest by this huge expansion of government. through billions of dollars in new taxes and mandates. and yet the bill doesn't even address the seasonal work force that farmers rely on to harvest their crops. once again small business and rural america are swept under the rug and forgotten. not before they get a huge tax bill. the bottom line is that the democrats' public option is a sneaky plan to take over private health care. mr. speaker, get me a doctor. the idea of government taking over health care is enough to make you sick. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> unanimous consent to address

the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. olson: mr. speaker, house republican and some democrats have been highlighting the problems with the proposed democrat health care bills. the rosenberg richmond chamber of congress in texas represents over 800 businesses that have deep concerns with this massive intrusion of government-run health care. last week they passed a resolution strongly opposing the current health care proposals. highlights of the resolution include, quote, a government-run plan would be unfair -- would be an unfair competitor with the government acting as both the team owner and referee, unquote. another quote, new taxes and fees for businesses and/or individuals that cannot afford health insurance would be dramatically counterproductive, end quote. one final one, taxation of

benefits will lead to reduction in benefits offered by employers and will lead to higher taxes for individuals and businesses. local chambers of commerce and small businesses understand better than most the problems with government-run health care. the rosenberg richmond chamber of commerce gets it. i wish my colleagues on the other side of the aisle did. i ask unanimous consent to include a copy of the resolution. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to speak to the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we all know that the health care system that we have in america is the best that the world has to offer. do we need to improve it? absolutely. but the question is, how far do we go? do we tax the employer who is now struggling to make ends meets? increase payroll taxes by 8%? no.

we give that employer an advantage, an incentive to provide health care, give them a tax break. give the employee a tax break so they can go out and buy their own insurance. give them a incentive. but if we go and pass this bill, the government-run health care plan, we are going to break the backs of small businesses across this nation that are the back bones of this nation. then we will hear a cry, where are the jobs? the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? mr. wolf: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wolf: mr. speaker, the national debt has topped $11 trillion. unemployment has reached a 26-year high of 9.5% in june. and some believe it may go to 11%. $56 trillion in unfunded obligations. countries like china and saudi

arabia are buying up america and the future of our children. $1.84 trillion deficit this one year and it may go to $2 trillion. and standard and pures say we may lose our triple-a bond rating in 2012. now the house democratic health care reform bill moving through the committee process at a lightning speed does not include a c.b.o. said, quote, the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce skyrocketing costs of health care spending under medicare. this is not going to create jobs. this is going to lose jobs. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, health care costs are increasing two even three times the rate of inflation. if this continue it is will obviously ultimately consume us so we have got to do something to reform health care. but the bill making its way

through the committee process can't be right solution. according to economic modeling by the president's own chief economic advisor, the business tax hikes alone would destroy up to 4.7 million jobs. an independent analysis by the nonpartisan luen group found 114 million americans would lose their current health insurance. and the c.b.o. recently noted this health care plan would, and i quote, probably generate substantial increases in federal budget deficits. mr. speaker, this can't be the right solution. we can do better. we need to keep working. and please include republican ideas in this work product. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from kansas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jenkins: mr. speaker, this recession has forced kansas families to change their ways.

folks are cutting back just to make ends meet. now that's what congress should be be doing here in washington. but we aren't cutting back. in fact, the majority says we need a health care plan that will cost us jobs. when actually what we need is to take responsibility for our actions. we need to rein in spending. we need to reduce the deficit. we need to stop legislation that will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation's debt. we need to empower families to purchase health care that is the best bit for them without waiting lines and without mountains and mountains of debt. i will continue to fight for commonsense solutions. americans deserve no less. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. schiff: mr. speaker, as a nation we spend almost twice as much per person on health care as any other country. or about 16% of our gross domestic product. and for all the money we are spending, our health care system does not produce the best outcomes. millions of americans have no health care insurance and receive their care at the emergency room. millions more must make the difficult choice of whether to pay their medical bills or pay their mortgage because they can't afford to do both. i support reforms in the health care package that will bring down health care costs by tying payments to outcomes rather than the quantity of tests being run. by ending the government's overpaymenter for prescription drugs. by empowering independent commission to put health care cost reductions before the congress for up or down votes. and by investing in prevention and primary care. one of the choices that should be made available in the health insurance exchange is a public health insurance option. i strongly believe that the advent of a public plan alongside private insurance

coverage would achieve a number of beneficial goals providing a greater choice to families and much needed competition with private insurers. the new plan would also use its inherent advantages to control costs over the long term through lower administrative overhead and ability to bargain for volume discounts. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burton: mr. speaker, this is the democrat health plan. and this, over 1,000 pages of legalese, is the democrat health plan. this thing is really bad for america, but it's even worse for seniors. it's going to result in cuts in medicare benefits. it's going to destroy medicare advantage. it's going to end up rationing health care. and if you don't believe that, listen to what the president

said, quote. the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80% of the total health care bill out there. there's going to have to be some very difficult democratic conversation to take place on this. he's talking about rationing health care and talking about how we are going to deal with these people who are getting a little bit older who need care. but you know what they are going to do to make sure that the seniors are going to be happy? they are going to give them end of life counseling. take away benefits, but tell you how you're going to die. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. stupak: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. stupak: thank you, mr. speaker. right now just about 60% of americans receive their health insurance from their employer. but from 2000 to 2007 the annual health insurance premium for employers and employees rose from $6,628, to $12,153.

the average worker share of premiums grew by 116%. and the average employer's share rose by 75% while wages only went up 4%. americans can no longer afford health insurance through the insurance company. in fact a recent study found that 73% of all americans who seek an individual insurance policy do not end up purchasing one. either because they were turned down due to pre-existing conditions or their premiums were unaffordable. mr. speaker, all americans should be be entitled to health insurance. but according to the s.e.c., security exchange commission filings, from 2000 to 2007, profits at the top 10 publicly traded health care companies rose an aston ining 428%. get the excess profit out of health care.

provide health care for all americans. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, democrats in this body are negotiating behind closed doors the most sweeping changes to american health care since the 1960's. . in secret. title 5 freedoms you lose in health care reform, it explains that under the plan drafted by house democrats families will lose choices and control of their health care. according to the cnn story, americans would, one, lose the freedom to choose what's in their insurance plan, two, lose the freedom to be awarded for healthy living or pay their real cost, three, lose the freedom to choose high deductible coverage, four, lose

the freedom to choose their doctors. americans need more health care choices, not fewer. house democrats should scrap this plan and negotiate in a bipartisan effort to help increase choices and reduce costs. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? mr. defazio: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. defazio: well, the republicans are mounting a fabulous defense of the health insurance industry. the party of do nothing is saying reform in health care is not needed. they ignore the fact that the health insurance industry is exempt from antitrust law so they can and they do collude to jaung the rates two times the rate of inflakes. profits up 250% in the last 10 years while wages and earnings are down for most americans and small businesses.

but they ignore that little fact and they talk about we can't a have a public plan. that would hurt competition. no, it will bring competition for once to the health insurance industry. then, they talk about, well, you know, they forget about a few other things. they collude also to exclude individuals from coverage because you've been sick or you might get sick, pre-existing conditions or anything the insurance company doesn't like, they can deny you coverage even if you're willing to pay the full premium. they can and do, the insurance companies, deny people renewals because they have the at the matter to get sick after -- because they have the temerity to get sick. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. defazio: they're wrong. we need reform. the speaker pro tempore: the chair must ask all members to bear in mind that the principle that hitting the gavel is one

of the most essential ingredients of the decorum that dignify -- no member should ignore the gavel at the expiration of one's time can have a civil disobedience. such an act is a stark instability and has been the object of a formal call to order. the chair enlists the understanding of cooperation of all the members, mr. speaker. for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada rise? mr. heller: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. heller: thank you very much, mr. speaker. august 17 is an important date. yes, it is my wife's birthday. thanks for remembering that. but it's also the six-month anniversary of the stimulus. let's go back six months. mr. speaker, when the president promised that unemployment, if this bill passed, would not go above %? maybe that was hope.

remember when the speaker said jobs, jobs, jobs? maybe that was hope. remember when the majority leader said we'd see hope. they were all a hall of promises for bad legislation. this august 17 my wife's going to ask, where are the jobs? i am going to ask, where are the jobs? nevadans are going to ask, where are the jobs? americans are going to ask, where are the jobs? happy birthday, sweetheart. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will remind members to address their remarks to the chair. for what purpose does the gentlelady from illinois rise? mrs. biggert: ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. biggert: i thank you, mr. speaker.

i rise today to discuss the health care concerns my constituents shared with me last night at a town hall meeting. overwhelmingly i heard from those who legitimately worry that this proposal will force them from the private insurance they enjoy now. one caller told me that she was able to provide for her medically fragile child only because of her employer-provided health care, which she described as expensive but worth every penny. she fears that this so-called reform bill her coverage options would be limited and her child would be denied the care that she needs. many of my constituents who are remarkably well informed about this complex legislation are also outraged by its cost. they question how $1.6 trillion in new spending and 53 new bureaucracies will make health care better. one caller, a federal employee, was unhappy. mr. speaker, my constituents have spoken. they want commonsense solutions to lower costs, increase accessibility and improve care.

and they know that this bill is not it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minut mr. roskam: thank you, mr. speaker. a few years ago i was at a cubs game and watched as the chicago cubs was leading up to this crescendo and they were playing the florida marlins and it actually looked for a minute as if the chicago cubs were going to go to the world series. and the announcer began to say, well, there's five outs left. and the cubs are going to go to the world series. and it got incredibly exciting. and then there was a bobble over in left field and the rest is history, and i mean the air went out of wrigley field like nothing i'd ever seen before. just whoosh. well, that is exactly what happened in the ways and means committee when the directorf c.b.o., the congressional budget office, came in and said, and i'm paraphrasing the following about the democrat majority's plan. number one, you're rushing

this. you haven't given us time to evaluate it. but, number two, there's nothing that indicates that this is going to save money. in fact, it looks like a budget buster. again, whoosh, all the energy left the room. americans know that we can do better. americans know this is a job destroyer. let's do the right thing. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. murphy: now imagine if you called your doctor because you were very sick and immediately he scheduled you for surgery and went you on your way. but you say, doc, i have a medical that's 1,200 pages long, don't you want to examine me, read it, ask some questions, ordered sore tests? the doctor says, no, i don't have time for this because i'm working on a deadline. we must agree that our health care system does need reform and we want reform. let's work together to fix it, not just come up with an arbitrary deadline.

we need to have basic plans to cover what families really need and worry about, have transparency about quality and costs and provide financial assistance to those in need of it. and let's make insurance personal, portable and permanent. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. bachus: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, throughout the year, there's been a drumbeat, a relentless drumbeat of expensive stimulus packages, takeover of the car companies, financial bailouts, cap and trade, and the drumbeat continues today. more government control, more government spending, higher taxes, fewer choices, especially for small business. now, the democratic leadership wants to take over a sixth of our g.d.p., our health care. they want government to take over health care. it's a recipe for economic

disaster. even worse, it's a disaster for patients because a government-run system will always ration care, reduce quality and raise costs. it will put a federal bureaucrat between you and your doctor. let's put patients, not the government, first. as long as we continue this government-knows-best approach, we're not going to get health care reform or the kind of economic recovery the american people need. we'll only get bigger government, rationing and diminished quality of care. stop the drumbeat of more government, stop the takeover of government health care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. gingrey: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. gingrey: mr. speaker, members on both sides of the aisle are in favor of health care delivery reform. we want universal access. we want universal coverage. but what the democratic majority and their rush to get

something through this body by the end of the week, what they have given us is 1,100 pages of universal nightmare. and this is not what the american people want. they don't want these long lines, these long cues, this rationing of care. they don't want nonelected government bureaucrats telling health care providers what they can give and what they can offer and what they can prescribe to take care of their patients. mr. speaker, we can come together in a bipartisan way and rewrite this h.r. 3200 and do it for the american people, bring down the cost of health care and promote universal access. that's what we need to do. we need to do it in a bipartisan way, and i recommend to the democratic leadership, let's go back to the drawing table. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> ask to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. gohmert: thank you, mr. speaker. the latest numbers we have are for 2007. you divide the total number of households in america and the total amount of money spent on medicare and medicaid, it's $9,200 for every household in america. we're not getting our money's worth with this government-run health care, and now the president wants to spend another $1 trillion. well, there's a republican plan we can't get from legislative counsel to bring to the floor or even have c.b.o. score it to say, you know what, for the first time ever we're going to give senior citizens complete control of their health care, we're going to give them cash money in a health savings amount they control with a debit card, not the government, not the insurance company. and then we'll buy them the best private insurance you can have for everything above that.

that gives them complete coverage. no wrabarounds they have to buy. that's a plan that won't make america sick. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, recently i met with dozens of doctors in east texas to discuss health care, and with only one exception, every one of them said that they had recommended to their children that they not follow in their footsteps and practice medicine. health care is losing our best and our brightest due to its threatened takeover by the federal government. republicans have commonsense solutions to our health care challenges to ensure that all americans have access to the high quality health care they need when they need it at a price they can afford. when it comes to health care decisions, no government bureaucrat should ever come between you and your doctor. and if you're happy with your current plan, republicans want

you to be able to keep it. in contrast, speaker pelosi has proposed a government-run health care rationing system paid for by higher taxes on small businesses and borrowing yet more money from the chinese while sending the trillion dollar billion to our children and grandchildren. mr. speaker, if you love the government takeover of our banks, of our auto companies, of our mortgage companies and a.i.g., you'll love the takeover of your family's health care. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. radanovich: mr. speaker, we're facing one of the most important issues of our country today -- mr. rohrabacher: mr. speaker, we're facing one of the most important issues of our country today. the majority is making deals behind closed doors and going through the yellow pages to see who they can tax in order to pay for the $1 trillion bill they proposed.

majority -- the majority will say that the cost will not only be in dollars and cents. the bill will dramatically alter our health care, which is 20% of our economy through the creation of government-run public option. for those with private insurance in the short time before they're forced into a public plan, a government board will still dictate what health care services they can and cannot have. this is unacceptable. the only people in the room making health care decisions should be and your doctor, not a washington bureaucrat. i urbling my colleagues to re-- i urge my colleagues to reject this misguided and dangerous proposal and issue a real debate on health care reform. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask to speak for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, we are coming up rapidly on the six-month anniversary of the stimulus bill and the question across america, the question in new jersey and the question in my district in south jersey is,

where are the jobs? we had jobs that were promised, good jobs that were promised, jobs that were going to be available, unemployment rate was going to come down. the families in new jersey is hurting. the families in south jersey is hurting. our unemployment rate in the state of new jersey is 9.2%, and in my of my counties it's well above 11%. many of the stimulus money has been financed by the chinese and people are asking, where is the help going to come from? but there is one category that has -- had a dramatic rise in employment, and that in the category of czar. so if you are a czar, make application, your day is coming. thank you. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from west virginia rise? the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. capito: we all share a desire to enact health care reform that lowers costs and health care. i'm less than convinced the plan being developed across the aisle is the most responsible approach. we are talking about a bill with a $1.5 trillion price tag. we have the congressional budget

office saying the bill fails to control costs. we know it doesn't address legal reform. and we know that a government-run health care plan threatens the private insurance of millions of americans. and we know that the bill's pushed to tax small businesses threatens jobs across the country. i talked to a small business owner, her quote is, this squares me. this is not the time to risk still more jobs. i urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us in real dialogue. this is an issue too important for one party to go at it alone. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new hampshire rise? ms. shea-porter: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. shea-porter: mr. chairman, whose side are they on? whose side are they on? this is the same party that in the 1960's told the country that medicare would destroy the country. whose side are they on? we are on the side for the american people.

in 2007, three out of 10 young adults had no health insurance, none. whose side are they on? we will eliminate the doughnut hole with this bill. the doughnut hole that sticks so many senior citizens at full prices for their prescriptions. we'll take care that have with this bill. whose side are they on? we'll end medical bankruptcies. so many people have lost their home because of illness. we'll take care of that. whose side are they on? they are talking these false claims that the government will come between you and your doctor. insurance companies come between you and your doctor right now. they say you'll wait in lifpblete don't believe it. don't believe it. we are finally putting people in line and saying you can walk in, make an appointment, just like they can. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. shea-porter: i yield back. i have one last question. whose side are they on? the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from utah rise? mr. bishop: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. bishop: mr. speaker, last week the president accused doctors of performing unneeded treatment just for money. i received a call today from dr. mobley. he's the ear, nose, and throat residency director at the university of utah who overseas the training of doctors. and he was disappointed in the president's remark. he appropriately thought the president should apologize for two reasons. number one, his baseless accusations against a profession. but also a second reason. because the underlining message of the statement, i don't know why the president decided to become involved in kid's tonsils, for some reason he thought it was within his jurisdiction. but his statement implies a time will come when the government bureaucracy will deem it in their realm of power to decide what a doctor and patient may or may not do. a government big enough to provide our basic needs has historically found themselves

increasingly comfortable in regulating other behaviors related to their health care need. in other countries they told one how to exercise, eat, sleep, what kinds of car to buy. what we need is a system that allows the patient and the doctor to make decisions not a washington bureaucrat. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. campbell: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. campbell: thank you, mr. speaker. this is a flow chart which the democratic leadership doesn't want you to see, but this is a flow chart of the democratic socialized medicine, i will use that term. but government-run health care plan. you see, you are here, and your doctor is here. and all this stuff is somewhere in the middle. now, this plan adds 53 new departments, agencies, and commissions. 53. mr. speaker, this plan is going

to tax more. it is going to cost more. it is going to spend more. it is going to borrow more. but there's one thing we are going to get a lot less of. and that's jobs. by some estimates nearly five million less jobs. why would we want to do this? this isn't health care reform. this is just nuts. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise this afternoon to express my deep concern about the debate over health care reform. this debate is not about whether reform is needed, debate is about ensuring health care reform is done right. i was a small business owner. i owned my business for 20 years. i can speak with a certainty of experience that the tax increase that's been proposed to pay for

the democrats' health reform bill will have a devastating impact on businesses and their employees. not only will the impact of the democrats' bill be felt by business owners, as individuals, the relationships we developed with our doctors, could be jeopardized. as an individual i don't want anyone coming between me and the advice of my doctor. it's as simple as that. choosing a doctor is one of the most personal and most important decisions we can make. our health care option should be decided between doctor and patient not by health choices commissioner. mr. speaker, my constituents want this process done right. they want options and they want access. not mandates by government bureaucrats. they want affordable health care not trillions more in debt. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pitt nam: mr. speaker, with

one week left before we return to our districts, it is alarming we do not have a final health care bill to read despite the speaker's determination to have a vote on it this weekend. to get a head start, i decided to look through the incomplete version available to the public online. no further along than page 16 there is a provision that essentially says a private insurance provider cannot enroll new beneficiaries into a health care plan. in short order, government-approved health care will be the only option. current nonpartisan estimates project that as many as 114 million people will lose private health insurance. nearly five million jobs will be lost due to the new taxes and mandates. and a whopping $1.3 trillion will be added to federal spending over 10 years. the bill creates 53 new commissions, councils, bureaus, advisory panels, and offices. if the american people think it's difficult to navigate the current health care system, just wait until more bureaucrats are

involved. why have the authors of this bill declared war on small business only to grow the federal government? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. putnam: americans do not need more government. they need private sector jobs and afforderable health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. inglis: thank you, mr. speaker. there is much to agree on in health care reform. there's also something that we very much disagree on. the disagreement has to do with the public option. it has to do with the question about whether private insurance companies need the discipline of the competition from a public sector plan, or a publicly provided plan. if you've ever been in business and you have watched the government come into competition with you, you know it is an unfair competitor. because the government has the ability to subsidize its operations. the result is that when government enters an area that

the private sector is working in, government ends up becoming the provider there. that's what we fear would happen in the midst of a public option. the private insurance companies would be forced out. the public option would become really the only game in town. and the result would become pretty quickly a government system of providing insurance and health care. but there's much else that we can agree on. so the question is, can the folks who control this house leave us out of that one thing and then we cooperate? thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from massachusetts rise? mr. frank: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. frank: mr. speaker, i know that there's a debate about when the world began and there is some who think it began 4,000 years ago and some who think it began earlier. we have a rare specimen today, people who think it began on january 20, 2009. who do not think anything

happened before that. who do not remember the years of republican rule where many things went wrong. they talk about the economic recovery bill. ben bernanke who was the chairman of the council of economic advisors appoint bide george bush, that happened before january 20, so you may not remember it, but he told the house financial services committee that unemployment would be higher if it was not for the economic recovery bill. that was ben ber notwithstandingy. he in his report twice cited examples of it. as to this argument the bill was of no use. i debated this bill in february with republican members of congress when they scoffed at the notion that there was something in it for police and fire. i was very pleased today to be notified that 23 police officers will be added to two of the communities in my district directly as a result of the economic recovery plan. magnify that nationally and it's 10,000. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. price: to trim. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman is recognized. mr. price: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, what was one of the major concerns with the nonstimulus spending bill and the national energy tax that have flown through this house? you know what it was, mr. speaker. nobody read the bill. so what should we do with this health care bill? i would suggest that we read the bill. as somebody has said already, there's just a draft form, but what's in that draft? it would raise taxes on individuals, small businesses, and employers by $818 billion. and spend $1.6 trillion to create a system that even the congressional budget office admits would raise, not lower, health costs. the bill would ban the purchase of private individual health coverage as part of a government takeover of health care that independent entities confirm would result in over 100 million americans losing their private personal coverage. the house republicans are for health reform that works. that we have a plan for real reform that expands access to affordable health care and gives families the freedom to choose

and health care that fits their needs not government needs. house republicans support patients. we will oppose any plan that puts washington bureaucrats between patients and the care they need. fewer choices, higher costs, i don't think so. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. latham: i thank the speaker very much. and sometimes i wonder if ybody on the other side of the aisle ever goes home. because i tell i in doing town meetings we have three or four times more people than normal show up. and i will tell you what, they are scared to death of what they see happening in this country. when they look at the $787 billion stimulus package that has no benefit to anyone today. when they look at people voting for cap and trade without even having read the bill, only to find out that that in iowa would

cost 17,000 jobs for each of the next 20 years and 2.5 million jobs nationwide for the next 20 years. they go what's going on? when am i going to get our government back? when are people going to listen to us and be responsive? what this debate is all about is about our children and grandchildren and what we are going to leave them for the future. what it's going to do for someone who wants an opportunity to start a small business, to grow and prosper and be part of this economy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. latham: we are destroying the future of this country. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hare: i was watching from my office and felt the need to come down. i don't hav fancy chart as we have been seeing periodically. but let me give you some facts.

we are going to be adjourning for 37 days at the end of this week. for 12 years, mr. speaker, our friends on the other side of the aisle had this chamber and the only thing we got out of it was the most miserable prescription drug program and nothing more than a boondoggle for seniors. but while we are home and having our town hall meetings, here are the real facts that i hope that not just my friends, and i hope they listen to these, because they are important. every day for the next 37 days, 400 people per day will die because they don't have health care. 14,800 americans, 34 people every day on an average every congressional district. put that on a chart. 14,000 people every day for the next 37 days will lose their health care. 518,000 americans will lose their health care. 1,190 per day.

we need to have more than town hall meetings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for one minute. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, it really rises because i'm sad that the democratic majority is trying to rush this bill through before we have had a chance to go home to our districts to listen to our constituents. to share ideas with them, to get their views on this, one of the most important issues we'll have ever decided here in congress. . one of the things being said puzzles me. the president said, if off public plan, you have to have it to keep the private sector honest. if that's the same, why don't we have government grocery stores to keep private grocery stores honest. why don't we have government car repair people to keep them honest.

why don't we have government car companies -- excuse me, that's the wrong example. the point is the public option is not here to keep the private sector honest. the public option is here to make the private sector go away. that's the purpose of this bill and the american people should see it and we in august ought to be given the opportunity to talk to them about it. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose duds the gentlelady from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. >> the gentlelady is recognized. >> today's "washington journal" cites quotes president obama talking about health care he said if you count on medicare, it means fewer plans to get care and less freedom to choose your own doctors. you'll pay more for your drugs, receive fewer services and get lower quality. i don't think that's right. in fact, it's -- it ain't

right, was his exact quote. well, i couldn't have said it better, mr. president. it's so troubling that this plan that your party is putting before us proposes to do exactly that. the plan would cut a total of $5338 billion from medicare, $172 billion from medicare advantage alone. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin rise? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend and include extraneous materials. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> a wisconsin businessman had a column in the july 25 quat muck journal-sentinel" entitled health care architects must face fiscal reality he pointed out six serious flaws in the health care reform plan. for example, the proposed 8% payroll tax on companies which don't provide coverage.

mr. trees' company, like many others, spends about 15% of payroll on health care. these businesses would save money by opting out of health care and instead paying the 8% tax. president obama promises if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. don't count on it. the house bill proposes 2.5% penalty on people who don't buy mandatory insurance. for someone earning $40,000, that's about $1,000 or one month's premium for a family. many people would skip insurance and pay the $1,000 penalty until a substantial medical need arises. that's what he says is happening in massachusetts under a similar plan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from tennessee rise? mrs. blackburn: to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mrs. blackburn: tomorrow, the president will be on a stone's throw fre the tennessee border when he's out talking to people, i have no doubt he'll have something to pay for -- to say about health care. i think most people agree we need reforms on cost, access, insurance liability and insurance accountability. i would also say that we need to heed the warnings that will come from some of the public option ex-prerments that have -- experiments that have taken place in our states. my home state of tennessee is home to one of the public option experiments. our governor a democrat, has called this a disaster. now, 15 years after that experiment being put in place, our state is still digging out from a system that went horribly wrong and it is a system that rationed care and cost billions more each year than anticipated. i've asked the administration repeat think for assurances

that they understand what went wrong. i'm still waiting. let's learn these lessons from tenncare, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. a lot of problems in this country can be alleviated with a good job. nothing like a good job. that's why the folks in southwest ohio were so excited last fall when a fresh faced young senator from illinois came to town and promised that he would fully support the enrichment plant down in piketon, ohio, creating 8,000 new jobs. people had parades. the senator sent a letter to our governor reiterating his promise, big groundbreaking on july 15, one of our colleagues, zach space was there, says there's thousands of jobs at stake. our democrat governor ted strickland wrote to the

president, that without the loan guarantee, many jobs would be lost. what happened today was the department of energy said no loan guarantee, $.5 billion will be lost, 8 -- $2.5 billion will be lost, 8,000 jobs will not be create. they have not rejected the application of a french company. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro teore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mccot interk i come -- mr. mccotter: i come from michigan. we need jobs. we hear we're going to have a

had call change of the health care system and we're not going to let people's voices be heard over the break so their members can accomplish health care reform not merely in a rush, but most importantly, correctly. i would like to converse about my constituents the best way to do this in our hard-pressed state. i know they'll want health care done right and they'll tell this body to stop the insanity and fix the economy and do the job we sent you to do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> last week, i received a letter from a constituent, dr. harry levine, who was a surgeon in u.s. and canada for 60 years. he said, quote, as a surgeon who worked in canada and the u.s. with two of the highest degrees smurgery, he said, i

have unparalleled experience in all levels of society from grinding dirt level poverty to the most privileged. please take this advice from me. this health care reform will be nothing short of a national calamity in every respect, involving everyone and spare nothing one. i cannot tell you the extent to which chaos, illness and death will befall everyone. under government health care, he says they become numbers and lose identify. don't take my word for it, ask your doctor. ask them how government-run health care will change your life or shorten it. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one minute. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, my father retired from general motors after over 40 years. when general motors closed their assembly plant in ohio,

thousands of lifelong g.m. employees lost their jobs. now to the obama administration's negotiated bankruptcy, the retirees are at risk of losing health care benefits. isn't it ironic that as this house tries to rush through a misguided health care bill, the federal government has denied i.u.e./c.w.a. workers in my community their promised health care benefits? with the federal government owning over of% of general motors, it's -- 6 of general motors, it's time to honor this promise to workers. i've asked the president not to discriminate between u.a.w. and nonu.a.w. retirees. i've talked to the president of g.m. last week, asking for fair treatment of these employees. now it's reported that g.m. will apply for more than $10 billion in additional government funding. if president obama is serious

about health care, he should start by protecting the g.m. workers who are losing their benefits in this administration's acquisition of general motors. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and that any manifestation of approval or disapproval of the proceedings or any other outable conversation is in violation of the rules of the house. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> mr. speaker, question unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. then i hear the word reform in the same sentence as health care, i wonder what's being reformed. fact one, 80% of americans are satisfied with their present health care. fact two, do we know what we're reforming? no.

according to "the washington post," democrats jumped on the chance to brief what's in the health care bill. the bill is so complex that when staff agreed to hold the session, the response was overwhelming. fact three, it will not save money. the nonpartisan c.b.o. projected $1 trillion in costs and mounting deficits and they, quote, do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal spend big a significant amount, end quote. fact four, the bill has harmful cuts to med care advantage that will result in more than 10 million seniors losing the program on which they rely this plan would have your money spent, your current health care gone, no guarantee of satisfaction, all in the name of reform. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore:

without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. westmoreland: mr. speaker, the democrats have a majority in this house and a filibuster-proof majority in the senate. they don't need republicans to pass their agenda. they remind us of this often, changing the house rules democrat leaders would have us believe they have passage of health care for administrative purposes. if we had the power to stop the legislation why didn't we stop the stimulus bill that's run up debt without creating jobs? why wouldn't we stop the cap and trade bill that killed hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and taxed every american that owns a light switch? why not? because democrats have the power to pass whatever they want. this bill hit the rocks not because of republican politics

but democratic policy. american nose this won't bring down costs, it will raise taxes, kill jobs and lower quality of care. the killer of this bill is not politics, it's policy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> to achieve the three goals of patient-centered health care, we have to control costs to aprovide access to quality care. there's three imperatives to achieve this. we have to decrease the amount of money the patient is paying for administrative costs, increase the transparency so the patient knows what she's paying for and lastly, address lifestyle issues so the healthier patient has higher quality health care at lower costs. this has transformational. the current plan, the c.b.o. says is not transformational and is based on things that are very old. medicaid, a federal program currently bankrupting state, medicare, bankrupting this the

federal government. this new third entitlement program which is supposed to rescue the two currently bankrupting us. at the minimum, the solution should not cost more than the problem. let's address the imperatives of lowering administrative costs, increasing transparency and addressing lifestyle issues and develop a patient-centered health care plan, not one built upon two programs going bankrupt obviously a bipartisan basis, let's achieve quality, accessible health care at an affordable cost. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from minnesota rise? mrs. bachmann: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. mrs. bachmann: this weekend, i had the occasion to speak with a businessman in minnesota who employs 110 people in this business he told me, michelle, right now, health care is the most expensive part of my business. under president obama's plan it will cost me an additional

$12,000 a month, i don't have that money. we know the president's own figure says 5,000 jobs will be lost in this country if his bill goes through. there are so many small businesses, mr. speaker, who would love to offer health care, but it's the congress that has made it so expensive for small businesses to offer health care. jobs will be created, but this is where they're going to be created. in government bureaucracy. this is the picture of the bureaucracy that the democrats will create if we get government takeover of health care and remember, the american consumer stands on this side of the bureaucracy. the doctor stands on this side. this is like america's newest board game. you have to gave nate all these -- navigate all these agencies to get to the goal of your doctor and your health care. we can do better. the republicans have a positive alternative. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise?

. ms. woolsey: 46 million americans are uninsured. by the end of the day 14,000 more americans will lose their coverage. over the past weak -- decade health care cost vs. risen four times than workers' earnings. we cannot wait. we must act now with reform that guarantees that everyone has access to high quality care regardless of income, employment, or pre-existing conditions. we also must bring down the cost of care to make health insurance affordable for everyone. that's why we must pass a bill with a robust public plan a. plan without a trigger. a robust public plan will increase competition. it will bring down costs. the public plan must be be tied to the current medicare provider network infrastructure and rates so that it will be able to start immediately. this connection will also increase the savings provided by a public plan. we must pass a health bill with a robust public plan and we must

pass it now. the american people cannot go any longer without high quality, affordable coverage. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from oklahoma rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. fallin: this debate on health care reform is probably one of the most important debates this u.s. congress has had because this debate on health care could move us towards socializing our health care system and turning over our personal health to the federal government to make decisions about our health. and also turning over a large portion of our national economy over to the federal government. this debate on health care reform should only be be about doing what is right for america. and limiting choices on the kind of health care plan a citizen of this nation can have is not right for america. putting a federal bureaucrat between the patient and the doctor is not right for america.

moving 114 million americans off private insurance on to a government socialized plan is not right for america. exploding our deficit with huge massive new tax increases for government-run health care plan is not right for america. we should not be taking away the freedoms to control something as important as our own personal health care and our outcomes of our health care to the federal government. we should not be taking that away. health care reform is about doing the right thing and it is going to be right for democrats, republicans to come together to reform health care. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? ms. schwartz: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. schwartz: almost 50 million americans are without health coverage. many millions more worry about the stability of their coverage, that they'll lose coverage, or at a time of accident or illness their insurance will not cover critical needs. in my home state of pennsylvania families have seen a 100% increase in their health premiums since 2000.

nearly one in five pennsylvania families pay more than 10% of their income on health care. and american businesses are struggling with increasing premiums and forcing them to pass on more of the cost to employees or drop coverage altogether. the federal government is the largest payer of american health care costs and currently paying nearly half of the $2.5 trillion health bill. while costs keep rising at the rate fasterer than inflation, health outcomes for americans are not improving the status quo is unacceptable. we must move forward in offering a uniquely american resolution to strengthening and reform our health care system. health care reform means making difficult decisions. without congressional action, you'll be -- there will be higher costs and greater uncertainty for all of us. it's time to act. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. garrett: mr. speaker, in an interview in the "new york times" earlier this year,

president obama discussed the difficult decision he and his family face to replace his grandmother's hip after she broke it, after she was terminally diagnosed with cancer. in that interview he said, whether in the aggregate society making those decisions to give my grandmother or anyone else's aging parents a hip replacement when they are ill is a sustainable model is a very difficult decision. there is going to have to be a conversation guided by doctors, scientists, and ethicists. then there's going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. with all due respect, mr. president, i think this is a conversation that would be best left between the doctor and the patient. we don't need a government plan. we don't need government bureaucrats standing in the way of this relationship. we don't need them out there rationing out what care is best in this relationpship. so i for one reject the idea that government bureaucrats will make better decisions about health care than the doctors anti-patients. so any proposal that seeks to

ration care in such a way should be proposed -- should be be opposed. i will do so every single time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. first congress passed a multimillion dollar bailout to reward the bad behavior of wall street. next the trillion dollar plus stimulus plan. it was sold under promise that unemployment would not exceed 8%. but unemployment is now at 9.5% and rising. next the house passed a national energy tax, they called it cap and trade so members wouldn't have to say they voted for a new tax. members are not allowed to read that, either. it will cost every american family and business lots of money and drive a lot more jobs overseas. now congress wants to pass a bureaucratic managed and rationed health care plan again costing americans trillions of dollars and worse yet, their medical freedoms.

little doubt members will not be allowed to read the final version of that, either. where is the lodge snick where is the common sense? when will congress think about the working folks, the seniors, and savers who made this country great? congress needs to look past the special interest and start listening to the people back home. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i'd like to make clear that there is not anyone in the united states congress who does not want to make our nation's health care system better. there is bipartisan agreement that congress must help the american people by working to lower high cost of health care and provide access and availability to the american people who are uninsured. this is not the time for congress to rush to the president's desk in a reckless manner legislation which would amount to nothing short of

nationalizing one of the best health care systems in the world. make no mistake, there are much needed reforms that congress can and should address. we must solve this problem in a focused and bipartisan way and not allow some extreme proposal to make its way to the president's desk that will be another massive spending program. federal spending at the highest level in american history. the economy is in a severe recession. and unemployment is rising every day. another massive government program with more spending, more borrowing, and higher taxes will only hurt the struggling economy and the american people. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. neugebauer: thank you, mr. speaker. i originally came down here to talk about the fact when my two grandsons need to know whether they need their tonsils out

we'll let the doctor make that decision not the president of the united states or the speaker of the house. but then the gentleman from massachusetts got up and was quoting a comment that chairman bernanke made the other day about the stimulus package. what he didn't talk about was what the rest of the comment that mr. bernanke made when we said, would the fact we are spending over -- borrowing 50 cents of every dollar we spend, do you think that that would change your prediction down the road if we keep spending at this level? down the road it -- this is quote the chairman, down the road it might. as i talked about in my testimony i do think it's very important we look at a medium-term fiscal sustainability and we have a plan for getting back to reasonably low deficits and sustainable debt to g.d.p. ratio otherwise we might see interest rates rise which would be negative for the economy. do you think we can kick spending and having these trillion dollar deficits and not put our country -- is that sustainable? chairman bernanke said no, sir, it's not. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> to address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we have before us this week maybe h.r. 3200, the health care reform bill. those of us on this side of the aisle are for health care reform. we believe there are many who need insurance, many who need reduced costs for health insurance. madam speaker, this isn't it. in fact, the president is fond of saying, if you have it, and you like it, you can keep it. not true. ladies and gentlemen, on page 16 and 17 and i would encourage the president to read pages 16 and 17, in fact the entire bill, and he will see that we take a hatchet to private insurance, to employer health care. in fact, the congressional budget office director, a democrat, said that the president not only doesn't bend the curve to reduce health

costs, we increase it. and we create a $200 billion deficit. americans deserve better, mr. speaker. they deserve a better bill than this one. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> the health care reform proposal expected to come before the house contains provision that is include a tax increase of more than $500 billion on america's small businesses and working families. as well as a tax on jobs of up to 8% of employers' payrolls. additionally, individuals would be required to buy coverage or pay a $2.5% fine on their income. this government-run plan proposed by the democrats will force more than 100 million individuals to lose their current insurance. knocking this many americans off their current coverage is a clear violation of the president's pledge to allow individuals to keep their current health plan if they like it. we need preventive medicine not

defensive medicine. i want health care decisions to be between you and your doctor, not some washington government bureaucrat. if the president and democrats are serious about health care reform, then they will work with republicans toward a bipartisan plan. the american people do not need health care reform legislation that can only get 218 votes in the house. let's come up plan that will get 435 votes. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. kingston: i just got this email from jo ann in georgia, she's with the economic development authority. she says that ann -- wayne farms is now closing down, 165 jobs lost. this brings coffee county georgia's total be job loss to 2,979, or an unemployment rate of 16.5%.

mr. president, where's the stimulus package? where are the jobs? now on top of this comes speaker pelosi. she's planning to ram through a $1.2 trillion government takeover of the health care system. this will cause a $534 billion tax increase and a $208 billion tax increase on small business and farmers. therefore more layoffs and more unemployed. mr. speaker, this is not the change the folks in coffee county, georgia, can use. they need jobs. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? mr. cole: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cole: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, since january we have had a lot of talk about bipartisanship and we have even had some of it. we had a partisan democratic stimulus bill that created bipartisan debt and unemployment. but no bipartisan jobs. we had a partisan democratic cap and trade bill that will create

bipartisan higher energy prices but no more bipartisan energy. and now we've got a partisan democratic health care bill that will cost democrats, republicans, and independents alike their jobs and quality health care. hopefully, mr. speaker, the democratic majority will eventually create a bipartisan opposition that will stop their job killing health care bill in its tracks. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> we need to reform health care in this country, the democratic plan doesn't do that. the democratic health bill doesn't reduce cost or inefficiency. it increases taxes by over $1 trillion. cuts provider payments substantially t forces tens of millions of people off private plans that they are satisfied with into a government-run plan. it creates 53 new federal agencies or boards, tripling the size of the current government

health care system that. is not a move in the right direction. is this plan good enough for democratic leadership? apparently not. in the ways and means committee we offered amendments to mandate that all members of congress would have to be under the government-run plan. the response from democratic leadership was, that wouldn't be fair to the families of congressmen. i've got something to say to this, mr. speaker, if it's not fair to the families of congressmen, it's not fair to americans who work hard and actually pay their taxes to be forced on to something like this. what we need is a real plan with real reforms that the american people will accept and addresses their needs w that i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> to address the house for one minute the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> despite unemployment fast approach 10g%, over 15% in my home state of michigan a new analysis shows the democrats' health care plan could force as

many as 61% of small businesses, who already provide health insurance, pay a new, 8% payroll tax. the house democrats' bill mandates employers must pay a minimum of 72.5% of the health insurance premiums for individuals and 65% for families. if an employer fails to do so, then it will be subject to a job and wage-crushing 8% payroll tax. according to the kaiser family foundation, the new mandate will hit small firms and their employers especially hard and the majority of those small firm this is a don't meet democrat standards, up to 61% of small businesses will pay that tax. the bottom line, more taxes and more cost this is a will hurt the very workers they are supposed to help. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. kennedy: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one

minute. mr. kennedy: the health care bill we are considering contains an important item, mental health parity, requiring all health insurance plans to treat mental illness and addiction on the same grounds as other physical illnesses. if we are to do this and also include prevention, it's important that we have the appropriate education and medical education for all doctors, that they may be table properly screen and treat all patients, irrespective of their specialties in some other area, doctors ought to be able to identify and treat, at least in the primary care setting, mental health challenges before referring them to specialists. this has been an issue within the institute ofed me kin report and i encourage my colleagues to support this in a section for medical education and training within the base of the bill and at this time, i'd like to yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> the government-run health care plan or the waxman bill is being forced on americans without a full debate. during the markup on energy and commerce, where i serve we got the replacement bill, about 1,000 pages, about an hour before the markup. the markup was discontinued after one day. who know what is is in the bill today. but there are some basic principles all americans recognize. as mr. thomas jefferson has said, something about government and its insidious encroachment on everyday freedom, quote if we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of people under tremendous the pretense of caring for them, we will be wise. this is a prepre-tense democrats are using to push this bill. mr. jefferson also said, great innovation should not be forced on slender majorities. it is clear, mr. speaker that a

lot is at stake here, not the least of which is our personal freedom. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> the president and democrat leadership here in the house and the senate are on the fast track to transition our country's republic into a european social democracy. there are many reason this is a people in america, their ancestors, pled where they were to come to america. it was because of the oppression of freedom of the governments where they resided. we have made our share of mistakes and successes throughout history but when america emgraces -- embraces freedom and liberty, we have theable to inspire and lead the world through many tri-s and have done so. in health care, we attract the greatest minds of the world to come to america's marketplace to correct at-risk problems.

when we talk about health care reform, we want to preserve that which is right are and work on that which is wrong. when my democrat colleagues of the leadership talk about health care reform, it is about a government-run, socialized health care system. let's reject that and work together. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> there were those who doubted we would pass children's health care or the budget or the stimulus. i rise today to indicate we're going to pass comprehensive health insurance reform because it's so vitally important for our nation's economy. as we see the stock market rising and home sales regaining, we saw the richmond fed report, a very positive manufacturing uptick in the economy, we know with a certainty that health care is important.

not only do we need to have a robust private sector health insurance options for the public, we have an -- we need to have an option for patients if they're turned away so that we need a public option this majority, unlike the previous majority that had eight years to do something on health care, they did nothing. we see a lot of energy today in their speeches, but when they were in charge, when they had toe white house, they had no concern for the tens of millions of americans uninsured and those kicked off of private health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. we're not going to talk about it, we're going to vote about it real soon on this house floor. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as americans struckle to make ends meet, too many face the prospect of lacking health care for themselves and their

families. health care was a prime issue on their mind. there was concern about the plan on the table. they have great concern with the regards to the provisions in there and rationing care. they're concerned about the possible loss of the patient-doctor relationship. small businesses are concerned about the tax provisions in the bill that may cost them not only the employees they have, but their businesses as a whole. at a time when we need to be helping small business, we need -- we are adding another burden to them. our side, the republicans, has a plan to address the concerns in a way that solves problems, rather than creating government bureaucracy that takes over 18% of our economy. my constituents believe that the administration's plan on the table is the wrong plan at the wrong time and will have the wrong outcome. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> this 1,000-page, 17 extra pages, bill passed labor, passed ways and means, it's only waiting on one committee at this point. what's clear is it uses our tax money to kill innocent baby through abortion. it uses our tax money to allow people to kill themselves. what's unclear is anything in between. part of the reason this chart is being censored, i've concluded is it oversimplifies the bill. this position here, the health administrator, when i asked what defines a full-time employee? 40 hours? 35 hours? 30 hours? that is up to the health care administrator. what if you're above the small business amount and drop below it because you laid off people? that will be up to the health care administrator. we were in session all night long marking up this bill, it kept say, we don't want the businesses to gain this bill,

so we're not going to define it because we're going to let the health care administrator do it this 1,017 pages is just a start. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, my constituents aren't the only ones concerned about the government takeover of health care. yesterday, health care leaders at texas medical center, the largest medical center in the world, gathered at a hospital. they represent public hospitals, nonprofit, private, and some cutting edge research institutes. they had three messages for lawmakers in congress. one, they have no idea what's in this massive health care bill or how it affects the patients they treat. they've had no input, virtually no input in health care reform it's too important to rush through the house in the next few days. dr. larry kaiser said, i likened it to taking out a

tumor. there's a time when there's an urge to get it done quickly, but that's when mistakes can be made. that's the time to take it slowly and carefully. why aren't we listening to these health care experts? now is not the time to rush this bill through? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from covel rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i thank my colleague from colorado. mr. speaker, i rise today troubled about the democrats' proposed government takeover of our health care system. the congressional budget office, c.b.o., has confirmed this legislation will not reduce costs, but rather drive costs even higher for american families. they confirmed this weekend that a mandate on busiss would tend to reduce the hiring of workers at or near the minimum wage. they also pointed out that, quote, employers would be expected to pass the costs of fees on to workers in the form of lower wages.

this government takeover will burden our economy and stifle economic growth. instead of a takeover, congress should act on free market and tax code health care reforms to make our system better. the president and his majority in congress failed to produce jobs with the so-called stimulus. in fact, things have only gotten worse. why should we trust them with a government takeover of health care? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, so many members have come up to talk about this plan, the plan that in fact cannot get even a majority -- even all of the democrats to vote for it and doesn't seem to have so much as one republican voting for it, mr. speaker, hopefully the american people understand, republicans believe there is a problem.

we know, in fact, there are uninsured and underinsured. there are americans who are concerned about losing their insurance. and, of course, we all know that the federal program such as medicare are fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse. what we don't hear is, we don't hear attacking the problems we could attack on a bipartisan basis. lower the cost of health care by eliminating defensive medicine, by lowering the threat against every doctor if he or she doesn't simply do every possible test, even if it's simply running up the tab. we can in fact, work on a bipartisan basis on health care. the first thing we have to do is agree to do it, piece by piece, and attack those things which either cause people to be uninsured or in fact not be able to afford their insurance. i urge you to think about that, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. shimkus: thank you, mr. speaker. 90% of all americans have health insurance. and the majority of those, like their plan. the democrat bill, as drawn out, does a couple of things. first of all, it doesn't keep the president's promise. the president promises if you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it. but as stated earlier, on page 16 and 17 of the bill, you're not going to be able to do that. the other thing is the plan was to lower the cost curve, but the c.b.o. testified the cost for plans go up. the cost for the private insurance plan goes up, the cost for the public option goes up. a public option will undercut private insurance, driving people into a public plan. now, in countries that have one public insurance plan, the only way they control costs is by rationing care. if you don't trust me, just ask the canadians, the brits, the folks in new zealand, australia, where you have a bureaucrat deciding whether you

get the care you need or not. this is not the type of plan we want. we want to maintain the doctor-patient relationship. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute. >> the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. recently i was asked during a radio interview if i thought legislation for health care reform would pass this house sometime this year. my answer was, i hope so. all of us want more affordable, better, more accessible health care for our citizens. the question is how do we achieve this very important goal. unfortunately the plan embodied by this diagram is not the way to do that. this plan will cost millions of jobs. it will cut almost a half trillion dollars out of medicare, hurting seniors. it will raise taxes on small businesses, making it harder to

provide health insurance. as the c.b. oomplet told us, when fully implemented, it will raise the cost of health care by over $200 billion, more than $2 trillion in 10 years. unfortunately, this plan that the house leadership is promoting, those who are supporting it have forgotten physicians' principle of, first do no harm. this bill will do great harm to the health care for each and every american citizen. we must defeat this plan and we must enact legislation that will truly be about empowering the american citizen and what's best for their health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? . >> mr. speaker, i draw your attention to the board here, mr. speaker, there's 435 members of the house of representatives. there's 256 democrats in the house of representatives.

it takes 218 votes to pass the government takeover of health care. mr. speaker, it's priceless that the democrats can't come up with 218 votes to pass the government takeover of health care. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. with all the talk of health care reform over the last several weeks, we haven't heard anything from the majority with regard to medical malpractice reform. this is kind of interesting because if any of you actually walk into a doctor's office across the country and ask them what's the one thing that could really help with health care in

this country with costs and care and coverage, they would say, medical malpractice reform. today across this country doctors do not look at patients at patients. they look at them as future lawsuits. if we aren't careful, this country won't have doctors anymore because everybody that's interested in going to med school will go to law school. the government takeover of health care fails to address the concerns of the people we should listen to the most, and that's the doctors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i would like to tell but a constituent of mine by the name of kathy mcgill. she represents a personal side of this health care debate. she's a small business owner in my district, she and her brother owned a company that installs windows and new homes. and in a difficult economy, she

now has something else to worry about, a new tax she will have to pay if she doesn't spend thousands of dollars a year on health insurance for each of her employees. they have told her they would rather keep the money in their own pockets and pay for health care the way they see fit. if the obama health care reform bill is passed, kathy told me she will have no choice but to fire two of her employees so she can provide health insurance for the remaining three. mr. speaker, this bill is a job killer. we should make health care more affordable and accessible to every american, but this is not the way to do it. people like kathy mcgill in my district deserve better and so do the american people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. reichert: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. reichert: thank you, mr. speaker. last week i received a note from

a constituent about the proposed government takeover of our health care. she said, as a small business owner we are struggling already. we provide our employees and our families with insurance and cannot afford additional taxes. please continue to fight this fight. keep up this fight. keep us from rising taxes. keep us from costing small businesses more taxes. that's why i stand here today to give a voice to my constituents who are extremely afraid, frightened, worried about this massive $1.1 trillion proposal and new 8% tax on their small business. the stimulus isn't stimulating the economy. unemployment continues to rise and now we want to slap a new tax on job creators. people are hurting in my district. and across the nation this bill

is out of touch with reality. out of touch with the american people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, we all know that america's got the best health care of any nation in the world. but when some people can't afford it and some people don't have access to it, that's a crisis and we need reform. we need the right kind of reform. we don't need this democratic plan that's being rushed through the house. i have been talking to my constituents back home and they say we want to make sure we have the right to choose our own doctor. they say we want to have the right to get the treatment we need when we need it. that's what republican reforms do. that's not what the democratic reform does. stop and think about this. democrats will tell you health care is expensive. but we are going to provide more health care to more people and it's not going to cost anybody any money except maybe a few millionaires. those numbers don't add up.

you better think about it because somebody's got to pay the bill. it just might be you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. in the last campaign we heard a lot about if you don't make more than $250,000 a year you won't pay any new taxes. what does the new majority do their first act in congress is to pass a $787 billion stimulus package meant to jolt the economy. yet all its done is jolt the national debt up to a new high of $11.5 trillion. next the new majority comes forward and says we want to decrease carbon outputs, we want to pass a cap and tax proposal meant to limit carbon monoxide. that bill, if passed, will limit jobs in america by over $2.7 million -- 2.7 million fewer jobs and now we are hearing they want to limit costs on health

care. in actuality this plan, their health care proposal, will limit access to care. their bill will actually decrease the number of jobs and will actually add a tax on every small business owner in america in the form of an 8% increase in payroll taxes. more taxes, fewer jobs, i don't think that's the change america voted for. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? oofer a unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. -- >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kucinich: why are there 50 million americans without any health insurance? it's pretty simple. it's because people cannot afford to pay the premiums. why is it that half the bankruptcies in the united states are connected to people

not being able to pay their hospital bills? it's because the co-pays and deductibles are through the roof and they threaten family financial stability. why do these things happen? it's because we have a for-profit health insurance system. one out of every $3 goes for the operation of the for-profit system. $800 billion a year. for corporate profits, stock option, executive salary, advertising, marketing, the cost of paperwork. if we took that money and put it into care, we would have enough to cover everyone. this is a battle between the insurance companies and our people. we are either going to have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people or we are going to have a government of the insurance companies, by the insurance companies and for the insurance companies. i think we remember what lincoln said at gettysburg. he didn't say the insurance companies are going to run the country. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from idaho rise? mr. simpson: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. simpson: thank you, mr. speaker. i repeatedly heard members come to the floor to ask the question where are the jobs? the obama administration, congressional democrats told us with the passage of their $787 billion stimulus package that unemployment would not rise above 8%. it now stands at 9.5%, it's a legitimate question, where are the jobs? let me tell you where the jobs are. as reported on the news last night, on the spending of the stimulus package, we are spending your tax dollars, $80,000 on building a living snow fence. $31.5 million on a bike trail in california. $1.5 million on a deer underpass . $3.4 million on a turtle tunnel in florida. that's right. a turtle tunnel in florida. i hope some of the money from this stimulus is going to train the turtles as to the advantages

of using a turtle tunnel. these are the democratic stimulus dollars at work. your tax dollars at work. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rogers: thank you, mr. speaker. people come to the u.s. from all points of the globe to get the medical treatment that america is best at all across the world. it's the best system ever invented. and we have evolved it over these 200-plus years. this experiment that the obama administration is pushing the congress to pass would rip out that system and put in its place what i think would be an inferior system. people don't understand why we need to do it. and in fact we don't have to do it. our proposal essentially three

things would allow us to keep this great medical system that we have, bring down the cost, and make it affordable to everyone. we would allow small companies to form co-ops and bargain for their insurance coverage, much the same as the kentucky farm bureau does in kentucky even today. we would do away with junk lawsuits that drive up the cost of practice and cause doctors to perform very expensive defensive medicine. do not pass this bill. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? mr. hoekstra: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoekstra: mr. speaker, it's time for us to slow down. the second day in office, the president said, within 12 months guantanamo will be closed. he's now found out that rushing and making that decision was the

wrong decision and that the teams that he has in place have clearly indicated he will not be able to make that goal. then we rushed into a stimulus bill, $787 billion on the packs -- backs of our kids and grandkids. it's not working. rushing through this process doesn't work. we then did an ill-advised cap and trade system which has further put the brakes on our economy. we rushed it through. and now we are looking at rushing through a health care bill. people are talking about what's in the bill. no one really knows because they're still negotiating and there are still some that say, we should vote and we should vote this week even though a bill isn't in front of us. let's slow down. let's do this in a professional way and make sure that we have a professional product. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman

from florida rise? mr. mica: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. also have a parliamentary inquiry of the speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state it. mr. mica: mr. speaker, this chart that i have here i have been banned as a member of congress from mailing this to my constituents or disseminating it. is it within the rules of the house and order of the house for me to be allowed to present this chart here at this time on the floor of the house of representatives? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman chart is in order. the gentleman's chart is in order. the chair has not heard any objection to the chart. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mica: thank you, mr. speaker. i made that parliamentary inquiry because members of congress have been banned from

distributing this chart which shows the obama-democrat health care plan. any time you get a bill from congress and it proposes creating new agencies or activities, and in this case a health care reform, and you chart it, it tells a lot. once we charted this health care proposal, members of congress were banned from disseminating this chart. mr. speaker, this may be the only opportunity my constituents have to see this. last week we asked with the stimulus package where the -- where are the jobs? this week we ask with the health care plan where are the reforms? there are over 53 new agencies, bureaucracies and bureaucrats added in this health care so-called reform. i want health care reform. the american people want health care reform. i don't think this is the reform

that they ask for. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? mr. flake: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. flake: mr. speaker, some things just don't add up. we are told that the democrats' version of health care reform will cost less in the long run. . when medicare was instituted more than 30 years ago, we were told it would cost this amount. instead, it cost nine times that much, nine times that much and that holds true for just about every government program that we institute. there are multiple, multiple times that it costs more and more and more than we ever thought it would. how do you control costs when you have to borrow money? you control costs by rationing. markets control costs with

competition. they ration by competition and by cost. but governments control costs by rationing. what will happen here is that the services that you are now used to receiving, they will be severely circumscribed. let's tell people what they're going to get. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and stepped my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: the administration's plan will raise taxes, ration care, extend weight times and let a government commission make decisions that should be made by families and their doctors. this scheme will increase our national deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars and will increase, not decrease, the cost of health care. during a recent health care telephone town meeting with

1,200 of my constituents, i asked them the question, should the government determine how much health care they received. more than nine out of 10 said no. president obama is intent on making the government too big, too intrusive and too expensive. we should listen to our constituents. congress should not approve a government takeover of health care. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from iowa rise? mr. king: permission to address the house for one minute, revise and stepped my remarks. president obama and part of his campaign to be elected to office and part of his campaign after he has been inaugurated as president has said we have an economic calamity and can't fix it until health care is fixed. when you have a business that's broken, it doesn't take $1 trillion to $2 trillion program

to fix it. if the problem with health care we are spending too much money, why don't we have to spend $1 trillion or $2 trillion to fix it? that's the number one question that doesn't seem to be answered by the administration. and the second one is the statement that is not believable to the american people is the idea that when the president promises if you like your health insurance program, you get to keep it. in fact, if they pass this legislation, they will take it away and it says in section 102 of the bill they will take it away. the american people aren't going to be able to decide if they keep their health insurance program because the government will write new rules forever health insurance program and the employees will decide whether the insurance is cheaper under the government-run plan or the private. vote this down. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise? >> consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. ehlers: i am very reluctant

to criticize the president of the united states. he has the most difficult job, as do we. and we must work together. but i'm really confused because he keeps referring to our health plan or our health system is broken. i don't know what that means. what does it mean when there is a break. when i went to the doctor recently, no problem. went in, saw him, got the prescription left. i needed hospital treatment, went in, had the surgery and left. everything worked fine. i think the real problem is that our economy is broken and i know in the state of michigan where i live our unemployment rate for june is 15.2%. if people aren't working, they tend to lose their health care, because they usually get it through their employer. starting august 24 in michigan, we expect an average of 18,000 people in michigan to roll off unemployment insurance each month. by the end of twirne, we expect

to have -- 2009, we expect to have 99,000 people who will have lost their benefits. we need people to get back to work and when they get back to work, they will get their health care back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. wamp: permission to address the house for one minute. the gentleman is recognized. mr. wamp: neither party has an exclusive on integrity or ideas and these challenges are not republican challenges or democratic challenges, theyr in fact, american challenges. but i have to tell you, a few years ago, a republican president with a republican congress, he proposed sweeping changes to immigration policy, but those changes kind of flew in the face of the rule of law. they threatened our sovreignty and republicans said no. here we are today, all of us want our president to be successful, but the democratic party needs to look at the president and say this is not what we need to protect our health care system.

we need to change it. we need to reform it. we need to improve it, but we don't need government control of health care. it's too important. 85% of the people in this country today are satisfied with their health care and they're afraid this new proposal will put that in jeopardy. this is a matter of life or death. people are not waiting in line to leave this country for health care, it's the other way around. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise -- tennessee rise? >>equest permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. duncan: i went to a doctor and i asked him how much he charged back then he said he charged $60 for nine months of care. before the federal government got so heavily involved in medical care, medical care was cheap and affordable by almost everyone and doctors even made

house calls. then the federal government got into the business and costs exploded. in fact, the predictions on medicare and medicaid, it costs 10 times more after 25 years than what was predicted. and the same will happen on the health care plan that is before the congress today. the costs will far exceed the predictions. medical care will become even more expensive and more unaffordable. mark levin, the radio congressmen tator said, it will put massive costs on the states to expand medicaid programs and states like mine of tennessee, which don't have a state income tax will be forced into having one. this plan is not good, especially for the poor and lower-income people. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. ms. tsongas: i rise today to discuss the important

responsibility in front of us on health care reform. the cost of inaction will bear a heavier burden on individuals, families, small business owners and our economy the longer we delay. without reform, the cost of health care for the average american family is expected to rise $1,800 every year with no end in sight. if we don't act, 14,000 americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. the act has helped our nation begin to tackle this issue in a meaning way. we agree this bill must prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on medical history or dropping your coverage when you are sick. this is a key and needed reform that will stop insurers from gaming the system. right now insurance companies decide whether or not to cover you for a procedure. if a procedure is deemed too experimental, for example, it

may not be covered. if it is too expensive, you are responsible for paying the costs of it after a certain point. if we do not take the steps to regulate insurance industry practices now, american families will see their coverage shrink and costs go up. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? mr. mccarthy: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mccarthy: mr. speaker, earlier today, i was in a meeting with small businesses around the united states. we met inside this capitol. we talked about health care. we talked about ways to reform health care, to bring the costs down, quality up, to be able to have greater accessibility, to be able to have the ability to move from job to job and have the health care, be able to have choice and quality. and when i sat around this table with small business owners, one of the individuals owned a

kentucky fried chicken, one a pizza establishment and talked about going from 45 employees to 35. he said if the health care bill as proposed, his question will not be will he have to lay people off, the question will be, will he shut down. he would have to close his business if this bill passes this week. then we met with another small business owner, and she provides health care to her employees, high quality. i ask that we spend our priorities not on how much time we have to pick a dog, but how much time we actually have to do health care right. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does gentleman rise? >> permission to address the house. i rise today to express my concern about the house democrat health care reform package and impact on small businesses and jobs. at a time when our nation's unemployment rate is approaching 10%, this legislation would

impose surtaxes on high wage earners. this is not a tax on the rich as many would claim, but a tax on small business owners to provide 70% of the jobs in the united states. these taxes could cause 4.7 million more jobs to be lost. now is not the time to be pushing legislation that would cause even more americans to lose their jobs. instead, we need to focus our ways and attention on ways to make health care more affordable for small business owners to meet the needs of their employees and stay in business. we should allow small businesses to band together to obtain lower insurance premiums and provide a tax credit for those business owners and the self-employed. we need to help our small business owners with the right health care reform, not legislation that just raises their taxes in these tough economic times. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina rise? >> address the house for one

minute and revise and extend. >> i'm a breast cancer and i'm alive today because i was able to access and get the early tests that i needed. in 19994, i knew something was wrong and i went to five doctors and three ma'amo grams and they said you're ok. the sixth doctor said let's do an ultrasound and he found my cancer. otherwise, who knows what would have happened. under a government health system like they have in u.k. and canada, i wouldn't have had that opportunity to get those tests so quickly and they may have found out too late. survival rates for cancer in countries that have government systems are much lower. in the u.k., breast cancer survival rates are 11% lower than they are in the united states. we need to look at sensible policies. we need to not be creating a huge new program for health care that only limits the care that

not only cancer patients, but all americans seff. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> address the house for one minute revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. culberson: mr. speaker, we, in texas are proud to be home of the texas medical center, the world greatest collection of medical institutions. i'm proud to represent the hospital that is recognized around the world as the greatest cancer center in the world. we understand better than anywhere else the importance of medical institutions that are driven by research, driven by the physicians, driven by the needs of patients and the desires of doctors. and we in texas want simply to be left alone. we want texas to run texas, the most personal and important part of anyone's life is our families and our health. and we want to make these decisions for ourselves. we need to be focusing as a congress on protecting the

health care system we have created on encouraging job growth, by giving small businesses tax credits, by allowing small businesses to pool their resources so they can negotiate with the big insurance carriers and bring down their rates. we need to focus on tort reform for doctors to protect them from fwriff louis lawsuits. let's first do know harm and protect this economy and protect the nation as the world's greatest health care system. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. are there any further one-minute requests? pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postponefurther proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered. or on which the vote incurs objection under clause 6 of rule 20. the postponed votes will be taken later. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee rise? mr. tanner: i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r.

3325, the w.i.p.a. reauthorization act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to amend title 11 of the social security act to re-authorize for one year the work incentives planning and assistance program and protection and advocacy for beneficiaries of social security program. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from tennessee, mr. tanner, and the gentleman from texas, mr. johnson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. . mr. tanner: thank you, mr. speaker. i'd yield myself such time as i may consume and i'd like to submit my full statement for the record and ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on h.r. 3325. the bill now under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman is recognized.

mr. tanner: today, i want to join with our colleagues on the social security subcommittee and mr. johnson, our ranking member, in support of this re-authorization for one year. it is a one-year extension of two programs that helps social security and social security ben fin eashes return to work -- beneficiaries return to work. the wipa program allows beneficiaries get one-on-one assistance from community organizations to help them understand the rules and the effect they'll have on their benefits this they return to work. the pabs program provides legal advocacy services to help beneficiaries get a job or keep their job. the disability advocates and the return to work experts have both testified before our subcommittee about the effectiveness of these programs and how they will help people return to the workplace. the reason we're doing this

today is because the authorization for these programs will expire in september. the bill extends for one year the programs with no changes while the commtee considers a longer term re-authorization. the bill does not increase government spending because it comes from the discretionary reserves of the social security administration. what these two bills -- what this bill actually does, extending these programs, mr. speaker and members, it actually helps people who have been sick or disabled who want to go back to work and become no longer a recipient of these sorts of public assistance to do so. and so i think it's not only a worthwhile enterprise in terms of what the subcommittee on social security has done but it also is something that will strengthen the vibrancy of our economy as people who have been disabled or sick can actually

return to the workplace. now i'd like to reserve the balance of my time and ask my friend, mr. johnson -- or you can recognize him. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from texas. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. johnson: i rise today in support of passage of this important legislation. i thank mr. tanner for bringing it up. he's doing a great job as the social security chairman. you know, choosing to work shouldn't be a hard decision to make for someone receiving supplemental security because they are social security disability benefits, but it is. and that's because the folks have to think about how their wages will impact their cash benefits or their access to health care. with nearly unanimous support from both the house and senate almost 10 years ago, congress passed ticket to work and work incentives improvement act, a

law that was about helping those with disabilities to get back to work in order to support themselves and their families. the two grant programs we would re-authorize today were created as a part of that landmark legislation. the work incentives planning assistance program funds community-based organizations to assist those receiving benefits to understand social security's complex rules and the effect of working on their benefits. today, there are over 104 scommuent-based cooperative agreements to ensure these -- community-based cooperative agreements to ensure this is enacted in 50 states. since this program game, over 350,000 have been served. one example is a work incentive planning assistance program of easter seals in north texas which serves 19 counties in the north texas, including my district. thanks to their good work over

the past three years, their staff experts have served 1,302 people and 184 of them now still have jobs. the protection and advocacy program for beneficiaries of social security funds 57 grant programs covering all 50 states. these programs served almost 2,500 people last year and helped those working or trying to work by responding to their questions and resolving potential disputes with their employer or with an agency providing them with return to work services. the authorized funding level of $30 million has remained constant since these programs were created. should congress not act, these programs would expire on september 30, 2009, and the funding would end. while i support a one-year extension of these two important programs at a ways and means subcommittee on social security hearing, we

learned that social security's primary return to work program, ticket to work, really hasn't been working. fortunately, we are beginning to see promising signs of success in the ticket programs since new regulations to fix it were implemented last summer. now more than ever how every taxpayer dollar is spent does matter. programs that don't achieve results must be changed must end. to that end, i look forward to working with chairman tanner and all the members of the committee to figure out how all return to work programs can achieve their goal of a job and self-sufficiency for those who choose to return to work. i urge my colleagues to vote yes, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from tennessee. mr. tanner: thank you, mr. johnson. and i too have no other speakers and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman yields back. all time has been yielded back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3325. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1803 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1803, a bill to amend the small business act to establish a veterans business center program, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: if there is no objection, so ordered. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, as the new generation of heroes returns home from the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan, our nation has a responsibility to ensure that they can earn a

decent living for themselves and their families. when they re-enter civilian life, many of our returning soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will be interested in launching their own businesses. this is not surprising. after all, the attributes it takes to lead a successful business, like perseverance, leadership, and strategic thinking are the same skills that make members of our military effective. already, veterans comprise 14% of self-employed americans. with more veterans returning home from iraq every day, we can only expect the number of self-employed veterans to spike in coming months. the bill before us today is meant to make specialized services available to veterans so they can succeed as small business owners. under this bill, the small business administration is instructed to establish a new

veterans business center program. this program will provide veterans with dedicated counseling and business training. there's already an existing veterans business centers initiative at the small business administration. and while that program is limited in its scope, it has already demonstrated that veterans can succeed in business if they have the right tools. importantly, under this bill for the first time we will have a dedicated network of entrepreneurial development centers that are designed specifically with veterans' needs in mind. in addition to building on the success of the existing veteran business program, this legislation will tackle some of the most difficult challenges blocking veterans from becoming entrepreneurs. given the ongoing credit crunch, there are specific measures in this bill to help veterans access capital and ensure loans. h.r. 1803 also helps veterans

find federal contracts that are well suited for veteran-owned businesses. this is particularly a timely program given the wave of contracts that will be generated from the recovery and reinvestment act. equally important, this bill makes clear that as the s.b.a. activates the new network of veteran business centers, it should look first to those areas of the country with large veteran populations. in short, we are bringing small business resources that veterans needs to the communities with the most veterans. mr. speaker, all of us owe a debt to the men and women who wear our nation's uniform in defense of our country. while we can never fully repay that debt, we can help our veterans re-enter civilian life and pursue the american dream. the legislation before the house today will help our

returning heroes find their piece of the american dream by launching and building their own businesses. i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: today, i rise in support of h.r. 1803, the veterans business center act of 2009. today's current economic climate provides a hard path to success. while it's never been easy for small business owners' obligations for increases in taxes, utility, high health care costs and loan payments may get even more difficult. with this ever-increasing burden it is little wonder that small businesses are not thriving. and despite the barriers that are placed in front of them, small business owners are using their creativity to survive. the small business administration has entrepreneurial technical assistance programs that must be reassessed in order to

ensure that they are providing the most effective assistance to small business. when the men and women who have chosen to serve their country honorablely in the armed services retire and return home, they are often faced with the daunting task of beginning new careers. many times they choose to serve their country in another way. these brave americans frequently choose to open up a small business and contribute to the growth of america's economy. for these great americans, we must provide them with the very best training to ensure the ease of transition to their new civilian lives. this important legislation modernizes one of s.b.a.'s most critical veterans -- most critical programs, the veterans business center program, so they can help them become entrepreneurs during these difficult economic times. it will show them how to use their skills and creativity to establish small businesses and survive until such time as the economic climate allows their businesses to thrive. and then it will provide them

with the assistance they need to help grow their business. currently, the office of veterans' affairs at the s.b.a. oversees five veterans business centers that serves our veterans. under this legislation, the veterans business center will large a -- will run a larger veterans business center. these centers will often counseling to veterans through one-on-one instruction. it will also provide continuing education to those who may have run a small business before entering the armed services and have returned to their business after a tour of duty. frequently overlooked and underappreciated are the spouses of americans who have served in the armed forces. these individuals also face the challenge of life in the armed services may present, including providing for a family in the absence of a service member. under this legislation, spouses of deceased service members

will also benefit from the counseling and training of veterans business centers if they are starting or running a small business. enlisted personnel are not the only ones serving our country. members of the national guard are frequently called upon at a moment's notice to provide assistance, whether it's disaster relief efforts or during tours overseas during wartime. they should have the same resources that enlisted members of the armed services when their commitment to their fellow citizens is over. this bill would open the veterans business centers to the members of the national guard. everyone knows that a good business plan is the cornerstone of any successful small business. creating and executing a business plan requires expensive business knowledge and ingenuity. including the ability to predict potential obstacles to the success that may unfold at anytime. this bill for the fies and already existing -- for theifies an already existle -- for theifies an already

existing program. in bill, this bill sharpens a tool employed by the s.b.a. to cult vate one of our -- cultivate one of our most natural resources, our veteran entrepreneurs. mr. speaker, this legislation makes crucial changes to a critical program. i commend mr. nye for his hard work on this bill. i also commend chairwoman velazquez for moving this bill so swiftly through committee. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i yield to the gentleman from virginia, and sponsor of the legislation, as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. nye: mr. speaker, first of all, i'd like to thank chairwoman velazquez for helping bring my bill to the floor today. i can't thank my good friend enough for the hard work and the bipartisanship she's shown in her leadership at the committee. we couldn't asked for a better chairwoman. i'd also like to thank ranking member graves and mr. thompson

for his support. . mr. speaker, i represent the 2nd district of virginia. we know that our community is stronger not only because of the service of our military personnel, but also because of the contributions of our veterans. the same drive and dedication that leads men and women from hampton roads and eastern shore to serve our country and leaves our veterans to take on the challenge of entrepreneurship. and like all small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses are a crucial part of our economy, helping to create jobs and spur economic growth. and it's no secret why they are successful. the skills and training that our veterans learn in the military are invaluable in the private sector. however, despite their experience, many veterans leave the military without the

resources to translate those skills to the challenges of starting and running a business. this bill will make sure our veterans have the support they need by establishing a network nationwide of veterans' business centers. they will provide counseling and business training. they will assist in accessing capital and securing loans and credit and will help veterans navigate the procurement process to compete effectively in the federal marketplace. i spoke with a veteran in my district who started his own small business three years ago and as of this year, he has already created hundreds of jobs. despite years of experience in the military, he told me the only way that he got started was because of the support from other veteran business owners who showed him the ropes. while he was fortunate not all of our veterans are in the same position. the veterans' business centers will ensure that all veterans have access to the same resources and information so

that they, too, can launch and grow their own businesses. we know already from the existing outreach centers and small business development centers that the model can be very successful. my bill will build on what works and expand access to these critical services, especially in areas of the country with a large number of veterans. the veterans' business center act of 2009 has support of both the american legion and the veterans of foreign wars and most importantly it will help spur the growth of small businesses and create jobs. because at a time when we are reworking to build our economy, america must draw on our small businesses and the dedication of our veteran entrepreneurs. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i will yield to the gentlelady from florida as much time as she might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlelady is recognized. ms. brown-waite: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 1803, the veterans business center act of 2009. by creating a veterans business center program, this bill supplies veterans with the academic, instructional and economic support that they need to start their own businesses. in my home state of florida, 99% of the state's employers are small businesses. at a time when florida is facing unprecedented economic difficulties, this bill will provide veterans in my district with the entrepreneurial training and counseling that they need to enter this vital part of florida's economy. i especially like the part of the bill that targets areas with high veteran population. madam chairman, do i have the area for you. certainly the tampa bay area is home to so many veterans. we have mcdill and we have two

wonderful veterans' hospitals and third one to be built in the orlando area. our veterans, while serving in the armed forces are men and women in uniform often put their own career, goals and ambitions on hold while risking their lives to protect our freedom. one way we can honor our troops for their sacrifices and bravery is to provide them with the opportunity to pursue their dreams once they return from the battlefield. this veterans business center act of 2009 is an important step in achieving this goal. i want to thank mr. nye for introducing this bill and certainly ms. velazquez from new york for allowing the bill to come before her committee and eventually to the floor. and i encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: i have no further speakers. if the gentleman is ready to close or yield back, i'm ready to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i just want to thank the chairman for her leadership with this and mr. nye for this piece of legislation. and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, let me take the opportunity to thank mr. nye and all the members from the other side in the small business committee who worked on this legislation. and encourage all the members to support this bill. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1803 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on

the table. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 1807 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1807, a bill to provide education to existing entrepreneurs and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. ezz ms. velazquez: i ask that all members have five legislative days to include extraneous remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. velazquez: i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of this bill

which will help entrepreneurs grow their businesses through the expanded use of cutting-edge technology. this bill is a bipartisan product introduced by representative thompson from pennsylvania and promises to go a long way in helping small firms entrepreneurish. it should come at no surprise that entrepreneurial development have a track record for sparking growth. in fact, every $1 put into this initiative puts another $2.87 into the treasury. you cannot argue with that kind of return, especially at a time when our economy is fighting to recover. while small business growth is important to any community, it is especially vital in struggling rural regions and urban areas. when recession hits, these areas fall the hardest. that's why this bill is so important.

through the use of cutting-edge technology it delivers entrepreneurial training to americans everywhere. in doing so, it encourages business growth in places where you might not otherwise take root. this is critical, because entrepreneurship is more than a means of employment. it is a path to economic independence. technology is often referred to as the great equalizer. it is an avenue through which all businesses large and small can attract new customers and reach top markets. it is an effective means for delivering information and sharing data. the educating entrepreneurs through technology act builds on those two capabilities. with the click of a mouse, an aspiring entrepreneur in appalachia can participate in a training program broadcast out of san francisco. resources such as satellite

seminars and online information sessions make it easy for entrepreneurs everywhere to access information on a broad range of topics. starting and running a small business can be challenging. in the current economic environment, even seasonned entrepreneurs are struggling to adapt. proper training in areas like credit management, financial literacy and fellow small business programs are more important than ever. whether we are talking about fledgling entrepreneurs or those with years of experience, everyone can benefit from this kind of information. there's no question that our economy looks different today than it did the last time s.b.a.'s e.d. programs were updated. in terms of technology alone, we have grown by leaps and bounds. this bill reflects this change and makes sure they can use modern technology to the best of their advantage. with these services, startup

will be able to build a solid business foundation. meanwhile, established firms will be able to retool and improve their existing operations. as we continue to work our way towards recovery, small businesses will be on the front lines. it only makes sense to give them all the tools they need to succeed. because with the technology of today, they can have the prosperity of tomorrow. mr. thompson gives the resources to do so. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: i rise today in support of house resolution 1807, the educating entrepreneurs through today's technology act. small businesses are the backbone of our economy. employing roughly half of the united states workers. and while our communities are experiencing high unemployment

rates, the entrepreneurial spirit remains alive and well. for many underserved in rural areas, it's critical to have the opportunity and ability to tap into resources that will foster further economic development and provide prospective entrepreneurs with the same access afforded to their suburban and urban counter parts. h.r. 1807 will allow third parties the opportunity to provide high quality distance training through a competitive grants process administered by the s.b.a. the measure will provide for third-party vendors with experience in distance learning content and communications technology. it will employ online satellite, video connected, community-based organizations to distribute and conduct distance learning related to entrepreneurship, credit management, financial literacy, home ownership and small business -- federal small business development programs. the small business

administration will ensure that the communications technology is distributed through all 50 states and u.s. territories, to home-based businesses, small business development centers, women business centers, veteran business centers. additionally, this measure would require that the online distance learning program provided for in title 2 of the bill include the establishment of an online networking site for entrepreneurs and small business owners can go to interact with one another. the goal of this networking site is to facilitate the exchange of peer to peer technical assistance. this will allow entrepreneurs and small business owners to interact with each other to troubleshoot problems and share best business practices and interact with s.b.a., secure financing, navigating government regulations and slew of odds and ends that arise in getting a small business off the ground.

there is no substitute from experience and peer to peer will arm prospective entrepreneurs with this priceless information. for many entrepreneurs across the country in order to access resources provided by the s.b.a. and the small business development centers, they have to drive long distances. in my rural district, we have learned to use our limitedry sources wisely. this can be said for underserved communities across this recognizes that one size fits all to addressing entrepreneurial concerns is seldom the solution. passage of this measure will empower these very entrepreneurs to navigate the many hurdles facing emerging businesses. i encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of h.r. 1807 and continue the house's commitment to our nation's entrepreneurs. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the

balance of his time. the the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 1807 as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are successed, the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. . for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill s. 1513. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 1513, an act to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the sbist act and the sbist investment act of 1958, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez, and the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. thompson, each will control 20

minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: if there's no objection, so ordered. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. velazquez: all of us on both sides of the aisle agree that america's small businesses will be the cornerstone of our economic recovery. not only are small businesses more nimble and better able to respond to economic turbulence, but after losing their jobs, many americans turn to entrepreneurship as a new source of income. this ingenuity has led us out of previous recessions. are the right tools and support, i believe small businesses will again lead our nation back to recovery. since january, this congress has taken important steps to help our small businesses. the recovery act is helping address the single biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs today, namely, access to

affordable capital. by making improvements to the s.b.a. capital access program, this bill will yield $21 billion in new lending and investments for small firms. we have also targeted $15 billion in new tax relief to small businesses through the act. and many small companies are being put back to work, rebuilding our economy -- economic infrastructure. in fact, small businesses, which dominates tridse, like construction and engineering, can expect to see $30 billion in infrastructure opportunities thanks to the recovery act. however, our work on behalf of small businesses does not stop there. in may, this body passed bipartisan legislation to update and improve the s.b.a.'s entrepreneurial development programs. this initiative has a solid track record of successes. small businesses that use them are twice as likely to succeed.

last year alone, e.d. programs helped create new 73,000 jobs. the legislation which passed in may will build on this success. through targeted communities like veterans, our bill will ensure that companies takes advantage of these services, and the legislation responds to current economic pressures by helping dislocated workers start their own enterprises and offering expert consulting to troubled businesses. finally, in the last month, we have worked to update the small business innovation research program and the small business technology transfers program. every year through sbir and sttr, some of our largest federal agencies invests $2.2 billion in small business research. this infusion helps launch

1,500 new companies. the house passed bill will strengthen sbir programs in a number of ways. it will make it easier for companies participating in sbir to access venture capital. we have also adjusted the size of program grants to better reflect the research costs. and we have targeted the program to work with commercialization. so many products come to the market and there are further opportunities for job creation. mr. speaker, all of these measures will update and improve federal programs that small businesses rely on. as we speak, the committee's continuing work with our counterparts in the senate to finalize these bills, prepare them for final passage and get them to the president for his signature. however, as the current program of s.b.a. expire at the end of this month, we must pass an extension so that our legislative work can continue. the bill before us will keep

the existing initiatives at the s.b.a. running for another 60 days. this would allow us time to finalize these measures and prepare them for final passage. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on this measure, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today in support of the chairwoman's request to suspend the rules and pass s. 1513. the bill is very simple. it extends the authorization of all programs authorized by the small business act, the small business investment act and any programs operated by the small business administration for which congress has already appropriated funds. this extension will last until september 30, 2009. this extension is necessary because the authorization for various programs operated by the s.b.a. ceases on july 30,

2009. the committee has worked in a bipartisan fashion over the past two congresses and reported out a number of bills to address programs operated by the s.b.a. despite the efforts of the house, the extension passed earlier this year by both bodies of congress will expire before the legislative process can run its course. the work needed to help america's entrepreneurs revitalize the economy simply cannot be accomplished by friday of this week. without enactment of this extension, a number of vital programs at s.b.a. would cease to function. given the importance that small businesses play and will continue to play in the revitalization of american economy, we cannot allow the s.b.a. authorizations to run out. enactment of this extension will enable the house and senate to continue to work in a diligent manner to address necessary changes to s.b.a. programs. i urge all my colleagues to suspend the rules and pass s. 1513. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: i reserve the balance of my time. but i will inquire if the gentleman have any further speakers. i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i have no further speakers. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. velazquez: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass senate 1513. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules a -- mr. thompson: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. thompson: i do support this bill and what it does, but i do object that a quorum is not present and i make a point of order that a quorum is not present. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland rise? mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 1665, as amended, the coast guard acquisition reform act of 2009. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1665, a bill to structure coast guard acquisition processes and policies, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore:

pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, and the gentleman from arkansas, mr. boozman, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on h.r. 1665. the speaker pro tempore: if there's no objection, so ordered. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an exchange of letters between chairman oberstar and chairman thompson regarding h.r. 1665. the speaker pro tempore: if there's no objection, so ordered. mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cummings: thank you, mr. speaker. as chairman of the subcommittee on the coast guard and maritime transportation, ensuring that the coast guard can effectively manage its acquisition efforts and that it is fully accountable for its use of taxpayers' hard-earned resources has been among my highest priorities.

in his memorandum on federal contracting management issues -- issued on march 4, president barack obama said, quote, it's essential that the federal government have a capacity to carry out robust and thorough management of its contracts in order to achieve goals, avoid significant overcharges, incur wasteful spending, end of quote. mr. cummings: i sponsored h.r. 1665 in an effort to institutionalize within the coast guard the processes and procedures that will help the service meet this standard. i want to thank congressman oberstar, the chairman of the full committee on transportation and infrastructure, for his diligent work on this bill and for his unwavering focus on effective oversight. he was tirelessly -- he has tirelessly led the transportation committee's efforts to ensure that we fully

account for the expenditure of every single taxpayer dollar in the transportation realm. in the united states public, is the true beneficiary of his dedication. i also thank the ranking member of the full committee, mr. mica, and the ranking member of our subcommittee, congressman lobiondo, for working so closely and constructively with us on the drafting of this legislation. since becoming the subcommittee chairman in january, 2007, i have held four subcommittee hearings that have fostered -- that focused partially or entirely on coast guard acquisition efforts. the major focus of these hearings has been the multibillion dollar deep water program that is intended to replace or rehabilitate the coast guard's air and surface assets. when the coast guard signed the initial deepwater contract, the service lacked standardized acquisition processees.

it lacked a proven process to guide the generation of asset requirements, designs in acquisition strategies. and it had only limited acquisition management capability among its staff. without the capacity to hold his contractors accountable for their performance, the consortium hired by the coast guard to implement the lead systems integration function for the deepwater program essentially took the coast guard for a ride that wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. thus, the government accountability office has detailed that of the more than $6 billion that has been appropriated for deepwater since fiscal year 2002, nearly $300 million had been spent on projects that were canceled or subsequently restructured. including $95 million wasted in the failed effort to lengthen

110-foot patrol boats to 123 feet, a contract failure that the full committee on transportation and infrastructure examined during an 11-hour investigative hearing convened by chairman oberstar. $119 million wasted on the first effort to develop a vertical unmanned aerial vehicle. and $66 million wasted on the first designs for the offshore at the troll cutter and the parts of the cutter. mr. speaker, i say we can do better. the coast guard needs for the new assets to be produced under deepwater is without question. but the coast guard will not abstain assets that fully meets its requirements if it cannot effectively manage its procurement process. in response to the extensive criticisms that the management capabilities, the coast guard's