dr. roe is discussing, that's what i said in my opening remarks about had i been at the blare house what i may have bush at the blair house what i may have said respectfully to the president to majority leader reid and to the speaker of this house of representatives, ms. pelosi. the american people were not an angry mob as they are not today, my colleagues. they're men and women, a lot of seniors, yes, very concerned about the massive takeover by the government. that's the thing that -- i think the bottom line is, people fear the most, having government take over every aspect of our lives and indeed, colleagues, we're talking about, and we all hear this quote and don't argue with the statistics, this is 1/6 of our economy. $2.5 trillion a year on health care. we see the same thing quite honestly happen in education. we've got a bill on the floor tomorrow, mr. speaker, a bill with a special rule in regard to telling school systems all across this country how they can discipline children. well,

my good friend, dr. roe just came, but before i give dr. roe a chance to speak on this, i want to mention that in women in history we have come a long way. but still have a long way to go. when you think about the first woman to try to run for president way back in 1870, i think it's ironic that the first woman to serve in this house was in 1917, her name was jeanette rankin, two years before women got the right to vote. and yet today in the house there's about 275 women in total that have ever served here, mr. speaker. we have a lot of pro-choice women. we have pro-liferingse. we have some that probably haven't made up their mind. but we've really got a long way to go when you think of the thousands of men that have served here. and i think that's why it's so important as we debate this issue of health care to listen to women, because it is women that are saying, wait a minute, not with my tax dollar. right now i have been joined from my good friend from tennessee and give you as much time as you need. mr. roe: thank you very much for holdi

camp: i yield three minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from tennessee, dr. roe. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. today we debate and vote on the most important piece of social legislation in decades, a massive expansion of government unparalleled in our nation's history with the potential to bankrupt future generations by lowering the standard of living for our children and grandchildren. for the past 30 years, i haven't been a politician, but a physician treating patients and delivering babies in rural tennessee and i can say that we have in this country the highest quality of health care in the world. but i will also say this6 c13 world. but i will also say this is too expensive for an increasing number of people. health care should not be a partisan issue. i never operated on a republican or democrat cancer in my life. we heard how this is going to reduce the deficit. we tried a plan called tenncare and different companies were going to compete and mr. costello:s. what happened in that? 10 budget years later, our costs have tripled and had to cut the rolls in tenn

there are a number of things that dr. roe i would like to talk about tonight that we don't need to spend $1 trillion. that expenditure on electronic medical records is something like $20 billion. and that's a conservative estimate, $1 trillion for this 2,700 page reform. we don't need that, mr. speaker. and i'm not sure what the president is going to say tomorrow, but i hope finally that he will listen to the american people and realize there are some targeted things that were mentioned by at the democrats and republicans. but i think the president wants to adopt republican ideas and we're talking about things, especially like medical liability reform. the c.b.o. gave a very consecutive estimate of saving 54 billion over 10 years. but if it's the kind of medical liability reform, comprehensive, absolutely fair and balanced so patients who are injured by practitioners of medicine and by facilities that are practicing below the standard of care, that they absolutely have a redress of their griefances and a decent recovery. but

black caucus, that traveled down to cuba and met with raul and fidel it's a roe and as far as we can tell, never mentioned dr. biset, never mentioned any of these courageous political prisoners who have been tortured, who have been put in solitary confinement because of their steadfast belief in human rights and that every man, woman, and child in cuba ought to live in liberty and freedom in cuba. there's an empathy deficit. a lack of empathy, a lack of compassion. we talk about compassion in congress but very often it's a simple throw-away word that has all kinds of meaning. we need to have empathy to get in their shoes. realize what it must be like to spend hours without a light in darkness, eating worm-infested food, being sick, having diarrhea that seems to never go away. losing your teeth as dr. oscar biscet is in the process of doing, if he hasn't lost them all already. this brave man, an ob/gyn, a doctor who stood up for human rights, not one member of the congressional black caucus, to the best of my knowledge, and other might be whors always patronizing fidel castro, have stood up and said, what abo