mr. yarmuth. mr. yarmuth: i thank the gentleman and because he talks so much about the higher level of carat the emergency room, most of which is uncompensated for those providers or shifted to the private pay customers, i know there are estimates out there that indicate that there is somewhere around $100 billion a year that's actually care administered in the emergency rooms to people by hospitals who do it as part of charity work, but it's all being shifted to the people who are covered. so, when we talk about health reform plan that's going to cost roughly $100 billion a year for 10 years, we're already spending that $100 billion. so the not money new to the system, which is, i think, an example of we have plenty of money spent in this country on health care right now. i yield to the gentleman from ohio. mr. ryan: just for example, with medicare advantage. 14% overpayment on average for medicare advantage. that is over what medicare pays. that is wasting the taxpayers' dollars. that's the money we'

mr. yarmuth, is recognized. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the speaker very much and i rise to salute a woman of success and pay tribute to vermel cook, 95 years old, who passed just this last week, born on november 24, 1913. a woman that has a very special place in my heart and that of the city of houston. mr. speaker, you can imagine a woman born before -- can you imagine a woman born before the conclusion of world war i, in the midst of a segregated south, who became an important surgical nurse who attended to the surgeries of the famed surgeon dr. michael debake and dr. denton cooly at the methodist hospital? what an achievement. she did that for 30 years. in her 30 years, i would imagine she saw some of the first heart transplants. she saw the first opportunities to give new life to patients through the genius of dr. michael debake, already passed and dr. denton cooley who still lives in our community. i'm

mr. yarmuth: mr. speaker, we already know that the republicans have committed themselves to doing everything possible to prevent this body from passing the health care reform that the american people desperately need and want. yesterday and today we heard a greek chorus of republican talking points designed to misrepresent what we are trying to do, to help the american people to maintain and have access to affordable health care. among the misrepresentations is we are going to somehow force the american people to be insured in a public plan. nothing could be further from the truth. the essence of our proposal is to provide choice and competition so that insurance companies will have to compete for the american people's business rather than the american people having to beg them to cover them and then to find that their coverage is inadequate when they really need it. this is the type of reform that we need for this country and for the american people, and no republican misrepresentations will prevent

mr. yarmuth, for five minutes. mr. yarmuth: thank you, madam speaker. it's an honor for me to take the floor after patrick kennedy from rhode island who along with his father, senator edward kennedy, have devoted so much of their careers, their emotions, their passion to resolving the health care problems in this country. and as we talk about health care, reforming our system, we talk a lot about billions and billions of dollars, we talk about government agencies, we talk about the politics of it, but at its core, this issue isn't about any of those things. this is about human beings. this is about men, women and their families and trying to help them deal with health care crises, wellness issues, things that every american has to deal with. yesterday in southern indiana right across from my district the subcommittee of the energy and commerce committee held a field hearing in which we were able to see the face of this issue. three people who came before us to tell their stories about how the health care system in america has failed them. one of them wa

mr. yarmuth: request permission to address the house for one minute.the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. yarmuth: when i was a young boy, a radio station went on the air in louisville, kentucky. they played one song over and over. it was called "purple people eater." i am reminded of that today as we heard speaker after speaker repeat the same tired republican talking points. what we haven't heard is one idea of how to fix our dysfunctional health care system which is threatening every business in this country, threatening our competitiveness and our long-term economic prospects. it's time that this congress and our colleagues from the other side focus on saving this country's health care system. we heard one gentleman from the other side saying we are facing $38 trillion in additional debt in medicare. we're trying to make sure that that doesn't happen. our wish our colleagues on the other side would help us in that task. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose d

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