Health Care Bill

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, America knows that we live with a health care contradiction: some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world providing health care to those who have access to the best health care in the world, but a health care system that also shuts the door of access to 47 million Americans with exploding costs, putting a punishing financial burden on our middle class and on our businesses that are hanging on to their health care by their fingernails.

This system has worked very well for the insurance companies--unregulated, unsupervised, and unapologetic--but they have plundered the wallets of families and the profits of businesses to record record profits. That, Mr. Speaker, is the status quo.

On Saturday, this House of Representatives will face a question that has eluded it for 60 years: Will we accept the status quo or turn the page and provide health care to all Americans?

Our health care legislation is going to do what needs to be done to take that first step, extend access to 36 million Americans, insurance reforms, and a public option.

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