Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, 2 weeks ago, I went to dinner with my family in New Haven, Connecticut. As we left the restaurant, a young woman stopped me. She said to me, Rosa, can I talk to you for a moment? I've been waiting for you. I said, Why didn't you come over to the table? She said, I didn't want to disturb you or your family. No disturbance.

I looked at this beautiful young woman with tears in her eyes. And she said to me, Rosa, I have lung cancer. I have lung cancer, and I cannot get the kind of help that I need. I can't leave my job because I will not be able to get insurance. Preexisting condition is killing me. Pass health care reform.

You don't know Melissa Marotolli. I do, and Melissa Marotolli's face haunts me every single day. And this is not just one story. It is writ large across this Nation, a people who can't leave their jobs; they can't get the care they need because the insurance companies have run roughshod over them. Yes, they are rationing health care in this country. I know where I stand. I stand with the Melissa Marotollis of this Nation. My Republican colleagues stand with the insurance companies.

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