Ocean, Coastal, And Watershed Education Act

Floor Speech

Mr. McGOVERN. I want to thank my colleague from California, Congresswoman Capps, for yielding the time and for the excellent legislation which will help educate our children about the importance of our environment, our oceans and our watersheds. She has been a leader on environmental legislation, and I am proud to serve with her.

But, Madam Speaker, I want to just take a moment to comment on some of the other debate that's been going on here. I regret very much the tone that my Republican colleagues have taken in this debate. Never, never in all my time being here have I heard such rhetoric, personal attacks, harsh attacks. I regret it because the issue of health insurance reform is an important issue, and we should talk about it with respect for one another and with respect for each other's approaches to health insurance reform.

This is important. This debate we're going to have on Sunday, this vote we're going to have on Sunday is important. My colleagues express outrage over the process. Where's the outrage over the fact that tens of millions of our fellow citizens do not have health care? Where's the outrage over the fact that some of the biggest insurance companies in the United States of America regularly discriminate against individuals who have preexisting conditions, preexisting conditions like acne, believe it or not? And in some States in this country, domestic violence is used as a preexisting condition to deny women health insurance. So a woman who gets beaten by her husband or her boyfriend has a preexisting condition. Give me break. Give me a break.

I have heard that we're not going to vote on health care. This is some kind of crazy process. A process, by the way, which has been invoked by them many times when they were in charge. But to the question that always gets raised, is the House approving the Senate bill without actually voting on it? No.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from Massachusetts has expired.

Mrs. CAPPS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. The House is voting to approve the Senate bill when it votes on the rule. When Members take up the rule, they are considering whether to pass the Senate bill at the same time that they pass reconciliation, which will improve the Senate bill.

You want to be outraged, be outraged over the fact that we're the greatest country on this planet, the richest country on this planet, and tens of millions of our citizens do not have health care. We can do better, and we will do better on Sunday.

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