Opposing Repeal Of Health Care Reform

Floor Speech

Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to repealing health care reform. The reason is simple: It does not create jobs, it does not protect the middle class, and it balloons the deficit.

Since March of 2010, the economy has created a total of 1.1 million new private-sector jobs. Over 200,000 of these jobs were in the health care sector alone. Health care reform is helping to create jobs, not take them away. Health care reform helps the middle class. In my district alone, 439,000 individuals who currently have health insurance now have protections and benefits that they did not have before the reform. 113,000 of my senior constituents are able to access preventive care and screenings for free because of reform. Tax credits are available for up to 14,500 small businesses in the capital region of New York.

These are real changes that benefit real people. Repeal would eliminate all of them, thoughtlessly and with great harm to the middle class of my district. Finally, repeal would increase the debt by trillions of dollars. In fact, 20 years from now, repeal would cost us more than $1.2 trillion, ballooning the deficit and severely threatening our Nation's debt.

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