OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Repealing Mandatory Funding for School Health Center Construction

Floor Speech

Date: May 3, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care

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Mr. FLEMING. I thank the gentleman.

I appreciate Dr. Burgess allowing me to speak on this specific bill, but let's just talk about the elephant that's in the room here this afternoon, and that is the so-called Affordability Act, the so-called Patients Affordability Act, PPACA. We call it ObamaCare affectionately.

Folks, we've got a bill here which is now law that is, at best, questionably constitutional. We have a bill that is going to add another trillion dollars, ultimately, to our deficit. It's full of smoke and mirrors. We have got $500 billion that's going to be taken out of Medicare and then put on both Medicare extension and then on subsidy of the private health plans. Even if we ever saved that $500 billion, this whole law has questionable financing. And then today we're talking about construction money that may or may not exist.

So, Mr. Chair, I just have to say, as a physician with 30 years of practice, I was here during the health care debate of 2009 where this body has come up with and the President has signed into law something that is really a disgrace. The American people are not behind it. PPACA is, in some surveys, opposed by the American public two to one. It is a complete government takeover of our health care system.

Just the other day, I got questioned from my constituents, physicians, who asked me: What about this IPAB? What is that? What is this board? And I had to explain to them that now when you are not sure how much you are going to be reimbursed for the health care that you provide, you can at least go to Congress and petition Congress.

The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. BURGESS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. FLEMING. But under ObamaCare, we now have IPAB, which is a special board of unelected, unaccountable, unnamed bureaucrats that serve at the pleasure of the President who will then decide these things, creating a nonmarket responsive health care body out there that will then--we'll see much worse shortages than what we have today.

I stand in support of Congressman Burgess and his bill and certainly, ultimately, the repeal of ObamaCare.

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