Obamacare is Disastrous Law for American People

Floor Speech

Mrs. WAGNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to actually agree with President Obama that his signature health care law is indeed much more than a Web site riddled with technical glitches. Just ask any hardworking family in the Second District of Missouri who have seen their premiums skyrocket, wages decreased, insurance coverage canceled of late, and hours cut back at work. The simple truth is the President's Web site is just a sign of what is to come: ObamaCare is a disastrous law for the American people.

One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned over the last 9 months as a new Member of Congress is that more government is never the answer to the problems facing our Nation. ObamaCare makes the real problem of health care costs worse. ObamaCare has made offering health care for small business worse. ObamaCare raises premiums, destroys the doctor-patient relationship, and makes the quality of our health care worse.

When President Obama promised the American people in 2009: ``If you like your health care plan, you can keep it,'' well, we now know that this claim was a blatant falsehood.

Time and time again, the President has only offered broken promises to the American people. President Obama recently spoke in the Rose Garden about who is benefiting from government-run health care; yet he failed to talk about the millions of Americans who are suffering from it.

I would like to take a moment to talk about a small business owner from Missouri's Second District who is facing the harsh realities of ObamaCare. Jenn is the owner of Cotton Babies, a small business that makes high-quality diapers for consumers all over the world. As a result of ObamaCare, her premiums are projected to double, not only putting her livelihood in jeopardy, but her employees' as well. Now Jenn is facing a difficult business decision regarding the employment opportunities and the price of her products going forward.

Jenn wrote to me recently and said:

We can't afford the change in health care premiums. We manufacture in the USA. We collectively cause the employment of thousands all over the United States. Hundreds of small retailers depend on my brands for revenue. We make American-made cloth diaper brands that help families who literally choose between diapers and food.

Jenn later went on to say:

I believe in affordable health care. I believe in taking care of the needy. We provide great health care insurance to our staff. We pay for 70 percent of the premium for the staff members and their entire family. We operate on microscopic margins and have valued taking care of our employees over taking a profit. I simply don't know how we, as a small business, are going to be able to shoulder the load with these changes.

Madam Speaker and ladies and gentlemen, this is just one of the many examples of real people being hurt by ObamaCare. It is time we realize that no matter how many tech experts President Obama hires to fix his $600 million-plus taxpayer-paid Web site, it will never stop ObamaCare from hurting the American people.

As your Representative, I will never stop fighting until ObamaCare is replaced with free market-based solutions that expand access without destroying our economy and lowering the quality of care.

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