Congressman Andrews Statement on Health Care Bill

Congressman Rob Andrews issued the following statements during the final hours of yesterday’s floor debate just before the House considered the legislation: \”Tonight we will give justice and decency. That’s the kind of country that we will be.\”

Mr. ANDREWS: Mr. Speaker, our friends on the other side of the aisle have asked frequently tonight what kind of country are we? They’ve asked exactly the right question. 

Tomorrow when a person is denied a job because she has breast cancer, or charged higher premiums because he has asthma, what kind of country will we be? Tomorrow when a senior citizen has enough money in her checking account to pay the utility bill or her prescription bill, but not both, what kind of country will we be? When a person tonight is scrubbing floors or pumping gas or waiting on tables tries to go buy a health insurance policy for herself or her children, what kind of country will we be? 

For social security we gave decency to seniors, in Medicare we gave compassion for seniors, in the Civil Rights Act we gave equality for all Americans. Tonight we will give justice and decency. That’s the kind of country that we will be.

\”It\’s time for some accuracy.\”

Mr. ANDREWS: Mr. Speaker, the ladies and gentlemen of the House should respect our constituents who are against the bill, who are for the bill, and those who are undecided; but we should respect them enough to give them an accurate record of what\’s in the bill, and I think it\’s time for some accuracy.

We have heard repeatedly tonight that there are cuts to Medicare in this bill. There is not one cut to not one beneficiary anywhere in this bill. Medicare benefits expand for prescription drugs and expand for preventive care. We heard someone say that the bill increases premiums for Americans. 

Section 1001 of the reconciliation bill says that for a family making $45,000 a year, if you look at their premiums, their co-pays and their deductibles, which is what real people have to do, the bill saves them $7,000 a year. We have heard that the special interest provisions, that I think are an abomination, are in the bill. They are not. If you read section 1201 of the reconciliation bill, it says goodbye to the so-called Cornhusker kickback and other special interest provisions. 

We heard that there is taxpayer funding for abortions. Read section 10,104 of the underlying bill. There isn\’t. We have heard that this is going to add to the deficit and the debt of the country. Don\’t listen to what the Democrats say. Don\’t listen to what the Republicans say. Listen to what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says, which is this: the bill will save $138 billion off the deficit in the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion off the deficit in the next 10 years. 

Finally, we hear the bill will kill jobs. When the Clinton economic plan was on this floor, a gentleman named Dick Armey, a leader of the anti-movement on this bill, said it would be \”a recipe for disaster.\” He was wrong. That bill created 23 million new jobs.

Finally, I heard one of our colleagues say this bill will create a socialist utopia. No, Mr. Speaker, it won\’t. It will create a decent society that every man, woman, and child in this society and this country so richly deserves. Vote \”yes\” on this bill.

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