Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it has been written many centuries ago that if we know the truth. the truth will set us free. The truth is. Mr. Speaker. that repeal of the current health care law means that we will reinstate conditions that existed prior to the repeal. The truth is that prior to the law that we currently have. we were spending $2.5 trillion a year on health care. Thats $79.000 a second. Thats 17.6 percent of GDP. The truth is that if we had continued at that pace. we would spend by 2018 $4.4 trillion per year. more than 20 percent of GDP. $139.000 per second. The truth is that health care was going to bankrupt this country. CBO has estimated that this bill that currently passed that is in place now and is law. the health care bill thats law. saves about $1 trillion over a 20year period. more than $1 trillion. to be more appropriate. This bill. if it becomes law. will reinstate the past that we have tried to overcome. This bill will bring back. reinstate. preexisting conditions. And as has been said. and for edification purposes. pregnancy is a preexisting condition. This bill will reinstate the doughnut hole that we have been trying to close to help seniors with their pharmaceuticals. This bill will reinstate kicking children off of the policies that theyre on now with their parents until they are 26 years of age. This bill will reinstate a condition wherein approximately 45.000 persons per year were dying from a lack of insurance. Thats one person every 12 minutes. This bill will take us back in my State to 6 million persons being uninsured without the possibility of having insurance. will take us back to 1.1 million persons in Harris County. Texas. being uninsured. 20 percent of the children in the State of Texas are uninsured. This bill will take us back to a time and the place that we tried to escape. And I thank God that this socalled repeal will not become law because I believe that this bill. if it becomes law. will hurt too many people. And there are some I have actually heard say. it would be good for it to become law because then people could understand the pain that this bill will invoke. I dont agree. I do not agree because I dont want people to suffer unnecessarily. I believe we do have a duty to be our brothers keeper. And by the way. its easy to be your brothers keeper when you dont have to keep your brother. It is difficult to do the right thing to make sure that every American has health care. In a country wherein we will take the bank robber who is harmed in the process of robbing a bank and give him aid and comfort. in a country wherein we will give our enemies in mortal combat aid and comfort if they should become wounded. in a country wherein we will give the person on death row who is to meet his Maker next week aid and comfort if he gets sick this week and then send him to meet his Maker next week. in this country. the richest country in the world. if we can give aid and comfort to the bank robber. if we can give aid and comfort to the mortal enemy of this country. if we can give aid and comfort to those who are on death row. we can give aid and comfort to those who are among the least. the last. and the lost. I believe that weve made a mistake today. This is why I voted against repeal.