Date: 2012-03-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank the ranking member and also the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the leadership for giving us the opportunity to celebrate. as we debate H.R. 5. the Affordable Care Act. which is 2 years in the making. Clearly. it speaks to where we are today. So in celebration of the Affordable Care Act. let me first of all wish it a happy anniversary. Before I start on the Affordable Care Act. let me indicate to my good friend from Georgia and the Physicians Caucus that many of us do not take a back seat to our support for physicians. How can I help myself. coming from a community where the Texas Medical Center is fighting for a permanent doctor fix. which weve not been able to secure from this Congress. and as well. being a champion of physicianowned hospitals. Because I do believe that physicians have a high level. an acuteness of their concern for their patient. Maybe it is also because in the last decade Ive had to tend to ailing parents. both of whom I lost. and have seen doctors up close and personal dealing with one of the most difficult times in any childs life. This is not about a fight of one side or another regarding doctors. and my constituents have been kind enough to give me time here to have gone through these debates over and over again. Let me just say very quickly: I am glad the Affordable Care Act is in place. because what were celebrating today. as we talk about H.R. 5. is that women will not be dropped from insurance when they get sick or pregnant. insurance companies will not require women to obtain preauthorization for referral for access to an OB/GYN. millions of older women with chronic conditions will not be banned from care. 279.000 constituents in the 18th Congressional District will have improved employee health care. 187.000 uninsured in the 18th Congressional District will now have access to health care. and my hospitals. my public hospitals. my Texas Childrens Hospital. St. Lukes. Methodist. Ben Taub. M.D. Anderson will be able to secure compensation in uncompensated care. I celebrate the Affordable Care Act. But today were discussing legislation that has already received a veto notice from the President. but were here on the floor of the House discussing H.R. 5 and ignoring the fact that the Affordable Care Act has already confirmed health care is vital to America. and we in the Congress must protect it. By the way. the Affordable Care Act is a preserver of Medicare and strengthens Medicare. But let me tell you what we are facing with this legislation that is anchored with the component dealing with medical malpractice. We have seen documentation across States that. in fact. medical malpractice is an insurance issue. And even when there is an attempt to. in essence. dumb down the recovery. we have seen that the insurance companies do not. in essence. reward the physicians. Insurance premiums are still high. high. high. high. high. How do I know? You can go to the State of Texas and ask physicians are their insurance premiums such that theyre celebrating today. Yes. there were some measured declines. but they are paying high insurance premiums. Now. in the findings of H.R. 5. our friends cite the Commerce Clause and indicate that Congress has a right to write this bill on health care because of the Commerce Clause. As I understand it. many are pursuing the challenge of the Affordable Care Act. suggesting we had no authority. But in their own bill. the findings cite interstate commerce as the basis of writing this bill. But there are some friends over there that just caught it. and one of the amendments from another gentleman from Georgia strikes the findings. This is a case of "have your cake and eat it too" because they know that tort law has. for a long time. been the prerogative of States. So to cite President Reagan when he gave this seminal talk on tort law in 1986. his words: So over the years. tort law has helped us drive the negligent out of the marketplace. This. in turn. has permitted legitimate economic innovation to take its course and raise living standards throughout the Nation. So the President agrees that tort law drives the negligent out of the arena. He then goes on to say. as he put together this task force: To be sure. much tort law would remain to be reformed by the 50 States. not the Federal Government. And in our Federal system of government. this is only right. So my friends cannot deny that H.R. 5 implodes State law. It takes away the authority of States. And removing it by some late amendment is not going to make it right. You are going to violate the rights of Colorado. Florida. Illinois. Maryland. Michigan. Texas. and West Virginia that have enacted their own medical malpractice damage caps. You are going to implode the rights of Connecticut. Iowa. New York. Oregon. and Tennessee that have expressly chosen not to limit. And in this bill. if you have not limited it. then you are capped. In this bill. you rid the rights of those States that have not capped. and the flexibility only comes if you have capped and it is higher than what we have. and you obliterate constitutional State law that has its own caps. So this is not as blackandwhite as my good friends would like to make it. We are riding in on the high horse. and we are not? For example. in my State of Texas. on May 29. 2010. Connie Spears went to a hospital reporting excruciating leg pain. This was all too familiar due to her previous blood clots. The emergency room doctor ran tests and discharged her with a bilateral leg pain. But what really happened is that she had blood clots around a vein filter. She got kidney failure. She went unconscious. To save her life. two legs were amputated. There was definitive negligence. And it is important to note that she sits today with no legs. What we are suggesting is that we are now intruding into State law. that this individual now. under Federal law. loses noneconomic damages for pain and suffering and the extent of the negligence that was promoted and. as well. faces a Federal hard hat to prevent her from having relief. Now. this is in the State of Texas. and we have tort law reform that many oppose. but it is a State decision. I offered an amendment that would have carved out an exemption for health care lawsuits for serious and irreversible injury. supported by two of my colleagues. Congressman HANK JOHNSON and Mr. QUIGLEY. It exempted victims of malpractice that resulted in irreversible injury. including loss of limbs and loss of reproductive ability. from the $250.000 cap. This was not accepted. What we say today is people like Connie Spears. children. seniors who are limited in their noneconomic damages. now have no basis for punishing those who were blatant in their negligence. no way of dealing in a punitive manner to prevent these kinds of acts from happening and recognizing the loss of limbs of someone who may have been unemployed. My friends cannot have it both ways. that is. challenging the Affordable Care Act because they say that interstate commerce does not allow us to do good. but yet coming back in their findings to suggest they have the upper hand. Well. Im going to join my friend on the other side of the aisle. Mr. JOHNSON. on states rights. Today. on H.R. 5. you literally quash and extinguish states rights. and in the course of doing so. you quash the rights of injured patients. for those that Ronald Reagan said to get negligence out of the marketplace. out of the way of those who need care so that the good can rise up. So I would make the argument that were now debating in a conflicted manner. I dont know what the positions of Republicans are. They want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. which was premised on interstate commerce. the authority of Congress. They come right back at our 2year anniversary. celebrating people who are living because of the Affordable Care Act. and now want to place their hat on doing this on interstate commerce. I want to know where all the states rights advocates are and why you are abolishing and eliminating constitutional State law. why you are eliminating statutory law where individual States have expressed their will. I believe this bill. along with the component that wants to dash the Affordable Care Act. is a bill destined for the Presidents veto. But more importantly. let me try to understand how we can have our good friends on the other side of the aisle have their cake and eat it too. Im celebrating with the celebratory cake of the Affordable Care Act. I dont mind celebrating this Congress right to help save lives. How do you put a bill on the floor of the House where you have argued that there is no right for us to be involved in health care. and now you want to dash the rights of those who have been injured through interstate commerce and the Congress of the United States of America? Frankly. the complexity of your argument is such that it makes no sense. and. frankly. I hope that my colleagues will join me and applaud the Affordable Care Act. celebrate the expanded life that we have provided. and also recognize that those individuals who seek remedy in the marketplace. who have been injured by negligence and acts that have been dastardly. are compensated in a fair and just manner. That is all we ask under the Constitution: due process and the rights of all Americans.