Date: 2011-02-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. The author of this amendment said a few minutes ago that this was a very simple and straightforward amendment. And thats probably true for Members of Congress who have governmentpaid health insurance. have policies that are looked after by a PPO to make sure that we get benefits. But if you are a member of the American public. this is not a simple and straightforward amendment. If you are a member of the American public. this amendment changes your life. For millions of Americans and for millions of their children. for millions of their parents this amendment changes their life. This isnt straightforward. So many of our new Republican colleagues have come to town and said. Im just one of the folks back home. Im not enamored with Washington. Im just one of the folks back home. Vote for this amendment. and you wont be like the folks back home. Vote for the amendment. and you will be very different than the folks back home. because you will have insurance and they wont. You will have coverage and they wont. You wont have lifetime caps and they will. You wont lose your insurance when you need it for you. your children. or your spouse. but your constituents will. You are not just like the folks back home. You are doing grave damage to the folks back home. So you ought to think about this amendment before you vote for it. Not only does it add $5 billion almost immediately to the deficit. it adds $1 trillion to the deficit over 20 years. takes us in the wrong direction. But this punishes people back home. Talk to your constituents who now are the seniors who have that free physical checkup and have been given medicine. have been told about things that they are doing wrong with respect to their health and now can prevent additional doctors visits and hospital care because of that checkup that they now get that this amendment would take away. Talk to the parents. And you really ought to talk to the grandparents of the children who now have coverage that didnt have it before. They are as concerned about the coverage of their grandchildren as they are about their Medicare coverage. which you will change with respect to the cost of pharmaceuticals. No. this isnt simple and straightforward. and this isnt just like the folks back home. The folks back home are struggling every day to pay their insurance premiums. Pass this amendment. and once again the insurance companies can rip them off. Once again. they no longer have to dedicate 80 percent of your premiums to your health care. They can write themselves the bonuses. the advertising. the salaries. and forget the health care. There wont be that kind of protection for people who struggle every month to achieve health care coverage. for the 9 million people who are in the middle of getting rebates now because of the change in the law to make sure that health insurance companies provide you health insurance instead of a funding stream for the executives. No. this isnt simple and straightforward. and you are not just like the folks back home once you vote for this amendment. Is that clear?