Health Care And Education Reconciliation Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Madam Speaker, when President Harry Truman first lobbied for health care reform, he could not have envisioned that it would take six decades for Congress to finally have the courage to make health care reform more than a cliché in the American lexicon.

If this bill passes, it will mean that the 46 million Americans who have zero health care or who cannot afford what they do have, or who suffer at the mercy of chronic illnesses like diabetes, will finally be able to see a doctor. The over 30 percent of my constituents in South Florida who have no health insurance will no longer have to choose between buying food and purchasing their medicine.

This historic legislation will mean improving Medicare benefits with lower prescription drug costs for those in the ``donut hole;'' providing better chronic care and free preventive care--including prenatal care for working mothers; making significant new investments in comparative effectiveness research and health information technology; and reducing the deficit by $138 billion over the next ten years.

In the words of Dave Snow, CEO of Medco, whose subsidiary Liberty Medical, a health care company near my district that helps Americans manage their diabetes, so eloquently stated: ``Forty-six million Americans live every day without the security and peace-of-mind that come with having health insurance.'' This bill ends that now.

Mr. Speaker, after months of discussion and indecision, the moment that matters is now. I applaud my colleagues who refuse to yield to the fear-mongering tactics that many have used to scare us out of doing the right thing at the right time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source