The Rest of the Story

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HALL. I thank you for those compliments. You read them out just exactly like I wrote them for you.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you, too, and I thank you for being here when most everyone else has gone.

ObamaCare was forced through the Congress without a single Republican vote. Just think about that for a second--not one Republican vote. I don't know if that has ever been done. I think Charles Krauthammer says it best in an article from yesterday's Washington Post.

He said:

From Social Security, to civil rights, to Medicaid, to Medicare, never in the modern history of the country has major social legislation been enacted on a straight party-line vote--never. In every case, there was significant reaching across the aisle, enhancing the law's legitimacy and endurance. Yet ObamaCare, which revolutionizes one-sixth of the economy, regulates every aspect of medical practice and intimately affects just about every citizen, passed without a single GOP vote.

Mr. Krauthammer is not alone in being concerned about this country. We are concerned about, not the Members of this House or of the Senate, but of everyone who has children or who cares about children.

Let's talk about jobs. There are no jobs now whether you are educated or not educated. They don't look to a job. By the time this President exits, they're not going to find any employers. That's how serious it is. This is a real problem, Mr. Speaker, and I'm afraid it's going to bankrupt the families and bankrupt the businesses in the Fourth Congressional District, which was the third largest user of manufacturers in the entire United States Congress--House or Senate--in 2011. I have not seen the words for 2012.

We are forcing people to buy insurance that they can't afford; and if they opt out, we fine them. Then they can't even afford the fine. What a train wreck. Go ahead and go to the Web site and sign up. There are reports from all over the country of glitches and of the confusion and frustration from those who have tried. Now we're hearing that the Federal Government will be shutting down the Web site for repairs. You would think, after 3 years of planning, it would at least be able to sign people up. This is clearly not the case, and they are clearly not ready for prime time. I think this is a sign of things to come under ObamaCare, Mr. Speaker.

I am also concerned about data security in this system. Given the government's track record, I am worried that people's personal information could get out. All of us have good and honest relationships with our doctors. We trust each other. We do not need the government to get in the middle of that relationship. The push for ObamaCare was to cover all Americans; and now, according to the Congressional Budget Office, 30 million people will still not be covered in the year 2022. So what's going on here? This is just one giant tax on the American people. If you don't sign up, you get taxed. If you do sign up, your rates will go up, and some reports are saying it will be by as much as 400 percent.

In closing, I'll just say another push for ObamaCare was to bring down the cost of health care. According to the American Action Forum, health insurance rates for people between the ages of 18 and 35 will go up substantially. Premiums for this group before ObamaCare averaged about $62 a month, and now the premiums for these youngsters will be on the average of $187 a month. That's triple the cost. How is this helping? My constituents are opposed to this bad health care law. My mail is 100 to 1 against it, and I am opposed to it.

The folks on the other side of the aisle should listen to the majority of Americans and repeal, defund, or delay ObamaCare. The Senate had four chances to prevent this shutdown. They selected none of them, and we shut down.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source