To amend the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to allow States and localities to provide primary and preventive care to all individuals.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3722, the Alien Emergency Medical Assistance Amendments of 2004. This bill would prohibit the federal government from reimbursing hospitals for the emergency care they provide to undocumented immigrants. Under the bill, hospitals could only receive federal reimbursement if they provide the Department of Homeland Security with the patient's immigration status, financial data and employer information. The bill makes the immigrant's employer responsible for hospital costs and directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to initiate deportation proceedings against the immigrant.

Mr. Speaker, this bill flies in the face of the medical profession's mission. A hospital's job is to help any individual in need of health care, regardless of the patient's immigration status. We need to let our health care professionals do their jobs, not burden them with additional administrative details that, if imposed, will discourage immigrants from seeking care.

We already know the tremendous problems associated with the 44 million Americans who are uninsured. It goes without saying that the uninsured are less likely to seek preventive health care and, as a result, get care at the hospital only when their health problems have reached emergency proportions. This bill would only exacerbate this problem and discourage our immigrant population from seeking health care at all, for fear of being reported to DHS. This would increase the health risk for citizens and immigrants, legal or not.

It is unconscionable to me that we would consider denying necessary health care services to individuals solely based on their immigration status. This is a wrong-headed approach to addressing our health care problems and would only serve to decrease access to care.

As such, I would urge my colleagues to vote against this bill and, instead, co-sponsor legislation that I have introduced to increase undocumented immigrants' access to quality health care. My legislation, H.R. 3273, would allow state and locally-funded programs to provide preventive and primary health care to undocumented aliens. H.R. 3273 addresses our health care problems at the source and would allow our local hospitals to see that their health care dollars are spent more wisely by preventing emergencies--not treating them.

Mr. Speaker, illnesses know no residency. Medical care shouldn't either. I urge my colleagues to reject the misguided Rohrabacher bill and address our health care problems--both in terms of access and funding--at the source by focusing their efforts on prevention.