Congratulating the 2009 Major League Baseball World Series Champions, the New York Yankees.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

You know, baseball is such a great sport. It is often referred to as our national pastime because it's a great way to escape the realities of all the pressures that happen in life. It has done that for so many people and will continue for decades and centuries to come, I'm sure. But the reality, once the game is over and we go back home and people start to realize what is truly happening in their lives, there is a lot of concern out there. You have people all across this country, right in the pit of their stomach they're worried. They're worried about their future; they're worried about their kids; they're worried about their parents. And so we look at statistics that come out and we just gaze and wonder and think, gosh, my goodness, what can we do to help? Unfortunately, I believe that we are moving in the wrong direction in this country.

Earlier this week, we saw some new statistics that came out. Supposedly there were 640,000 jobs that were either created or saved through the stimulus. Now, I have serious reservations about the accuracy of those numbers.

They have been often overstated; I know they were overstated in our State of Utah. But let's go ahead and just assume that that is true. Part of this report showed that only 2,500 of 640,000 jobs were manufacturing jobs. But the stimulus bill and the economic policies instituted by this Congress and this administration have grown government; they haven't grown jobs. We have missed the mark. The very best hope for our future is to focus on small

business. It's going to be businesses and the American entrepreneur that are going to grow this country. It is not going to be government.

There is another statistic that was released today where the unemployment rate unfortunately has gone to 10.2 percent. In many States it has been in double digits for a long time.

The stimulus did not work. It is not doing what it is supposed to do because it was fundamentally flawed from the beginning; it was fundamentally flawed at the start. It did not give relief; it did not focus on the small business man and woman. It did not focus on Main Street. It was a bailout to government, it was a bailout to the States, and it's fundamentally wrong.

And so at this time, when we are having such concern about our country, we are now considering a health care bill I doubt most any person in the body has actually fully read let alone comprehended from start to finish. It's 1,990 pages. It is so complex; it is a total takeover of health care. It demonstrates in there that there is going to be a tax increase on medical device manufacturers, a so-called ``wheelchair tax.'' Whether you buy your wheelchair or crutches or need a defibrillator, whatever it might be, they're now going to have a tax increase. Weren't we promised that there wouldn't be one dime, not one dime of tax increase for anybody who is earning less than $250,000? This is a tax that is going to be implemented on every single American, every American.

There are tax increases on small businessmen and -women. Yet we know that 70 percent of the jobs that will be created in this country will come from small businesses. So, at the very time we need that economic engine to drive us forward, to propel us forward as a country, this administration and the bill we are considering would implement a tax increase at the wrong time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, again, we congratulate the New York Yankees, but we also recognize that the administration, the people who work there, the guy who sells the popcorn, and the fans who go there are also going to have to deal with the realities of what's happening and what will potentially happen with this health care bill that we are dealing with.

One of the deep concerns that we have about what these fans, the players, and particularly their wives, are going to have to deal with in our potentially passing this 1,990-page bill is that there are 118 new boards, bureaucracies, commissions, and programs that we believe are created within that bill. Let me just read the list. I'm going to go through this as fast as I possibly can. Bear with me here.

The retiree reserve trust fund; the grant program for wellness programs to small employers; the grant program for State health access programs; the program of administrative simplification found on page 76; the health benefits advisory committee; the health choices administration; the qualified health benefits plan ombudsman; the health insurance exchange; a program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying exchange coverage as found on page 191; a mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by health choices commissioner; the health insurance exchange trust fund; the State-based health insurance exchanges as found on page 197; the grant program for health insurance cooperatives; a public health insurance option as found on page 211; an ombudsman for public health insurance option.

No. 16, an account for receipts and disbursements for public health insurance option; the telehealth advisory committee; a demonstration program providing reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services as found on page 617; a demonstration program for shared decisionmaking using patient decision aids as articulated on page 648; an accountable care organization pilot program under Medicare; an independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare.

No. 22, a community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare; an independence at home demonstration program; the center for comparative effectiveness research as found on page 734; the comparative effectiveness research commission; the patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research; a quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities.

No. 28, the quality assurance and improvement program for nursing facilities; a special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities; special focus facility program for nursing facilities; the national independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities, as found on page 859; a demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME; pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers.

We are up to No. 33. We have to get to 118. There is no possible way that this body understands the complexity and what all of these programs do--that's the point--let alone the American people. We need time to digest this. Somehow the President wants to take more than 60 days to study a program because it's of deep significance to what we will do or not do in Afghanistan; yet we have hours to digest what's going to affect 16-plus percent of our economy in all of these different programs.

No. 34, the special inspector general for the health insurance exchange; the medical home pilot program under Medicare, as found on page 1,058; accountable care organization pilot program under Medicaid; the nursing facility supplemental payment program; a demonstration program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases; comparative effectiveness research trust fund; ``identifiable office or program'' within CMS to ``provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles,'' as found on page 1,191; the center for medicare and medicaid innovation. Again, this is No. 41 on the list.

No. 42, public health investment fund; No. 43, scholarships for service in health professional needs areas; program for training medical residents in community-based settings; grant program for training in dentistry programs; public health workforce corps; the public health workforce scholarship program, as found on page 1,254; No. 48 on the list, public health workforce loan forgiveness program; No. 49, grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care; No. 50, advisory committee on health workforce evaluation and assessment.

Madam Speaker, I would like to inquire as to how much time we have remaining?

I have one speaker remaining.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to concur with, actually, my friend from New York. He is a distinguished Member of this body. I agree that there is confusion in this room. While the Democrats want to talk baseball, we want to talk about health care.

The only thing that I am concerned about is, yes, we are going to go ahead and recognize the New York Yankees. I urge the adoption of this and spoke to that. But while the New York Yankees are winning the World Series, the American families are striking out. That's the point. That's the point.

We can pause for a moment and recognize the New York Yankees. We can pause, and we should, for an extended time of what happened at Fort Hood. We also have to remember the focus on the debate in this body ought to be about the serious issues of this day, and there are deep concerns about the 1,990-page health care bill that is going to come before this body because there are those of us who don't fully believe that we understand all of the implications, unintended consequences, and direct consequences of what is found in that bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I appreciate my friend from Utah for yielding.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor even for a Texan to pay tribute to the team from New York. Even as a kid growing up, you know, when I was 6 years old and was out on the playground, I was one of many who wanted to be Mickey Mantle, as we started playing, and Roger Maris. You know, the first bat I was ever given for Christmas had Bobby Richardson's name on it. Who could forget his incredible grand slam?

The New York Yankees have always been a franchise that has prided itself on excellence. Sure, they've had some bad years along the way, but nobody touches their record when it comes to the World Series. It probably goes without saying, but my friend from New York does look good in a New York Yankee's hat even though he's not allowed to wear it on the floor.

As I thought about the Yankee team--and you go back to, you know, thinking about an incredible player like Lou Gehrig, and he considered himself the luckiest man in the world. Those were great teams-- excellence on the field of play--and you think about having a closer in the bullpen that, when you get ahead, you bring in Rivera, and he's going to close out, and you're going to win, and he knows it.

You know, some of Reggie Jackson's cockiness sometimes bothered me, but you just knew that, come late in the season, no matter whether he'd had a slump or not, the guy was such an incredible baseball player that he was going to come through. You just knew because he knew.

As I've thought over the years of the incredible excellence of the New York Yankees--and this takes a real effort on my part to pay tribute to that kind of excellence in New York. They have been good so many times--not just good but great. Then it took me to thinking about all of the cities in America, including right here in Washington, D.C., which have not been so fortunate, you know, and where wins have come so difficultly. It's such a struggle. You lose week after week, and you think, Do you know what we need? Maybe we need a public option for baseball teams. Why is it fair that one city gets to have the corner on the market of all of the excellence in baseball? You know, shouldn't we spread that around the country? You know, not everybody has the money that New York City has to spend on baseball, so let's have more choice.

Let's give the government a few baseball teams. That way, people can choose to support the government baseball team when their town really can't afford to have one or they can choose to support the independent baseball teams like those in New York; but we'll probably need to put a cap on New York so that everybody will spend exactly the same amount of money. Nobody can spend more because, you know, there's a bigger TV market in New York, which gives them more revenue and which allows them to pay more for baseball players. Even with a cap, they're able to spend more money, and it just creates unfairness. We should avoid having one team be so excellent, maybe, by spreading it around and by letting people choose a government option baseball team. That's what was occurring to me.

I had a conversation this morning with a Democrat for whom I have tremendous respect, tremendous respect. We come at problems from different directions. He was sincerely saying that he believed that-- you know what?--we don't know enough as patients when a doctor tells us we need treatment or when we need an MRI or a test. We don't know enough to say, No, we don't, or, Maybe we shouldn't. We have to rely on the doctors, and the doctors are out to make a profit. You know, when times get tough, maybe they order more MRIs. Who are we to know? We need that help from the government to make our decisions.

As I thought about it, can you imagine a baseball team that the government runs? I mean, if the Nats played nothing but government-run baseball teams, they would have been in the World Series this year. I mean it's just that pronounced.

My Democratic friend, again, I have the utmost respect. He is truly a good man, but he just believes, in his heart, that people need that help from the government to make their decisions in the most personal areas of their lives. I don't believe that. I believe that you let people spend their own money, that you encourage tax incentives to have health savings accounts of people's own so it's their own money to be spent on health care and that you don't let the insurance companies make those decisions. I don't like them making decisions for me. I'm changing insurance companies at the end of this year, but we don't want the government, some of us, making those calls either. Let's allow the individuals to excel or to fail or to succeed on their own.

For those in our society who simply cannot afford to have health savings accounts, let's give those to them, and then let's provide the catastrophic insurance to cover things above that. That's in my health care bill. Then encourage everyone else who can to go in that direction, and let's not allow the government to make those decisions for us.

I saw socialized medicine in 1973 where the government makes those decisions for people. They don't get that choice, and they would have loved to have had that choice. If you've got your own health savings account and if the insurance company can't tell you what to do and if the government can't tell you what to do and if you're not sure that the doctor's telling you to get an MRI is the thing to do, then you go get a second opinion. You know, of course, that's where the joke comes in.

Somebody like me goes to a doctor, and he says, I think you're ugly.

I want a second opinion.

Well, you know, you're not a very good athlete either.

Anyway, we should be able to get second opinions, not because the government says that we should, not because the insurance companies say we shouldn't, but of our own choice. I believe in the ability and in the propriety of the individuals. That's what the Founders believed in.

The truth of the matter is, if I take my tongue out of my cheek, the New York Yankees excel as individuals and as a team. They are given that ability to excel. Thank God the New York Yankees are not a government option, because they showed us what incredible baseball really can be when people are allowed to reach their full potential. That's what I'd like to see all around, including in health care--not a government takeover, not a government telling us what to do and, thank God, not a government telling baseball teams whether to pull a squeeze play or whether they can or can't intentionally walk somebody. Let the baseball teams make their own decisions, and then you have excellence like we saw this year in the New York Yankees.

I have proudly worn that hat on my head for many years, and I promise not to wear it during the debate, of course, out of respect for the House, which I am proud to be a Member of.

Having said that, I am not one of those Yankee fans, if there are any, who thinks we are going to win all the time. I am very nervous. I was nervous with the Minnesota Twins; I was nervous with the Angels. I was very nervous with the talented Phillies.

But that does not compare to the nervousness I felt yesterday when I introduced the resolution and wondered if we could get it on the House floor before we left this weekend and before we did health care. But thanks to the chairman and the ranking member and the leadership, here it is.

I rise to pay tribute to the Yankees on their 27th World Series championship. As the chairman has said, they are the most successful franchise in sports history. Congratulations especially should go to the Phillies, the Philadelphia Phillies, a fine team, world champions prior to this year, who repeated their championship in the National League and gave the Yankees a very tough time. They're a successful team, and I suspect they will be back next year when I'm sure they will play the Yankees again in the World Series.

I am very proud to be the Congressman who represents the Yankee Stadium area. In fact, I can tell when the Yankees are doing well by just opening my window and hearing the sound of a crowd. Whenever you hear the crowd--I live that close to the stadium--you know the Yankees have scored a run or gotten a big hit.

The Yankees have been a tradition in the neighborhood and have been a tradition in sports history. What's interesting about it is that, as you know, this year they opened up a new stadium and they won the World Series in that stadium. My understanding also is that they won the first World Series they played in the old stadium in 1923, The House That Ruth Built. So they move, but they still keep their winning tradition.

They are, indeed, the Bronx Bombers, and they've become a sign of perfection, of teamwork. And much has been said throughout the years about how the Yankees played and how they got along or at times didn't get along, and everyone says that this team came together and played as a true organization and a true institution.

They have been in the World Series an astonishing, an amazing 40 times and they have won 27 of those 40 times. Professional baseball is a few years over 100 years old, and 40 percent of the time one team was in that appearance. In 2009, they won 103 games. Then they went on to defeat the Twins and defeat the Angels, and then finally the very talented Phillies. They put it all together.

And they put it all together as they continue to build on that tradition. We hear about Ruth and Gehrig; we hear about DiMaggio and Mantle and Berra, and the other players of the 1950s. Then we know that there was that period with Reggie Jackson, and the wonderful years with Bernie Williams and the rest of the team. And now we have Jeter and we have Posada and we have Pettitte and we have Mariano. And of course the Yankees in many ways also do great things beyond New York.

The MVP, Hideki Matsui, my understanding was, practically shut down the great country of Japan as they watched the game on TV. Little did they know that their son would become the MVP by having a fabulous last game with three hits and six RBIs.

It was, indeed, a wonderful World Series. I understand from my relatives in Puerto Rico that everybody was glued to the TV set to see the Yankees, not only to see the Yankees, but then to see how Jorge Posada would do. In the Dominican Republic, in the Dominican neighborhoods in New York, people were out in the street watching just to see what Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera and others were doing.

So you see, it goes beyond baseball. It is a tradition, and now it has expanded globally. And it is only fitting that the most successful team in baseball would be part of this expansion of baseball throughout the world.

So my congratulations go to the Yankees. We will be here today doing the work we have to do. At 11 a.m., in Mr. Towns' great city and mine, the Yankees will have a ticker tape parade along the Canyon of Heroes. After that, they will go to city hall at 1 o'clock where every other elected official except Members of Congress will be there taking pictures with the Yankees.

So that is one of the reasons why we are here today, to do our part in celebrating this great team; to do our part in celebrating their home in the Bronx, New York; to do our part in saying that, yes, we have problems in this country; yes, we have serious debate; yes, we have difficulties, but we can take some time to celebrate something that is beautiful, something that we can come together on.

Even Boston Red Sox fans, I'm sure, are celebrating the Yankee victory--well, I try to always tell the truth, but every so often I bend it a little bit.

Ladies and gentlemen, and to the leadership, thank you very much for putting this resolution on the floor. Thank you for this opportunity to honor our beloved Yankees. Congratulations to the Yankee management, to the Steinbrenner family; to my friend, Randy Levine; to Joe Girardi; and to all the Yankees that made this the winning season it has been. Congratulations. Viva los Yankees. Thank you.

I thank the gentleman.

I understand what the other side is trying to do. I don't think the American people have a problem with the fact that we pause momentarily in our very serious work to celebrate something positive that is happening in our country; just the way we pause when something terrible happens, a tragedy, we pause to take time out.

I make no excuses about the fact that this is a resolution I brought to the floor and that I sponsored this resolution. But I really think it's a shame that we would take this moment to use it to attack on a partisan issue other issues.

The New York Yankees won the World Series. Americans love sports. Americans celebrate success, and I am positive that there is not a single American in this country, except for some in this House, who would think that what we are doing today is wrong.

This weekend we will deal with the biggest issue of our time. For this moment, for these 20 minutes of this whole week, we take to celebrate the American pastime, baseball and its global implications in bringing so many people together.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, before I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York, I would just like to say that, for a moment there, I thought the gentleman from Texas was trying to help us close a doughnut hole, but after a point there, I wasn't sure as to where he was going. First, he praised the Yankees, and then at the same time, he indicated that there were some problems. The point is that, at the end, he indicated that he was very supportive of the Yankees.

We want to thank you for that.

I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel).

Does the gentleman have other speakers?

How much time do we have available on this side, Madam Speaker?

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I just want to make certain my friend from Utah understands what we are talking about here this morning. I think he is confused. I think he thinks this is H.R. 3962, but this is a resolution congratulating the 2009 Major League Baseball World Series Champions, which is the New York Yankees. I want to make certain that he understands that's what this discussion is about because for a moment there I thought he was talking about H.R. 3962. I understand that debate is going to be tomorrow.

I don't know whether he is generally a day early in matters of this nature or what, but the point is that I just want to make it clear to let him know that's what we are talking about, the New York Yankees who won the World Series, and this resolution deals with that. I just want to sort of remind him, just in case he had forgotten what we were talking about. He is a very good friend of mine, incidentally. We have been traveling together and all of that. I am telling you this morning I am convinced that he is confused. This is about baseball, of the Yankees winning the World Series, and he keeps thinking it's about health care.

I just want to make certain that he knows that because I listened to his comments very carefully, and I can't see anything that connects with baseball in the conversation that he has put forward. I thought maybe one time he was talking about somebody striking out, but then I listened real carefully, and no, maybe he is talking about hitting a home run. Then I listened a little carefully, and he wasn't talking about a home run. Then I realized that he was just confused about the issue this morning.

Let's me just say to you, Madam Speaker, the story of the New York Yankees and the story of baseball is the story of America. With hard work, talent, the support of a community, and a little bit of luck, they have been able to find success.

When I think about the Bronx and what this team has done, not only for the Bronx but for the City of New York and the Nation in terms of how people rallied around, and the economic development that has come out of it and the fact that people have been able to be provided with a lot of things they would not have been able to be provided with as a result of their success and as a result of them being placed in the Bronx, I want you to know that I see this as truly a team effort in terms of the community being involved; of course, in terms of the City of New York being involved; and of course, the Nation being involved because of the fact that, as my colleague from New York, Congressman Engel, pointed out that you see people all around the world wearing hats that say New York, New York Yankees, because they are proud and they know in terms of what the team has meant not only to the city but to the Nation.

On this note, Madam Speaker, I, of course, say to my colleague, this is H. Res. 893 congratulating Major League Baseball and not H.R. 3962.

I would be delighted to yield to the gentleman from New York.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the Bronx, Mr. Serrano.

Madam Speaker, let me say to the gentleman from Utah, one of the great athletes of our time holds records in terms of kicks, field goals, extra points, all of that, a person who should be deeply indebted to sports and to athletics because I am certain that he said sometime during his life that I would not be what I am or I could not be what I am if it had not been for sports. I am sure he has made speeches and has said that along the way, that

everything that I am and everything I hope to be, I owe it to football. I am certain he said it.

But then to come this morning and to ignore the accomplishments of a team that won the World Series--and we are pausing for 20 minutes to say congratulations--I don't think, to me, that's out of line.

But I do think that when you twist it and you talk about something else that's not related to the resolution, I think that's unfair, and I think that I would use a word that might be a little strong for him. I would say that's inappropriate on this occasion anyway, recognizing that I know that he has been very involved in athletics.

Of course, Madam Speaker, I would like to take this time to recognize the Yankees again and to say to them and to Mr. Steinbrenner and, of course, Randy Levine and all of them that had the opportunity to put together this magnificent team that has made all of us proud.

Of course, we again salute the New York Yankees, the world champions, who happens to be a team that is based in the Bronx.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank my friend from New York for yielding to me.

I think the gentleman from Texas came out in favor of a public option, so I'm really happy about that.

Madam Speaker, I rise this morning, of course, to congratulate the New York Yankees on its 27th winning of the World Series.

I'm about as Bronx as you can get. I was born in the Bronx, and I've represented parts of the Bronx for the past 21 years. I still live in the Bronx. I always tease Mr. Serrano because, you know, we change district lines. Every 10 years, we get redistricted, and if we still had the 1992-2002 lines, Yankee Stadium would be in my district instead of in Mr. Serrano's.

I was there at the World Series. I was there for game 6, and I can tell everyone that the celebration after the Yankees won, both in Yankee Stadium and outside of Yankee Stadium on River Avenue and 161st Street, was like New Year's Eve. I've never seen anything like it in my life.

As we speak today, the Yankees are in New York, having a ticker-tape parade up Broadway. We all wish we could be there, but of course we have pressing business here in Washington, so we are in Washington, but if I could, I would be in New York for the ticker-tape parade, which is just a fantastic experience. Several years ago, I had the experience of riding in the ticker-tape parade. I am very proud of the Yankees and of what they have done.

You know, the Bronx, for many years, has been maligned. Congressman Serrano and I, who both live in the Bronx, know what a wonderful borough it is, what a wonderful county it is, and what wonderful people live in the Bronx neighborhoods. Sometimes the media report on some of the negative things, and every time I go to a community meeting or see a civic association fighting for its community, I always ask, Why isn't the media here? Because this is the real Bronx. I am very, very proud of the Bronx and am very, very proud of the symbol of the Bronx--the New York Yankees.

They're not called the Bronx Bombers for nothing. They're called the Bronx Bombers because they are bombers, and they're from the Bronx. I'm proud to be a Bronxite. I'm proud to live in the Bronx, and I'm proud of the New York Yankees.

I know it's violating rules to put a hat on, but I'm going to do it just for 2 seconds because I think it's really important that I put this on. This hat is worn more than any other hat. We see people in far corners of the world who are wearing a Yankee hat. In Asia, in Africa, in Europe, in the Middle East, wherever we go, we see people wearing Yankee hats. So it's really a symbol of unity. It's a symbol at a time when we need unity, not only in this country but around the world. I'm just so proud of the New York Yankees--of the Bronx Bombers--and I'm proud to be a son of the Bronx.

Would the gentleman yield?

I want to thank my friend, Mr. Towns, for pointing out that this is a resolution supporting and congratulating the New York Yankees. I grew up less than a mile from Yankee Stadium, and I have seen the Bronx during good times and bad times. These are good times now.

So I want to congratulate the Steinbrenner family. I want to congratulate Randy Levine and Lonn Trost and all the others who are connected with the New York Yankees.

I am glad that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns) pointed out that this is a resolution about the Yankees. Frankly, I think that people should have the respect to talk about the Yankees when we are debating a resolution about the Yankees, not to talk about other bills or other things that the Congress is doing.

I would hope that our friends on both sides of the aisle would respect that and would congratulate us and would congratulate the New York Yankees.