Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today the House is considering H.R. 4887, the TRICARE Affirmation Act. While I support the bill we have before us, I'm disappointed in another display of rushing the process. Speaker Pelosi said that we need to pass the health care bill so we can find out what's in it. This is, fortunately, one that was found before it was passed. Think of how many other hundreds and hundreds of possible errors there may be in that bill because of being forced through quickly and being ill considered.

Moreover, as a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division, I'm deeply disappointed that we had to leave out veterans. Those who have served our country would actually become victims of a policy that the Congress is enacting--inadvertently and not by any malice aforethought. And I certainly thank and share my greatest appreciation with the distinguished chairman, Mr. Skelton, of the Armed Services Committee, who I served with for several years, for catching this and correcting this wrong.

The bill wasn't added to the schedule until close to midnight last night. Beyond the immediate process issues, the addition of this bill to the calendar points to a troubled future if the Senate health care bill passes the House tomorrow. We're many votes away from health care reform becoming law, but already, as I mentioned, we're seeing fundamental flaws in this Senate bill that require amendment.

As we all know, the health care bill that we'll consider tomorrow contains a new requirement that every single American in this country enroll in a health care plan that the government approves. President Obama said that if you like your doctor, you can keep him--if he approves. Now we have the IRS and we have Federal agencies that are going to get into our private affairs, and now it's affecting our veterans. If an individual does not have this coverage, they will be subject to a penalty and even the possibility of prosecution through the IRS.

H.R. 4887 essentially amends the not-yet-passed Senate health care bill to clarify that all TRICARE plans are considered as minimal acceptable coverage under the bill. It is the least that we can do for our veterans. Defining TRICARE as such is important because it exempts its enrollees from the individual mandate in the Senate bill.

As most know, TRICARE is a complete medical care benefit program for active duty members and retirees of all seven uniformed services and their dependents. TRICARE is currently open to about 9.3 million potential beneficiaries. Active duty military, their spouses, and dependents are automatically enrolled in TRICARE Prime. Retirees can choose between TRICARE Prime or two other options. Then there is a fourth subset called TRICARE for Life. These beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare, but TRICARE serves as a secondary payer.

Unfortunately, in the Senate health care bill, Democrats do not deem TRICARE programs for servicemembers and military retirees under age 65 to provide minimum acceptable coverage. H.R. 4887 would clarify these programs and make sure that they're included in this definition.

It's surprising to me that these programs were left out originally. This is an important change to make, but I think this is only a foreshadowing of what is to come for hardworking Americans.

The Senate health care reform bill has not even been signed into law and we already have to fix it. If Democrats were originally willing to adversely impact the health care coverage of these Americans who have honorably served our country, you have to wonder whose health care is safe.

These oversights occurred because this process is too big, too fast, and being done against the will of the American people. I support this amendment. It's critical that we protect our military families.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I now yield 4 minutes to the distinguished ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).

Now, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, a veteran of Desert Storm and a retired United States Army Colonel, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining on our side?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns), an Air Force veteran and another distinguished member of the Veterans Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).

As we revisit this event, we are correcting an egregious wrong that was done by oversight to not fully cover our veterans and those on active duty and their families. The fact that TRICARE would not fall into the so-called minimally accepted coverage leads me back to the false standard that was set in the beginning on this bill in the first place.

I was, among other things in the military, an assault helicopter pilot. One of the things that we learned as young aviators is that accidents normally didn't happen because of one big thing. Normally an accident would happen, and several of my close friends paid the ultimate price in this, was because several little things would begin to pile up, small events, things unseen. The faster the environment began to process, the more they would pile up, and eventually they became uncontrollable. Not noticing power, not noticing air speed, not noticing their rate of descent, their altitude, their visual references, lots of things can come into play.

The bottom line is we are doing the same thing now, except we are doing it with one of the largest and most sweeping bills in the history of this country. We are rushing headlong without even a week; 72 hours for a bill this big, give me a break. Let's think about the reality of what we are doing, rushing headlong to do the largest transfer of power to the executive branch in the history of the United States.

This is about turning us into a different Nation. This is about stepping beyond article I of the Constitution to deem. To deem what? We are fixing a small mistake. I guarantee you, there are hundreds of others. Deeming actually is pronouncing something that isn't as if it were done, for all practical purposes, and it was designed from a legislative perspective for simple corrections. Let us deem everybody good health; that has about the same effect in the eyes of the American people. If we are dealing with veterans, let us deem world peace so there won't be any more risks internationally.

You see the absurdity of this argument presented over and over and over. And for the thousands of Americans outside this building, while we stand in here trying to work together to fix a small piece, there are hundreds and hundreds of other things piling up.

Remember what the Speaker said: the Speaker said we have to pass this bill so we can find out what's in it. In the name of heaven, shouldn't we know what is in it before it even comes to this floor for a vote? I demand to know the justice in that, in ramming a piece of legislation through here that is going to change the lives of our children and our grandchildren.

You ask the people dying in hospitals in England, you ask the people who wait 18 months for bypass surgery, you ask the veterans who are yet to come forward who will not have health care because of this on some technical fix. We are hiring over 100,000 new government bureaucrats and not making the changes the rest of the country uses. And every time in the Ways and Means Committee we tried to offer those changes, they were rejected. Think about this for a moment.

I don't want the most important thing that we are handling in this administration to become a train wreck waiting to happen when we see all of the events beginning to pile up. We need to slow the overall bill down. The fact that we would have to do this, the fact that there are thousands of people demonstrating tells us that there is more to this than simply giving people health care.

I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).

Mr. Speaker, I will go ahead and close with these final remarks.

Next year will be the 30th anniversary of my graduation from the United States Military Academy. When I am back there seeing these men and women who have served this country in so many distinguished ways, through times of peace and war and turbulence, the one thing that I want to be able to look in their eyes and say that we did as a Congress, not simply me, is that we served their needs, their family needs, the needs of their soldiers, the needs of veterans in general.

And it is clear from the overall legislation that we are seeking to amend before it even becomes law, although I think that is constitutionally in question if we are not actually going to vote on the Senate bill, we need to slow this process down and stop the Senate bill from being forced through this House, this reconciliation process, and go back to square one and do this step by step and get it right the first time rather than having to make corrections.

I thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for bringing this critical fix forward. There are many more. Let us get to those.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Would the gentleman yield?

I would point out that TRICARE for life was excised from the Senate bill.

Madam Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I would like to thank the gentleman from Washington for his magnanimous comments and the bipartisan spirit of this bill as we come to the floor right now. At least it is not as much animus as we find in the United States Senate.

I rise today in support of this legislation to extend important benefits that help long-term unemployed workers, including unemployment insurance and health coverage assistance through COBRA. In addition, H.R. 4851 postpones the drastic cuts to Medicare physician payment rates, a critical factor for our health care providers, as well as a number of other important provisions that expire at the end of the month or sooner.

While I support this assistance, the American people should be under no illusion that this will create jobs. It does no such thing. In spite of claims last year that the Democrats' stimulus package would keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent, it has risen from 5.5 to 9.7 percent nationwide and 10.7 percent in Kentucky. Just yesterday, senior administration officials testified they don't expect to see much improvement in the job market this year. We have already spent almost $100 billion on unemployment benefits, with another $50 billion in the pipeline through 2010.

I am disappointed that the majority has again chosen to subvert their so-called PAYGO rules by not paying for this short-term extension. Again, 83 percent of the Federal budget is exempt from the PAYGO legislation that was supposed to pay-as-you-go. While the bill before us today is necessary, it is not a long-term solution. It is inefficient, and it buys us time to actually fix the root causes.

Instead of creating 3.7 million jobs as promised, the Democrats' stimulus bill was followed by more than 3 million additional job losses. A record 16 million are now unemployed. A significant number are underemployed. And all Americans are asking one simple question that I hear all the time at home, and all of my colleagues do, Where are the jobs? Record numbers are collecting unemployment benefits instead of paychecks.

The need to pass this bill today reflects the failure of the Democrats' stimulus bill and subsequent efforts to create the jobs they promised. For this failure we will spend another $6 billion next month on Federal unemployment benefits, borrowing that money from our children and our grandchildren. Millions will soon exhaust these benefits and wonder what comes next.

What Americans want are jobs, not handouts. To really help unemployed workers, we need to craft policies that will actually create jobs so unemployed workers can get back to work, so capital will be invested, so companies will invest in machines and development and growth, so the market will come back and they will hire people who will in fact become taxpayers to contribute to the economy and to meet their own needs.

Doing so requires ending the massive tax, spend, and borrow plans of the Democrat Congress and administration. These policies have created severe uncertainty among American workers and businesses that leads to economic stagnation and discourages hiring.

If you want to look at the full fruit of such policies, all we need to do is look at Eastern Europe in the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s that led to the collapse of the Soviet empire. We could eliminate all of the uncertainty that we have today economically and get the private sector American job creation engine humming again by immediately providing real tax relief to businesses and families across the Nation. In addition, we should scrap plans for a government takeover of health care and focus on reform that actually

reduces cost; reengineer the government system that wastes almost $200 billion a year on overhead that never sees the way to senior citizen health benefits; and do the private market reforms and bring about meaningful medical liability reform that will end defensive medicine costs that cost almost one-third of all medical costs.

We should rescind unspent funds from the failed stimulus bill and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the so-called TARP bill, and apply all of these funds to one thing, which is reducing our deficit, which I believe the gentleman from Kentucky, the United States Senator, tried to do 2 weeks ago and was disparaged by people in the Democratic Party in the House and the Senate and in the administration for simply saying let's pay for something with money that we already have available.

Businesses can't thrive in an economy falsely buoyed by temporary stimulus funds and taxpayer-funded bailouts. In order to create jobs, we have got to empower the people to make their own choices. We need to craft legislation in Congress that won't cause additional harm to our economy but will instead give Americans the flexibility they need to grow their businesses.

With that, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton).

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the distinguished gentleman from Texas control his 10 minutes.

Madam Speaker, as I said in my opening statement, I urge support for H.R. 4851 to

continue unemployment and health insurance benefits for long-term unemployed workers, along with extensions of other important expiring provisions like the Medicare reimbursement provisions that my colleague from Texas just mentioned.

But as we, as a Congress, redouble our efforts on the task of empowering Americans to create jobs, we need to remember the four causes of this. Even as we help in those places where jobs are hardest to find, promoting job growth ultimately needs to be the broader goal.

One thing that we could do as a Congress to promote job growth and help our economy stand up and restore confidence in investing would be to stop the ramming of this health care bill through the House of Representatives presumably without even taking a vote on it. I think there is a small detail in the Constitution that would suggest my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have a small problem explaining that to their constituents.

But let's look at the base principles in this bill. There are good elements in it, small individual elements. But the framework, the foundation on which it is built is not only flawed, it would be destructive to the American economy and make it into the equivalent of an Eastern European health care system within 10 years.

First of all, it's based on huge tax increases. We still don't know what the reconciliation numbers are, but we know by commentary off the floor that the score from the Congressional Budget Office was far more than anything that's been presented in public thus far. Taxing health insurance is going to do one thing. It's going to reduce access to health insurance because less benefits will be provided by employers. It's very simple. Those of us who have run businesses understand this. We go without payroll to make sure our employees are covered. But we need to keep in mind the reality of what is happening. Taking money out of our pockets to fuel the growth of Federal bureaucracy is not right.

The second thing that's done on the opposite end of the pipeline is a half a trillion dollar cut in Medicare benefits. In my going on 6 years in Congress, I have never seen $1 taken out of waste of the Center of Medicare Services. We hire more people, we put more rules in place, but we don't take the overhead out to simplify the processes.

Indeed, in the Ways and Means Committee, a simple amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois to study point of sale and credit card architecture technology that's used in every convenience store in America was rejected; as one gentleman from Texas called it, a pumpkin designed to enrich insurance executives. We use that every day. We use that in our identification cards here to vote. We don't have that integrated in our government. That's why citizens complain all the time about dealing with Washington, D.C.

The final thing that's done on top of all of this is the only job creation program that's coming out of the legislation being considered this week is the hiring of over a hundred thousand new Federal workers who have to be paid for by taxpayers. That means that many jobs have to be created for every one of those.

When I stop and think about this, I'm amazed, because we're not fixing the waste, the excess, the broken processes, the unintegrated database, and the contradictory regulations between the agencies. All we're doing is making the problem bigger and, in the end, it will result--as your own bill says with its waiting list language--in rationed care.

Finally, let's talk about the overwhelming majority of the American people. It is astounding to me the awareness level at all levels of our society of this bill and, frankly, the fear that is out there; not fear from things I say back home, but when people read the bill and see what it means. I'm not talking about cable television fear mongers. I'm talking simply about good Americans who are doing their civics homework like some of my colleagues in both bodies have failed to do and don't remember the basis of why we're sent here. And then when we can't get that popular vote because of fear of Members of retribution in the fall--which I guarantee you is going to come and all of us will be held accountable for our vote--to deem a bill that takes over nearly one- fifth of the economy--let's think what ``deeming'' means for my fellow Americans watching.

I could deem each of my children a Ph.D. I could deem them a good house. I could deem them a great future. In fact, while we're here deeming things, let's deem world peace, then we would do away with lots of expenditures. You all know the absurdity of that statement on the false premise that is raised with deeming. Why are we doing it? Because it creates a subterfuge that is wrong and violates Article 1 of the Constitution.

At the end of the day, there will be an accounting to the American people. We agree on good things that can get done. Let's do those good things. Let's fix the government waste, fix the private market, and provide real medical liability reform.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. My question is when you, as a party, deemed the debt increase of nearly $2 trillion, I would say that it makes any deeming of budgetary issues, even the Deficit Reduction Act reconciliation process, seem almost as a grain of sand. We might as well deem all votes and not even come here and answer mail in our offices if we are going to continue to deem one- fifth of the economy under government control.

Would the gentleman yield?

When the cashier at our local supermarket asked me about the reconciliation process and deeming and how can you pass something you don't vote on, I think the message is already at the grassroots.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Brother Joe Adams for his outstanding service as chaplain to the Kentucky State government. On March 16, 2010, the Kentucky House of Representatives will celebrate Brother Adams' retirement after twenty- eight years of service.

Brother Adams was born and raised in Kentucky, and began preaching at the age of fourteen. In 1966, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Serving for four years, Brother Adams spent his last year in Vietnam.

Following his service to his country, Brother Adams enrolled in Western Kentucky University to study Accounting and began preaching in Simpson County. He later pursued a master's degree in Child Development and Family Living, but soon realized he was being called to devote his life to full-time ministry.

Brother Adams has been a pastor at several Baptist churches across Kentucky. Since 1983, he has dedicated himself to working with community and State officials through the God and Country Ministry. In addition to his duties as chaplain to the Kentucky State government, Brother Adams has contributed to the Commonwealth as a member of numerous boards and committees, including the Bardstown/Nelson County Chamber of Commerce, the Bardstown Public Housing Tenant Relations Committee, the Non-Public School Commission, and chairman of Christian Home Educators of Kentucky.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in commending Brother Joe Adams for his service to our country and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He has touched thousands, literally being the hands and feet of his Lord Jesus Christ reaching into many dark places with the light of truth, hope, and love. May God richly bless him as he and Saundra enter the next chapter in their lives of service.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding an earmark I secured as part of H.R. 3326 (Conference Report).

Requesting Member: Congressman Geoff Davis

Bill Number: H.R. 3326

Account: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force

Legal Name of Requesting Entity: American Freedom Fuels and Chemicals, LLC

Address of Requesting Entity: 2704 Old Rosebud Drive, Suite 160; Lexington, KY 40509

Description of Request: Appropriate $3,920,000 for development of a single clean fuel for the Department of Defense (DOD). Seventy-four percent of DOD's energy consumption is for mobility. From sixty to seventy-six percent of total DOD petroleum product purchases are for jet fuel. JP-8, primarily used for air operations, makes up about fifty percent of the total fuel product purchased by DOD. A $10 per barrel increase in the price of oil adds $600 million/year to the cost of Air Force operations.

The benefit to DOD and the taxpayer is reduced fuel costs, particularly for aviation. Additionally, development of a viable synthetic fuel has the potential to eliminate DOD's historic reliance on costly petroleum from foreign sources.

In this time of record debt, high unemployment, and uncertain economic conditions, a focus on fiscal responsibility is critical--real fiscal responsibility, not words like ``commonsense'' but applying it in a real policy.

For months, President Obama and the majority have talked about the importance of this responsibility, responsibility by tripling Federal spending and then saying we're going to have a freeze. The President has suggested a spending freeze, and we've heard a lot about bending the cost curve with health care reform. But, Madam Speaker, I think we all know that actions speak louder than words.

The fine print in this so-called PAYGO bill is a $2 trillion increase in the national debt. Just read the bill and you see the truth. It's very different from the rhetoric that we hear. Instead of being true to their word, the majority has increased spending by an unprecedented 66 percent over the last year and pushed the deficit to $1.4 trillion in 2009, an 800 percent increase over the last administration.

Instead of listening to the American people's pleas that Congress focus on the economy and jobs, they spent the last year pushing an unpopular, ineffective, and wildly expensive government takeover of health care. Instead of taking action on steps that would halt unsustainable spending in Washington, majority leaders are about to vote to increase our debt limit by $1.9 trillion, the largest one-time increase of the debt in the history of the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, the American people are tired of tightening their budget and counting pennies while the Federal Government continues along a path of irresponsible spending, risky borrowing, and staggering debt.

Washington has a spending problem. It's time to end it. And these days, it seems more like an addiction. Instead of more broken promises to cut spending and reduce the deficit, it's past time for President Obama and Democratic leaders to respond to the American people to end this tyranny of runaway spending in Washington.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the students, faculty, and staff at Ruth Moyer Elementary School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Last fall, Ruth Moyer was named a 2009 Blue Ribbon School. The Blue Ribbon Schools program honors schools that are academically superior or demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement at all levels. These schools are models for others throughout the Nation.

I had the opportunity to meet students and faculty at Ruth Moyer and speak with them about their efforts to improve their school. The students and staff were unable to be here today in Washington to receive our congratulations because they are working hard in the classroom to uphold their high standards. However, the students in Mrs. Greene's class sent a distinguished ambassador to represent them in Washington.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in welcoming Flat Stanley from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, to the House of Representatives and extending our congratulations to the community at Ruth Moyer Elementary for their outstanding achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Technical Sergeant Anthony C. Campbell, an Air Force Reservist and Cincinnati police officer from Florence, Kentucky. Sergeant Campbell made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our Nation on December 15, 2009, in Afghanistan while serving with the 932nd Civil Engineer Squadron.

Tony Campbell was a model citizen and patriot. His dream was to serve in the military and in law enforcement. After graduating from Boone County High School in 1992, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After active duty, he spent 10 years working as a pipefitter and Air Force Reservist before fulfilling his dream to become a Cincinnati police officer. Tony was recalled to active duty and deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2009.

Today, as we honor the service of this exceptional Kentuckian, my heartfelt prayers are with Tony's wife, Emily, their children, Jordan, Ryker and Devin, and his loving parents. We are all indebted to Tony for his bravery, dedication, and willingness to answer the Nation's call to defend freedom.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to Army SPC Bryan C. Florence of Louisville, Kentucky, who nearly lost his life on September 2, 2007 during an IED explosion in Baghdad. Specialist Florence is a true American hero and an exceptional Kentuckian who inspires us all with his strength and sacrifice. I ask that a poem penned by Albert Caswell in honor of Specialist Florence and his family be placed in the Congressional Record as follows:

Bryan's Song

Bryan's Song . . .

Bryan's heart, beating loud! Beating long! Beating strong!

A hero's heart, which to him now so belongs!

Army Tough! Army Strong!

To him, that heart of a hero which so beats on . . .

Belongs, to such a fine young man . . .

Kentucky Strong . . . Bryan's Life . . . Bryan's Song . . .

A Thoroughbred . . .

Finishing first, across that finish line of life . . . let it

now be said!

An Army man, who so proudly wears the uniform . . . who so

can!

All for God and Country, and Family, he went off to war . . .

Into that the darkest face of death, but were his great

burdens bore . . .

Leaving all that he so loved . . .

Ready to die if necessary, is that but not true love . . .

and Heaven is for?

All for us, while into the face of death he left!

When, on battlefields of honor seen . . .

Dashing there so in uniform, such a heroic figure convened .

. .

As the hand of death would so intervene . . .

Reaching down, beckoning him . . .

With one leg gone, somehow he held on . . .

All for his fine wife, and future child to be born . . .

As he now must move on, as we so see his courage full . . .

courage strong . . .

Within his heart beating so loud, beating strong . . .

Listen and learn, from this sonnet . . . his Bryan's Song . .

.

A song of full hope and courage . . . who would not be

discouraged . . .

The words, of a hero . . . all of our souls words has

nourished . . .

As day by day, while all of that pain and heartache comes his

way . . .

As we so glean, what it so takes . . . to be a fine human

being . . .

As against all odds, in life and death's . . . in all his

heartbreak left . . .

In death and war . . . he writes his score . . .

To rebuild . . . to so instill . . . trusting In God's Will!

As his fine heart will not dismay . . .

As he so shows us all the way still . . .

A Florence of Arabia . . .

Who went off to the Mideast . . .

All on his most valiant crusade, to fight for peace . . .

What, words in our lives have we so written?

Heard all here in our living!

And, if I ever have a son . . . I but hope and pray!

What songs have we so sung as to this our world so given?

He could but be like this one, this day . . .

As Bryan's sung!

Madam Chair, on rollcall No. 957 I inadvertently voted ``aye'' when I intended to vote ``no.''

Amendment No. 8 Offered by Mr. Stupak

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

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, I was unable to vote due to my attendance at the President's speech on Afghanistan at West Point.

Had I been present, I would have voted:

On rollcall No. 911--``nay''--H.R. 3029, to establish a research, development, and technology demonstration program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in combined cycle power generation systems.

On rollcall No. 912--``yea''--H. Res. 727, expressing support for greater awareness of ovarian cancer.

On rollcall No. 913--``aye''--H.R. 3667, to designate the ``Clyde L. Hillhouse Post Office Building'' in White Springs, Florida.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the students, faculty, and staff at St. Agnes School in Fort Wright, Kentucky. St. Agnes was recently named a 2009 Blue Ribbon School. The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels. These schools serve as models for others throughout the Nation.

I recently had the opportunity to meet the students and faculty at St. Agnes and speak with them about their efforts to improve their school. Students and staff are unable to be here today in Washington with us because they're back in Kentucky working hard in the classroom to uphold their high standards. However, the students in Ms. Patti Conway's first-grade class sent a distinguished visitor to represent them in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in welcoming Teddy to the House of Representatives and extend our congratulations to all of the students of the St. Agnes community for their outstanding achievement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition because of the tyranny that is being exercised by the majority to step in between the American people and their freedom to make their own health decisions.

Mr. Speaker, we all agree we need to improve health care quality and increase access, but this bill fails to do so. Republicans know health care reform can be accomplished without raising taxes for families and small businesses, without increasing the size of government, without cutting Medicare benefits.

This week, tens of thousands of Americans traveled to Washington, D.C., to demand a health bill that would increase access, reduce cost, save jobs and keep the government out of our health decisions.

Instead of listening, Democrats squelched over 45 health care bills in favor of a tyrannical bill that cuts senior benefits, creates 118 new agencies, boards and programs, kills jobs and raises taxes by $730 billion.

Unemployment has reached a staggering 26-year high and Speaker Pelosi's health care bill will cost another 5.5 million jobs. Americans don't want reform that comes with higher cost and unemployment.

This is a misguided effort by the majority, making it more complicated and expensive to create jobs. The Northern Kentucky Medical Society and thousands of doctors nationwide are opposed to this bill, H.R. 3962. They know that government takeover of health care will put bureaucrats between doctors and patients.

We can craft responsible health care legislation, and that's exactly what my Republican colleagues have done in H.R. 4038, the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act. Our substitute reduces premium costs for every American to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, without raising taxes and without cutting Medicare benefits on our seniors.

Under our bill, insurance premiums are $5,000 cheaper per family than the cheapest Democratic bill. This bill takes waste and costs out of the system instead of adding to it. The Republican bill heeds the pleas of the people without spending $1.3 trillion, without killing jobs and without hurting seniors.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 3962 is not reform; it is tyranny. Give the people health reform, health freedom, and kill this bill.

Mr. Speaker, today, Thursday, November 5, 2009, I was unavoidably detained from a vote series.

Had I been present I would have voted: On rollcall No. 858--``yes''-- H. Res. 868, Honoring and recognizing the service and achievements of current and former female members of the Armed Forces; on rollcall No. 859--``yes''--Senate Amendments to H.R. 3548, Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009; on rollcall No. 860--``yes''--H. Con. Res. 139, Congratulating the first graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy on their 50th graduation anniversary and recognizing their contributions to the Nation; on rollcall No. 861--``yes''--H. Res. 880, Recognizing the efforts of career and technical colleges to educate and train workers for positions in high-demand industries.