Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have followed this debate closely. We all have. But I haven't heard a colleague from Massachusetts say, ``In spite of my State's five billion dollar budget deficit, CommonwealthCare is a great model.'' I haven't heard my colleagues from Maine say ``Dirigo covered more people and lowered costs, let's try that approach.'' My colleagues form New Jersey can't say, ``When we passed guaranteed issue laws, costs came down, let's try our model.'' And you certainly haven't heard any of the Tennessee delegation come to the floor and say, ``TennCare was a great success, let's try that!''

You haven't heard these things because my colleagues know what is proposed today has been tried and tried and tried before. It has never worked. The theory sounds good, but the hard facts are that when you gamble that near-term costs will be made up by long-term savings, you always lose.

The real losers will be our children and grandchildren who will labor under heavy taxes to finance their own mediocre care. There is a bipartisan collection of Members who know that is the only result of this bill. I hope that we will be a bipartisan majority.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues are celebrating the birth of a great new entitlement program today; only they see dependency on the Federal Government and the death of freedom as a cause for celebration.

My colleagues celebrate this day as being like the days when Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid were passed. They forget that today those programs are insolvent and will likely crush our children under their debt.

My colleagues are overjoyed that soon their goal of having Americans dependent on the Federal Government for mortgages, student loans, retirement, and health care will be realized. That is a chilling goal.

My colleagues cheer that this bill is paid for. They ignore the fact that it is our children who will pay for their greed.

My colleagues shame us for scaring the American people about the contents of this bill. We know the consequences of this bill will be frightening and horrible.

Freedom dies a little bit today. Unfortunately, some are celebrating.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this flawed bill.

Madam Speaker, this year I replaced town hall meetings in my district with listening sessions. I go to hear what my constituents have to teach me and to teach this body. They want us to know that the process matters to them. Some of my colleagues like to say that it doesn't make any difference, but my constituents know that when legislation is negotiated in the backroom, that America loses. They know that in the back rooms, stimulus bills turn into pork bills, bailout bills turn into just more debt, and energy bills turn into taxes.

Today, hundreds of Americans are walking the halls of this building, asking us to stop this outrageous government takeover of health care and take health reform step by step and structure a system that lets them out of this broken system, not locks them into it permanently. I hear them, Madam Speaker, and I certainly hope that this Chamber hears them.

I do thank the gentleman from Illinois.

It is such an honor for me today to rise in strong support of the resolution to congratulate Ambassador Nancy Brinker for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ambassador Brinker founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1982, and has since built it into the world's leading breast cancer grassroots organization. The Susan G. Komen Foundation awarded $780,000 in research grants in 2008 in my home

State of Tennessee, and we are grateful for those grants.

Through her advocacy efforts, Ambassador Brinker is to be commended for saving countless lives as a trailblazer fighting for the health of women worldwide, empowering patients, and raising billions in funding for continued breast cancer research. She has worked tirelessly, building an impressive resume of accomplishments, most recently being named the first ever World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.

I commend Ambassador Brinker for standing with all women to raise awareness on the issue of mammography rationing in the health care reform bill and continuing to advocate for increased access to appropriate therapies and screenings for all Americans. Her contributions to society deserve much praise, and each points back to her original goal: to ease suffering and raise awareness to eradicate breast cancer for all, and to honor the memory of her sister. Today, we honor her.

I do thank the gentleman from Nebraska, and I am thrilled to stand today in support of the Local Community Radio Act.

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that I've been engaged in since my days in the Tennessee State Senate. In an age of consolidating radio stations and a competitive marketplace for airtime, this legislation will allow smaller groups to be heard. Indeed, Chairman Boucher has mentioned this, as has Mr. Terry; and it is an important reason for having this low-power radio act available for our communities.

Whether we are talking about the aspiring blues performer in Memphis or whether we are talking about an up-and-coming country star in Nashville or whether we are talking about one of our colleges or universities which is getting on the air and showcasing some of its local talent or some of its personalities--or maybe it is some of our religious organizations or churches--it is a way for them to spread their messages. This legislation does give a crucial voice to these communities.

I was pleased that Mr. Boucher mentioned small businesses that are owned by women and the number of women that we have seen move into the communications field because they had the ability to get to low-power stations and to develop formats in programming that will help them to launch a dream and actually innovate for our airwaves.

We have heard from a wide range of groups. They do stand in support of this. It is a pleasure to stand and support the bill. I urge this Chamber to move forward on passing this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I do rise in support of the resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am pleased to see this resolution before us, and I want to commend Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and also Congresswoman Capps for their work on this issue. I appreciate their leadership to raise awareness, and I have grave concerns, very grave concerns on how this issue translates into the health reform bills that are currently before us. While I do rise in support of this, I do think that it is important, it is imperative, as a matter of fact, that we revisit why we are here and why we are having this discussion today. And it's important that we realize that, even with the resolution before us, it is not going to get to the crux of the issue, but it is a good, solid first step.

With or without a government-run health plan, H.R. 3962 would still be a massive takeover of health care. Government bureaucrats will be charged with making decisions of what can be in your health plan, and they can make it illegal for a health plan to cover anything not approved by the government. In the House version of the Democrats' health reform, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and its successor organization are cited over a dozen times and given disturbing new authority over coverage decisions regarding breast cancer screening.

For example, on page 1,762 of the Democrat health reform bill, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is given the authority to determine, and I'm quoting, ``the frequency'' and ``the population to be served.'' And quoting again from the bill, ``The procedure or technology to be used for breast cancer screenings covered under the Indian Health Service Act.'' Section 303 of H.R. 3962 states that the, and I'm quoting again, ``Commissioner shall,'' which is a mandate, Mr. Speaker, ``shall specify the benefits to be made available under exchange participating health plans.''

In plain English, that means the new health choices commissioner will determine what preventive services, including mammography, are covered under your health insurance based on what the task force says is right. Passing a resolution and passing this resolution before us, as I said, is a good, solid first step. However, I do believe to strike at the heart of the problem we, indeed, need to move forward on a motion to instruct conferees to make certain that we revisit this issue.

Under the Democrats' bill, the task force will set government policy and will determine what is covered and make it illegal for plans to cover other items. All recommendations of the Preventive Services Task Force and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services as in existence on the day before the date of the enactment of this act-- which would be H.R. 3962--shall be considered to be recommendations of the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services.

Mr. Speaker, in order to prevent any type of rationing, that is why we need to take even further steps. I commend my colleagues for their diligent work on this issue. It is the right first step, and I encourage all of us to continue to work to resolve the issue.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Myrick), who has been a true champion of women and breast cancer issues and has really led on our side of the aisle as we have worked to deal with so many of these issues.

I yield the gentlewoman 30 additional seconds.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Rogers),

who has been a leader in the health care debate on our Energy and Commerce Committee.

I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to Dr. Gingrey, the gentleman from Georgia who has practiced medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, has worked with women and women's health care issues, and joins us on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance).

At this time, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to our ranking member on International Affairs, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen from Florida.

At this time, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to Mrs. McMorris Rodgers from Washington State, who is vice chair of our conference.

I have an inquiry, Mr. Speaker. Is the gentlewoman from California prepared to close or does she have additional speakers?

I reserve the balance of my time.

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I think that all of us come here because of our concern, great concern, about women and mammography and the health care issues that are found before us.

When it comes to breast cancer, we are very grateful for early detection. We know it's important. Because of that, it is with great sadness that we have read what is in this bill.

In H.R. 3962, it clearly shows how the recommendations will limit America's choices and women's choices. Reading through the bill, section 2301 does establish the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services, and it clearly says that A and B are priority levels for these treatments. You can read on page 1,318, and I do, Mr. Speaker. It says in line 2, the Commissioner shall ensure--shall ensure--that A and B is going to be the rating that is covered, but C is not.

What we are discussing in this 40 to 49 age group is those C ratings, and the Commissioner will not have the power to downgrade that decision. Section 222 of the bill--what you have in this resolution is going to be negated by section 222 of the bill that says the services designated A or B priority are part of the essential benefits package. So just saying that the guidelines would not prohibit an insurer from providing coverage, your own legislation is going to end up negating that, if that is signed into law.

The language of this bill is clear. All insurance providers must offer A and B priority services. They have no incentive or a mandate to offer priority C or below. That is where it affects women under 50 and women over age 75, and those, indeed, are valuable lives.

Mr. Speaker, we do look at this legislation. We look at section 2301 where it says that, All recommendations of the Preventive Services Task Force and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, as in existence on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be considered to be the

recommendations of the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services.

At that point, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, they are going to have the full weight of law behind them. It is in the bill.

Yes, we look at this, and we see the bureaucrat in the exam room right here. We look at it, and we all know and have loved and have held family members in our arms that have been affected and would have lost their lives had they not had access to early detection. It concerns us.

Do not ration health care. Support the resolution, but let's go further in getting out of the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of the Informed Peer-to-Peer User Act.

As we are hearing today on the floor, it is imperative that we heighten public awareness of the dangers associated with P2P file sharing, and Mr. Barrow just spoke so well to those points.

The reason that this legislation is needed and why it effectively requires software applications to provide clear warnings to their users is because, as the gentleman from Georgia indicated, many people are not aware of what they are finding themselves in the middle of as their information is exposed on the Internet.

In addition, the Seventh District of Tennessee, my district, is home to some of the country's most talented and creative minds in the music industry, and they rely heavily on P2P file sharing in crafting and bringing forward their music.

However, P2P programs are notorious for stealing copyrighted work, and this legislation does much to curb the piracy and the copyright infringement while stepping up penalties that are badly needed for those that are knowingly and willingly carrying out these violations. Unknown and untracked predators have been given fertile ground to steal intellectual property in a system that had been previously void of any centralized mechanism to track, monitor, and prosecute the violators.

I do want to commend those on both sides of the aisle, especially Mr. Barrow, Mrs. Bono Mack, Mr. Barton, and Mr. Stearns, for all their hard work in crafting this bill, and I encourage everyone to support the legislation.

Madam Speaker, two days ago, thousands of Tennessee's finest men and women boarded buses and began the first leg of a long journey that will eventually lead them to the other side of the globe. Tennessee's largest National Guard unit, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, has received its orders and begun its deployment--first to Camp Shelby, MS, and then on to Iraq.

The 278th has proven itself to be an essential part of our Nation's Army. Without the citizen-soldiers that make up today's National Guard, our ability to defend ourselves and our allies would be severely diminished. A long deployment is very difficult, however, and for many of these soldiers this is not their first deployment. I hope these soldiers know how valuable, essential, and honored their service to our country is.

I specifically think today of Troop A, 278th Support Squadron, based in Lobelville, Tennessee. These fine men and women were appropriately honored by their community on December 4, and I know will fulfill the high expectations placed upon them by their commanders and perform admirably.

I ask my colleagues to lift up the 278th ACR in prayer, to honor the sacrifice their service represents, and support their families in every way possible.

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to congratulate Mr. Stephen Hodgkins as he ends a successful term as President of the Memphis Area Homebuilders Association.

As homebuilders in Memphis and across Shelby, Fayette and Tipton County continue to weather an unrelenting storm of economic uncertainty, Stephen has provided a strong and steady hand of unwavering leadership that has shined as a beacon of hope and instilled confidence in MAHA members when his organization has needed it the most.

Throughout the course of his term as President, Stephen has been a relentless advocate for homebuilders and has worked tirelessly in reaching out to legislators in Nashville and in Washington, DC. Throughout our many discussions I have always found Stephen's advice to be insightful as we continue to look for ways to reinvigorate the housing market and alleviate the hardships that continue to face homebuilders across West Tennessee.

While the forecast for the housing market still remains unclear one thing that has always been certain is that Stephen's success as a leader is deeply rooted in the skills he has developed over 36 years as a mortgage banker and later through the launch of his home building company Oaktree Homes LLC.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Stephen Hodgkins for a successful term as President of the Memphis Area Homebuilders Association and wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I do rise in support of SHVERA, as we call it. And for those individuals that live in rural areas like my Seventh District in Tennessee, fixing a short market problem, which we have heard discussed on this floor tonight, is much more than just a convenience or an ``I want to see TV'' issue. For us, it is an issue of health and security and public safety. And by working to expand the definition of the unserved customer, which we have done on a bipartisan basis in this bill, my constituents in rural west Tennessee counties like Hardin and Hardeman and Chester are now going to be able to get that distant satellite signal that we've discussed.

The reason it is important for us is because a couple of years ago, we had a devastating tornado that swept through west Tennessee and touched down in our district. Nearly three dozen Tennesseeans were killed and 150 people were seriously injured. Communities were paralyzed and had significant difficulty in receiving news alerts and communicating.

By fixing this short market, we will all rest a little better knowing that should we be faced with any other such disaster of this magnitude, that we will be better prepared and able to respond and to persevere.

I do want to take a moment to thank Chairman Conyers, Chairman Boucher, Ranking Member Barton, and Ranking Member Stearns for all of their hard work in fixing this short market issue and helping to resolve this issue for my constituents in Tennessee.

As has been said, the bill's not perfect, and there is an area that has been mentioned mandating that a private

company like DISH Network carry public broadcasting in high def. It really does go against free market principles. I do know that is going to continue to be worked on. We are looking forward to getting that issue resolved.

I thank the gentleman from Florida.

I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleagues here in the House that we know something is wrong with the piece of legislation when you have major media outlets talking about how off-track this is, and you also know something's wrong with it when you have our colleagues in the Senate who take up a bill, this bill, and they can't get to 50 votes in the Senate for the companion legislation. So it is with a real sense of regret that I think many of us look at this.

Does the standard growth rate, SGR, need to be fixed? Absolutely. And there is agreement on that. It is an issue out of fairness to our Nation's physicians, the providers of health care. It is an issue of fairness to our Nation's seniors.

Mr. Speaker, I think it has been really something that has been of concern to us as we have watched some of our colleagues in this House treat Medicare as a slush fund rather than recognizing that it is a trust fund and it's there for those seniors. We can do better. Our seniors and our physicians deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition on this record- killing, job-killing bill that is going to cut Medicare and pile debt on our children, our precious grandchildren and raise health care costs and taxes on the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I rise in opposition to this rule, and I encourage my colleagues to stand in opposition to this rule.

The reason is this is not what the American people want to see in health care reform. It is not what my constituents want to see in health care reform. There are some very valid, tangible reasons. This is a wrong step for America. This bill costs too much. It is too expensive to afford.

Look at what happened to my home State of Tennessee with the test case for public option health care. The cost not only doubled, not only tripled--it quadrupled, and it nearly broke the State. Our State was on the verge of bankruptcy. We had a 4-year battle over a State income tax to pay for this.

Who do you think is going to pay for this bill? This is too expensive to afford. What you are doing is sacrificing the future of our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren to pay, to pay for federalizing, nationalizing government control of health care.

Let's oppose the rule and take it down.

Mr. Speaker, I find it so interesting that some are so excited about voting for this bill. Quite frankly, I find it to be a very sad day that this body would take a step moving toward a single- payer system in health care.

We have all heard the horror stories of what happens in Europe and in Canada as women seek to get care for breast cancer and die before that care can be found, because care delayed is care denied. We've heard about heart surgeries that never came to pass because they were waiting in the queue. We have talked to mothers who sought desperately to have children treated for chronic illnesses and could not get that help. We have heard about our seniors, and we know what this bill will do to Medicare, making one-half trillion dollars worth of cuts. We have talked to mothers who have said, My goodness, you cannot even get H1N1 vaccine out there and you think you're going to handle the health care for my children?

And today, recorded in the Wall Street Journal, Betsy McCaughey, former Lieutenant Governor of New York, cites some of the provisions and what it will do to the seniors in this Nation as it cuts into their access.

This is not the action we should take.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Jim Durrett of Clarksville, Tennessee, upon his retirement after 32 years of civil service to the City of Clarksville.

Jim's story is inspiring. A native son, he began his work for the city as a laborer in the Street Department. Jim worked diligently and continued to assume more and more responsibility. Eventually, he became the Superintendent of that department and served capably in that role for 20 years through many difficult times.

Jim's leadership over those years prepared him to be named as the Mayor's Chief of Staff in 2007. Since that time, Jim has overseen the city's involvement in some of Clarksville's most exciting developments--the recruitment of Hemlock Semiconductor, the extension of the RiverWalk, the beginning of construction on the long-awaited Marina, and many other important projects. Despite the heavy load of responsibility, Jim's strong work ethic, pleasant demeanor, and the continuing respect of his colleagues is remarkable.

Please join me in honoring Jim Durrett on his service to the City of Clarksville, and wishing him only the best in the years to come.