Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove my name from H. Res. 648.

Mr. Speaker, reproductive self-determination is one of the most fundamental civil and human rights a woman can have. And this right is under attack in the health care reform debate. Let's be clear that the real goal of the anti-choice opposition is not to maintain the status quo. Rather, they want to extend Federal prohibitions into private pocketbooks. They hope to make abortion coverage so unattractive that insurers eventually stop offering coverage for an otherwise legal medical procedure.

Women do not plan to have unintended pregnancies or pregnancies with complications. Unfortunately, these do happen. It is deeply insulting to tell women that if you want to guard against these unplanned situations, go buy additional coverage.

Essentially, health insurance companies today already treat being a woman as a preexisting condition, and they charge us more for it. The men of this country would rise up in protest if they faced this kind of unequal treatment based on conditions particular to their gender.

Madam Speaker, out-of-control financial speculation on Wall Street contributed to the deep economic hole we're in today. Taxpayers have paid the price, risking around $3 trillion to stabilize the financial system. Astonishingly, the top three bailed-out firms are reportedly on track to pay $30 billion in bonuses to top executives this year. In the meantime, furloughs, unemployment, and foreclosure are weighing on American families. Limited access to lending is still a problem for many small businesses.

It's time for us to institute a modest transaction tax on trades of stocks, options, and swaps. Even a small tax of a quarter percent on these securities could raise up to $150 billion a year. Part of this revenue should be used to invest in our Nation's infrastructure, creating jobs and putting Americans back to work again.

I ask my colleagues to support the ``Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act.'' Wall Street needs to be part of the solution, not an ongoing part of the problem.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks because the women in my district cannot wait any longer for meaningful health care reform.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Congress has been grappling with how to provide all our citizens with access to affordable, quality health care since the time of President Harry Truman. H.R. 3962 represents a critical milestone in the effort to reform our health care system.

For those who have it, health insurance is not something you can take for granted. Every day 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance coverage. A recent U.S. Treasury Department report noted that approximately half of all Americans under the age of 65 will lose their health insurance coverage at some point over the next ten years. Thousands are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions like asthma, pregnancy, arthritis, or diabetes. Millions more have no health insurance at all, including 54,000 people who live in Hawaii's Second Congressional District.

In his health care speech before Congress and the nation, President Obama appealed to the best part of us--to act unselfishly, and to put ourselves in the shoes of others. He asked us to imagine what it must be like for those who don't have insurance--to live in a State of helplessness should illness strike you or the ones you love.

H.R. 3962 is a bill that will provide for comprehensive health care reform that will protect consumers, hold insurance companies accountable, rein in health care costs, reduce the deficit, and cover 36 million uninsured Americans. In supporting this bill, I want to highlight three key points. First, for Hawaii the bill includes the Hirono Amendment that provides an exemption for Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974, which is our nation's first and only employer mandate law of its kind. Second, the bill will provide health insurance coverage for an unprecedented number of Americans while still reducing our deficit. And third, the bill strengthens and improves the Medicare program for our seniors.

First, there is a mistaken perception that everything and everyone in Hawaii is exempted under H.R. 3962. That is not so. The Hirono Amendment only exempts Hawaii's Prepaid Health Care Act (PHCA) and those who come under it (certain full-time employees and their employers). PHCA does not apply to part-time employees, seniors on Medicare, those without health insurance, government employees, or those covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Therefore, H.R. 3962 would apply to them. I know it is easier to talk in terms of the State of Hawaii being exempt from the bill, but that is wrong. The distinction between PHCA being exempt and the whole State being exempt is a critical distinction to make.

PHCA requires employers to contribute at least 50 percent of the premium cost for single health care coverage, and the employee must contribute the balance, provided the employee's share does not exceed 1.5 percent of his or her wages. Because of rising health care costs, Hawaii employers on average cover 94 percent of the premium cost because of the second part of Hawaii's law limiting employees' share. Hawaii employers may cover the full cost of the health insurance premium and many do cover 100 percent of the cost of single coverage. H.R. 3962 would require employers to cover 72.5 percent of premium costs for single health care coverage.

Hawaii consistently ranks among the highest nationally in terms of insurance coverage and lowest in regard to the number of uninsured. This is largely due to PHCA. Private and public health insurance cover an estimated 92 percent of our population of 1.3 million people. Of those with private insurance, 93 percent are covered through employment-based plans.

Lawrence Boyd, an economist at the University of Hawaii, estimates that per capita health expenditures in Hawaii are seven percent lower than the national average. Dr. Boyd believes that wider health insurance coverage and support for preventive health care lead to this outcome. The Hirono Amendment will provide maximum flexibility for Hawaii once a federal health care reform bill becomes law. Hawaii will be able to decide for itself to retain PHCA or come completely under the new federal law.

Second, H.R. 3962 will ensure that 96 percent of Americans will have health insurance coverage. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the cost of enacting H.R. 3962 will be $894 billion, consistent with the $900 billion limit established by President Obama. The bill is fully paid for. About half of the cost of H.R. 3962 is paid for by targeting waste, fraud, and inefficiency in the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs. The other roughly half of the cost of the bill is paid for through a surcharge on the wealthiest Americans--those with incomes above $1 million for couples and $500,000 for singles; therefore, 99.7 percent of Americans will not be touched by this surtax.

While H.R. 3962 will be paid for, CBO also estimates that the bill reduces the deficit by over $100 billion in the first 10 years, and continues to reduce the deficit in subsequent years. Leading economists from educational institutions across our nation have concurred with CBO's findings and support the idea that health care reform promotes our country's economic health.

Finally, I want to address the importance of health care reform to seniors. Some of the most damaging misinformation that has circulated over the past several months on health care reform is the use of scare tactics targeted at seniors. The cynical irony is that the misinformation targeting seniors is largely perpetuated by the same people who fought the establishment of Medicare and wanted to privatize Social Security.

The truth is that H.R. 3962 will lower prescription drug costs for people in the doughnut hole; give the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries; and extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust fund by five years.

Closing the doughnut hole is an especially critical issue for Hawaii, as we have the nation's largest percentage--36 percent compared with 26 percent--of Medicare beneficiaries who fall into this gap of prescription drug coverage. In its first year, H.R. 3962 will reduce the doughnut hole by $500 per beneficiary, provide a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs, and phase out the doughnut hole by 2019.

It is remarkable that in just the past two days, over 300 groups representing Americans from all walks of life--doctors, farmers, seniors, consumers, cancer and diabetes patients--have rejected the unsustainable status quo and have endorsed H.R. 3962. In its endorsement of the bill, Consumers Union--publisher of the independent, non-partisan Consumer Reports--called the health care status quo a ``consumer crisis with its crippling costs, its unreliability, and lack of access,'' and strongly endorsed the House of Representatives health care bill because it will create ``a more secure, affordable health care system.'' Other groups endorsing the House bill include the: American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, AARP, AFL- CIO, AFSCME, Americans for Democratic Action, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Education Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and from my district, Lana`i Community Health Center.

Now is the time to end insurance discrimination based on pre-existing conditions or gender. Now is the time to begin to close the Medicare doughnut hole for America's seniors. Now is the time to bring change to a broken system.

I urge my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 3962.

Aloha and mahalo.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the Stupak Amendment, an amendment that is anti-choice and anti-women.

Earlier this week, I spoke about the importance of health care reform to women. If there was ever a group that has a lot at stake in reform, it is women. Health insurance companies today essentially treat being a woman as a pre-existing condition and charge them more for it. H.R. 3962 will put an end to the unjustifiable insurance practices of gender-rating--treating pregnancy, domestic violence, and previous c- section as pre-existing conditions--and not covering comprehensive maternity care. The men of this country would rise up in protest if they faced this kind of disparate treatment based on conditions particular to their gender.

The Stupak Amendment would effectively deny low-income women abortion coverage through insurance plans in the health insurance exchange. This is not only discriminatory but dangerous to women's health. Women without abortion coverage will be forced to postpone abortion care while attempting to raise the necessary funds--a delay that can exacerbate both the costs and the health risks of the procedure.

As a woman, I find it frankly insulting that the amendment would make women purchase additional insurance coverage for a legal medical procedure. We aren't asking individuals to purchase additional coverage in case they get cancer or in case they get diabetes. We aren't flagging out any other legal medical procedures to be treated in this manner.

Women do not plan to have unintended pregnancies or pregnancies with complications that create health risks. And yet unintended pregnancies and complications do arise. This amendment says it's okay to tell women, if you want to guard against these situations, go buy a rider. This is a deeply insulting attitude. An abortion rider policy also raises serious privacy concerns, as it fundamentally undermines the spirit of existing privacy law.

The sponsors of the amendment have consistently failed to highlight that the bill already contains a compromise that stipulates that state laws regarding abortion procedures are not pre-empted. The bill already states that no federal funds--neither tax nor cost sharing tax credits--can be used to pay for abortion procedures.

Before taking this vote, I urge my colleagues who support this amendment to think about the women in their lives, their mothers, sisters, daughters, granddaughters. Would they put the lives of these women at risk? Would they take away their fundamental rights of choice and freedom? Would they want to limit their access to any legal medical procedure? I ask these questions of my colleagues because in voting in support of the Stupak Amendment, they are answering yes to all these questions.

I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``no'' on the amendment.

Madam Speaker,I would like to recognize the late Anthony T. Kahoohanohano for his extraordinary heroism while serving during the Korean War. Private First Class Kahoohanohano's service was recently acknowledged with our Nation's highest award of merit, the Medal of Honor.

I am grateful to my colleague Senator Akaka for inserting a provision in this year's defense authorization bill that awards the Medal of Honor to Mr. Kahoohanohano and to President Obama for signing the bill into law.

Awarding the Medal of Honor to Anthony Kahoohanohano has long been overdue. A 19-year-old soldier from Wailuku on the island of Maui, Kahoohanohano bravely sacrificed his own life to protect fellow soldiers in the area of Chupa-ri, Korea on September 1, 1951.

After ordering members of his machine-gun squad to take up more secure positions to provide cover as U.S. forces withdrew, Kahoohanohano bravely stayed behind to fight the enemy on his own, even fighting in hand-to-hand combat after he ran out of ammunition. He was killed in action, but his courageous actions inspired other American troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy.

On behalf of Anthony Kahoohanohano's family and the State of Hawaii, and in honor of the service and sacrifice of our servicemembers and veterans, I thank my colleagues for supporting this measure.

Mr. Speaker, few Americans have more at risk or at stake in health care reform than women. Forty States allow private health insurance companies to gender rate their premiums. As a result, a 25- year-old woman may pay between 6 percent and 45 percent more than a 25- year-old man for the same coverage.

Fifty-two percent of women reported postponing or foregoing medical care because of cost. Only 39 percent of men report having had those experiences.

Nine States allow private plans to refuse coverage for domestic violence survivors.

Eighty-eight percent of private insurance plans do not cover comprehensive maternity care. In many policies, a previous C-section and being pregnant are considered preexisting conditions.

Less than half of all women in America have employer-sponsored insurance. This is partly due to the fact that more women tend to work for small businesses or have part-time jobs where health insurance is not offered.

Women matter. Health care reform matters. I urge my colleagues' support to change this broken system.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Reauthorization Act of 2009. This legislation is a companion to S. 76, which was introduced earlier this year by Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

Native Hawaiians, like American Indians and Alaska Natives, are an indigenous, native people. The Native Hawaiian Health Care Act of 1988, 42 U.S.C. 11701 et seq., provided the authority for the establishment of a range of programs and services designed to improve the health care status of the native people of Hawaii. While Native Hawaiian health care programs have been continuously funded since 1988, they have not been reauthorized since 1992. The bill I introduce today will reauthorize the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act through 2014.

Native Hawaiians have the highest cancer mortality rates in the State of Hawaii--216.8 out of every 100,000 male residents and 191.6 out of every 100,000 female residents. These cancer rates are 21 percent higher than for the total state male population--179.0 out of every 100,000 residents--and 64 percent higher than that for the total state female population--117.0 per 100,000. With respect to breast cancer, Native Hawaiians have the highest mortality rates in the State of Hawaii and nationally Native Hawaiians have the third highest mortality rates.

The death rate from heart disease for Native Hawaiians is 68 percent higher than that for the entire population of the State of Hawaii. The death rate from hypertension is 84 percent higher and the death rate from stroke is 20 percent higher for Native Hawaiians than for the general population of the State of Hawaii.

Congress has previously recognized the unique and historical relationship between the United States and the indigenous people of Hawaii. I urge my colleagues continued support for the health and well- being of Native Hawaiians.

Mahalo (thank you).

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 842, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 824, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, one of the most notable improvements I've seen since the beginning of this administration is the importance the President has placed on education.

I know I'm not alone in recognizing how President Obama and Education

Secretary Duncan have changed the tone in the education community. Last Friday, David Brooks used his column in the New York Times to praise the President and the Secretary for their efforts in raising the bar on education reform. Partnering with Congress, they have set high standards and are providing $5 billion in competitive grants to those States that can best demonstrate their commitment to reform. As a result, there is real excitement among the States to put their best education reform foot forward as they gear up for the competition for these grants.

At a time when the U.S. is falling behind other countries in educational attainment and at a time when State budgets are stretched thin, we need to focus more, not less, on strengthening education in our country to enable us to compete in the global economy.

Madam Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 781, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 816 which expresses the condolences of the Congress to the Samoans following the natural disasters in the South Pacific.

I cannot stress how much these terrifying events were so deeply felt throughout the State of Hawaii because of our close familial, historical, cultural, and geographical ties to these islands.

I would like to extend a heartfelt ``mahalo''--my thanks--to Hawaii's Army Air and Army Guard Medical Communication and search and rescue specialists who assisted in the recovery efforts. It is worth noting that this was the first time the Hawaii National Guard had deployed such a sizable tax force outside our State in support of a Pacific partner.

I would also like to thank the 15 Red Cross volunteers from Hawaii who focused on outreaching to the families who lost loved ones in the disasters and served meals that included local favorites like spam and saimin. I would also like to thank the many Hawaii businesses who made monetary or in-kind donations.

The outpouring of support for relief efforts from Hawaii's Samoan community has been tremendous. I know that much of their strength in the wake of these disasters is derived from their personal faith for which I have long had great admiration.

I want to close by letting my dear friend and colleague, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, know that I stand ready along with other Members of Congress to continue to support his efforts to help the people of American Samoa and Samoa in any way that we can.

Mahalo.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 810. I would like to thank Congressman Dan Burton for his work on this resolution.

In February 2008, I visited Indonesia as a member of the House Democracy Partnership. While our focus was meeting with members of the Indonesian House of Representatives, we made it a point to also visit Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra.

As you may recall, in December 2004, Banda Aceh was the closest major city to the epicenter of an Indian Ocean earthquake and suffered further damage by a tsunami that struck shortly afterwards. That earthquake measured 9.3 on the Richter scale.

The awesome power of the tsunami was brought home to us as leaders of Banda Aceh showed us how the whole

area had literally been leveled and ships from port were swept inland by the water's force. Of course, the human tragedy was incalculable. Children became orphans instantly. Mothers, fathers and families were devastated.

The recovery efforts in which the United States played a major role were extraordinary. What I was most impressed with, however, was the remarkable resiliency and spirit of the people of Banda Aceh. It is that same resiliency that I am sure will rise again out of the tragedies of the earthquakes and aftershocks of September 2009.

My thoughts are with those who were lost, their loved ones, and the tens of thousands of survivors who are struggling in the aftermath. I stand with President Obama in his offer of assistance that will help alleviate the suffering and provide relief in this region.