Floor Statements

I thank the chairman of the committee for his leadership.

I'm pleased, as the Chair of the Transportation Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee, to rise to support this legislation and particularly highlight for my colleagues the importance of legislation and language that I put in the bill in our subcommittee. One dealing with whistleblower protections that requires the DHS Secretary to establish and process and to accept information from whistleblowers. We cannot be a secure Nation if people don't feel that they have the ability to tell the truth.

I'm very pleased that language is in the bill that reduces the consequence of a terrorist attack by requiring the use of inherently safer technologies, which is crucial as we begin to look at chemical facilities and wastewater facilities. In addition, the aspect of the citizen enforcement that allows a citizen to file suit against the DHS, not against a private company, that speaks to the issue of making sure that the Department of Homeland Security is in compliance.

Then, of course, I think it is important to note, as we look at background checks, that we also are reminded of people's right to work. Title I requires the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to issue regulations to require tiered facilities to undertake background checks for the safety of the American people.

This is a legislative initiative that is overdue. I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.

I thank the chairman of the Financial Services Committee and my dear friend from New York, Congresswoman Maloney.

It is interesting, listening to my good friend on the other side, but what I would offer to say is we are now debating a bill that most Americans are crying out for. As we go into the season of giving, and many, many holidays, where Americans all over the Nation and all over the world, frankly, will be looking to share their generosity, if you will, but they are facing a steep mountain to climb. So the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act allows us to push back on many credit card companies that have availed themselves of the opportunity to raise interest rates by hearing about the potential implementation of this bill in 2010, August 2010, and decrease the credit limits on their consumers before the effective date.

Mr. Chairman, we didn't do this. Credit card companies who saw the writing on the wall, rather than working with consumers in a way that would encourage purchasing in a responsible manner, they did the complete opposite.

So I am very glad to be a cosponsor of this legislation that expedites good things, providing increased written notice to consumers of any increases in interest rates or otherwise makes a significant change in the terms of the credit card account. That is simple fairness.

I am glad to be on the side of informing consumers of their right to cancel the card before the rate hike goes into effect. I am glad to be on the side of the consumer that prohibits arbitrary interest rate increases and universal default on existing balances. I am glad that college students will not be, if you will, caught in the crosshairs of paying for their college tuition while paying high interest rates on credit cards that they use.

Finally, let me say we are being fair to the credit card companies. We require penalty fees to be reasonable and proportional to these same credit companies. Let me just say, this is a good bill for America.

Madam Speaker, I rise before you today in support of H. Res. 868, ``Honoring and recognizing the service and achievements of current and former female members of the Armed Forces.'' I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Davis, for introducing this resolution.

As a member of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues I think that it is important to recognize our sisters in uniform. Today over 350,000 women serving in the Armed Forces make up approximately 15 percent of active duty personnel, 15 percent of Reserves, and 17 percent of the National Guard. Women are often overlooked and underappreciated in the military even though women are and have historically been an important part of all United States war efforts, voluntarily serving in every military conflict in United States history since the Revolutionary War.

The first American woman soldier was Deborah Sampson of Massachusetts. She enlisted as a Continental Army soldier under the name of ``Robert Shurtliff.'' She served for 3 years in the Revolutionary War and was wounded twice; she cut a musket ball out of her own thigh so no doctor would find out she was a woman. Finally, at the end of the hostilities her secret was discovered--even so, George Washington gave her an honorable discharge. She later lectured on her experiences and became a champion of women's rights.

The Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps was established in the United States in 1941. However, political pressures stalled the attempts to create more roles for women in the American Armed Forces. Women saw combat during World War II, first as nurses in the Pearl Harbor attacks on December 7, 1941. The Woman's Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Women's Reserve were also created during this conflict. In July 1943 a bill was signed removing ``auxiliary'' from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, making it an official part of the regular army. In 1944 the Women's Army Corps, WAC, arrived in the Pacific and landed in Normandy on D- day. During the war, 67 Army nurses and 16 Navy nurses were captured and spent 3 years as Japanese prisoners of war. There were more than 350,000 American women who served during World War II and 16 were killed in action; in total, they gained over 1,500 medals, citations, and commendations.

Women are now playing an increasingly important role in America's military forces; more than 185,000 women have been deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other missions since 2001.

Today, women can serve on American combat ships, including in command roles. Female enlisted members and officers can hold staff positions in every branch of the Army except infantry and armor, although they can in fact serve on the staffs of infantry and armor units at division level and above, and be members of Special Operations Forces. Women can fly military aircraft and make up 2 percent of all pilots in the U.S. military.

However, women are still limited solely due to gender. Women are not permitted to serve on submarines or to participate in Special Forces programs such as Navy SEALs. Women enlisted soldiers are barred from serving in Infantry, Special Forces, Artillery, Armor, and Air Defense Artillery. So far the positions closest to combat open to women in the U.S. Army are in the Military Police, where women operate machine-guns on armoured Humvees, guarding truck convoys. Although Army regulations bar women from infantry assignments, some female MPs are detailed to accompany male infantry units to handle search and interrogation of Iraqi suspects.

I urge my colleagues and all Americans to honor and recognize the service and achievements of current and former female members of the Armed Forces. Over 350 servicewomen have given their lives for the Nation in combat zones since World War I, and more than 85 have been held as prisoners of war; 34,000 women served in World War I, 350,000 served in World War II, 120,000 served in the Korean war, over 7,000 served in the Vietnam war, and more than 41,000 served in the first gulf war.

Madam Speaker, the women of America's military, past and present, have served their Nation in times of peace and war, at great personal sacrifice for both themselves and their families. I hope that this Congress will recognize the service and achievements of women in the military.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 878, which ``expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Family Literacy Day.'' A great American, Fredrick Douglass, once said ``Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.'' For America, literacy is the key that unlocks the door to our success, to our defense, and to our freedom.

Illiteracy should be considered the root of many problems in our lives today; it leads to alienation of students in school and their community. For example, in my home district, the 18th District of Texas approximately 68 percent of those arrested, 75 percent of welfare dependants, 85 percent of dropouts, and 72 percent of the unemployed are identified as functionally illiterate (Youth Plus). One in three adults in the greater Houston metropolitan area functions at the lowest level of literacy, they are unable to read and comprehend a menu or a street map, fill out a job application, or read the directions on a medicine bottle (Literacy Advance of Houston). And in Texas, 85 percent of teenagers appearing in juvenile court are functionally illiterate (Youth Plus).

No skill can be rendered more crucial to our future, nor to a democratic and prosperous society, than literacy. Literacy and knowledge is the premise of reaching one's full potential as an upstanding citizen. President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, ``A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance,'' in order for us to utilize this priceless weapon, we must educate one another.

Our children are made readers on the laps of their parents. Therefore the literacy of parents has a direct impact on the educational success of their children. Parental involvement is an intricate part of a child's success and as the level of parental involvement increases the education level of the child increases. Unfortunately, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey, 42 million adult Americans can't read. Another 50 million can recognize so few printed words they are limited to a 4th or 5th grade reading level; one out of every four teenagers drops out of high school, and of those who graduate, one out of every four has the equivalent or less of an eighth grade education. Parents in family literacy programs have proven to become more involved in their children's education and gain the tools necessary to obtain a job or find better employment.

A parent's education and income are two of the biggest factors in determining a child's

success in school. Advocating literacy across America will result in children's lives becoming more stable, lead to higher achievement in the classroom and success in all future endeavors becomes inevitable. Studies have shown that two important factors that influence student achievement are the mother's education level and poverty in the home. It is clear that if adults are not part of the learning equation, then there is no long-term solution to our Nation's education challenges. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy reports that 90,000,000 adults lack the literacy, numeracy, or English language skills to succeed at home, in the workplace, and in society. National Family Literacy Day would highlight the need for our government to support efforts to ensure each and every citizen has the necessary literacy skills to succeed at home, at work, and in society. I support the designation of National Family Literacy Day on November 1, which encourages parents to become involved in their children's education and schoolwork, as well as people across the United States to support programs to assist those in need of adult education and family literacy programs.

Children who participate in family literacy programs demonstrate significant gains in oral language skills and score higher on standardized tests. I call upon the Federal Government, States, localities, schools, libraries, nonprofit organizations, community- based organizations, consumer advocates, institutions of higher education, labor unions, and businesses to support increased access to adult education and family literacy programs to ensure a literate society.

Mr. Speaker, 90 percent of the children of America, at some point in their lifetime, certain populations of the children will be on food stamps.

I am very proud of Speaker Pelosi. This is not Pelosi health care; this is America's health care. This is the input of Americans from all around the Nation. Ninety-six percent of Americans will be covered by this health care, and no woman will be denied insurance because of a preexisting condition such as pregnancy.

What an outrage. I have been working on the physician-owned hospitals issue now for almost 4 years. We are engaged in providing opportunities for physician-owned hospitals to expand, to be able to provide services for general acute care services in this bill.

I know we are going to be victorious. I know that the hospitals need to be covered. I know that we are not going to lose jobs.

This is a bill that serves all of America. I am glad that my colleague had the opportunity to be in European-style health care. That is not what it is, but it is going to allow people in America to live, and not the 18,000 that die every year because they do not have health insurance.

Pass health reform now.

Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of H. Res. 641, which recognizes the 60th anniversary of the founding of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. I support this resolution because of the incredible role that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played in helping to end the cold war.

In 1949, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL, was established by the United States to promote democracy in communist-controlled parts of Europe. RFE/RL broadcasted unbiased and factual information and ideas, providing valuable reporting and demonstrating the value of the freedom of the press. The information provided in the broadcasts was more comprehensive than the information provided on state-controlled media sources, leading some Communist authorities to use secret transcripts to stay informed.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played an important role in bringing about the demise of communism in Europe. Leaders from Russia and other former Soviet Union countries have extolled the virtues of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Former Polish President Lech Walesa famously said that RFE/RL's influence ``could not be described.'' Former President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and former President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, have also described the significant role that RFE/RL played in bringing the end of communism in Europe. Its virtue was encapsulated by the former President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, who nominated RFE/RL for the Nobel Peace Price in 1991.

During the cold war, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was subject to attacks by Communist governments of the Soviet Union. The Soviet intelligence agency and secret police, the KGB, as well as other Communist intelligence agencies infiltrated radio stations with spies and attempted to disrupt reporting by jailing and intimidating sources. Georgi Markov, an RFE/RL correspondent in Bulgaria, was murdered in London in 1978 by Bulgarian Communist intelligence service agents. In 1981, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was attacked when Romanian security agents exploded a bomb outside of the RFE/RL headquarters in Munich, West Germany. Such acts of violence by the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries demonstrate the fear that the Communist leaders had for the democratizing influence of the free press.

Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty continues to operate in Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and Asia. RFE/RL broadcasts in 28 languages to over 30 million listeners in 20 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, the Balkans, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan. To this day, RFE/RL correspondents and employees are subject to violence and intimidation by regimes that consider the free press threatening.

In 1823, Thomas Jefferson said, ``The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.'' From the cold war to today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has demonstrated Jefferson's words throughout the world. By bringing the free press to countries with repressive governments, RFE/RL has proven for over 60 years that governments that use censorship to protect their authority cannot stand forever.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 839 ``Condemning the illegal extraction of Madagascar's natural resources.'' This timely resolution calls upon the leadership of Madagascar to undertake democratic reforms as well as immediately implement measures to protect their fragile and beautiful environment.

There are many beautiful places in this world, but few are as diverse as the island nation of Madagascar. Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, covering over 144 million acres. This unique island has a wide range of ecosystems including rain forests, dry forests, volcanic mountains, and a large desert. The climate ranges from tropical along the coast to temperate inland to arid in the south. This environmental diversity supports an equally large range of biodiversity. The island is home to 150,000 species of unique flora and fauna, as well as thousands of animals found nowhere else on earth. According to the World Wildlife Fund, ``approximately 92 percent of Madagascar's reptiles, 68 percent of its plant life and 98 percent of its land mammals, including lemurs, exist naturally nowhere else on Earth.''

Madagascar is also home to over 20 million people who depend on the biodiversity to survive. For example, the Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 150,000 people depend on the Makira-Masoala rainforest as their primary source of water. Approximately 80 percent of Madagascar's population lives below the poverty line, 70 percent of the population live outside cities, and many Malagasy people depend on subsistence farming; thus, the fate of the Malagasy people is closely intertwined with that of their environment.

Mr. Speaker, as this resolution points out, the livelihoods of the people, animals and plants on Madagascar are threatened by a political crisis that triggered a pillage of its valuable wildlife and forests. In mid-March 2009, President Marc Ravalomanana's government was overthrown by forces led by Andry Rajoelina. Mr. Rajoelina, a key opposition leader and sitting mayor of Madagascar's capitol city was upset with the President's conflict of interest between his extensive commercial interests and running the country. Ravalomanana was both the President of the government and the country's mammoth business conglomerate.

Protestors accused the President of wasting international aid money and striking a harmful land deal with Daewoo, Inc. of South Korea. Under the deal, Daewoo would own an area of farmland the size of Belgium.

During the coup, over 135 people died and thousands were injured in frequent clashes between protestors and police and army forces. The violence has crippled the island's $390 million-a-year tourism sector, and unnerved foreign investors in Madagascar's mining and oil industries. The human rights of Ravalomanana's supporters are being threatened throughout the country. Many of his supporters that remain in the country are in hiding, have been beaten, or are in jail.

The Obama Administration has condemned Marc Ravalomanana's forced resignation as President of the Republic of Madagascar, and Andry Rajoelina's installation as de facto head of state, as tantamount to a coup d'etat, undemocratic, and contrary to the rule of law. By

designating the regime change as a coup, the U.S. has suspended all non-emergency foreign assistance. The African Union and other international organizations have similarly denounced the coup but, despite international pressure, a return to democracy seems unlikely.

This is a sad sequence of events for a country once lauded as a success story in Africa. Madagascar, as you may recall, was the first country to receive a contract from the Millennium Challenge Cooperation when, in April 2005, the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a 4- year, $110 million Compact with the Republic of Madagascar to raise incomes by assisting the rural population to transition from subsistence agriculture to a market economy.

Today, the new government threatens not only the fragile ecosystems, but the citizens of their own nation. This is why I strongly support this resolution that calls on people of Madagascar to immediately undertake a democratic, consensual process to restore constitutional governance, culminating in free, fair and peaceful elections, as well as denounce the illegal extraction of Madagascar's natural resources.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you today in support of H. Res. 863, ``Recognizing the scourge of pneumonia, urging the United States and the world to mobilize cooperation and prioritize resources to fight pneumonia and save children's lives, and recognizing November 2 as World Pneumonia Day''. I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Shea-Porter, for introducing this resolution, as well as the co-sponsors.

As co-chair of the Congressional Children's Caucas, this legislation is very important to me. Pneumonia kills an estimated 4,000,000 people every year--one child every 15 seconds. According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, more children die of pneumonia more than any other illness, burying more each year than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. More than 15,000,000 episodes of pneumonia occur every year among children under the age of five in developing countries, accounting for more than 95 percent of all new cases worldwide. Of the 8,800,000 children under the age of five who die every year, up to 2,000,000 die from pneumonia.

An estimated 26 percent of neonatal deaths within the first month after birth are caused by severe infections, including pneumonia; these deaths occur primarily in the world's poorest countries. For every child who dies of pneumonia in an industrialized country, more than 2,000 children die of pneumonia in poor countries.

Pneumonia is a preventable and treatable problem; more than 1,000,000 lives could be saved each year through prevention and treatment, and many childhood pneumonia deaths can be prevented with early diagnosis. Immunizing children against measles, whooping cough, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and pneumococcus could cut the rate of severe pneumonia in half. In developing countries, studies indicate that only one in four caregivers know the two key symptoms of pneumonia, fast and difficult breathing, which indicate that a child should be treated immediately.

Despite all that can be done to prevent the disease, less than one- third of children suffering from pneumonia in the developing world receive antibiotics available for less than $1. Health professionals agree that prevention and treatment of pneumonia must be a priority in broader, coordinated child survival strategies, requiring a three- pronged program of protection, prevention, and treatment.

The Millennium Development Goals--which the United States, in its wisdom, has pledged to support--call on us to continue our efforts to prevent and treat childhood pneumonia, and to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality rate of children under the age of five. That is why I join this esteemed body in affirming its commitment to international child survival and development programs that prioritize protection, prevention, and treatment against pneumonia; as well as reaffirming the United States' commitment to reaching the Millennium Development Goals, particularly for reducing child mortality.

It is also why I join the House in saluting the health professionals and community health workers on the front lines in the world's poorest countries who are extending preventative care and treatment to children most at risk of contracting pneumonia. And it is why, with this resolution, we recognize World Pneumonia Day.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support of H. Res. 866, which expresses support for designation of a National Veterans History Project Week to encourage public participation in a nationwide project that collects and preserves the stories of the men and women who served our nation in times of war and conflict. I support this resolution because the preservation of our country's history, as told by the men and women of the armed services, is a valuable piece of our nation's heritage and merits our wholehearted endorsement.

The Veterans History Project was established in 2000 by the Veteran's Oral History Project Act, which I was proud to support as a cosponsor. We knew then, as we know now, that the experience of our nation's veterans is a vital part of the history of military conflicts. The Congress unanimously supported the legislation, a testament to the necessity of this effort.

The American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress was charged by Congress to initiate and oversee the Veterans History Project. Its task is to engage the public to create a collection of oral histories, which would be available for scholars. The Veterans History Project is operated by volunteer interviewers, partner organizations, and an array of institutions' dedicated to the preservation of the United States' heritage. Interviews with American war veterans and the civilian workers who supported the veterans are conducted according to the guidelines provided by the Project. The Veterans History Project collects the memories and remembrances of veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. So far, the Veterans History Project has collected over 66,000 oral histories, pictures, and diary entries from American men and women who served their country on the battlefield and at home. The stories are made available at the Library of Congress and on the Veterans History Project website for everyone to study and experience.

I would like to acknowledge that there are two official partner organizations assisting this project in my home state of Texas. The first is the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) located in Irving, Texas. The second is the LULAC-Daughters and Mothers Assisting Success Program located in Dallas, Texas. I am proud of the generosity of these organizations that are willing to donate their time to honor veterans and preserve veterans' history.

Veterans History Project Week highlights the need to collect and preserve the personal narratives of the men and women who have served the United States in times of war and conflict. The collection of personal experiences of U.S. service men and women will be a vital part of the historical record that will help future scholars understand the conflicts. There are over 23 million wartime veterans in America whose personal narratives can elucidate both the experience of armed conflict throughout time and the proceedings of the conflicts themselves.

This resolution is a timely reminder of the importance of acting quickly to preserve the experience of U.S. veterans. Approximately 40 percent of veterans are 65 years old or over. Of the 2.6 million World War II veterans who were alive in 2008, we are losing nearly 900 on average each day. We must not let time irreversibly claim the memories that are our nation's heritage.

The Veterans History Project also serves as a tribute to the men and women who have fought our country's battles or supported the effort at home. Collecting and preserving the personal narratives of veterans for historical records demonstrates the importance of the individual experiences. The voices of veterans will be available to be heard by future students of history and their experience will remain alive.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution and the effort to preserve the memory of those who have served our country in times of war and conflict are an invaluable part of preserving our country's heritage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 89, ``supporting and encouraging greater support for Veterans Day each year.'' The roots of Veterans Day can be traced back to the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in 1919, yet the reigning effects of the efforts of our Veterans reach back much further. From our inception as a Nation, freedom has never been free; it has been fought for both on battle fields around the world and on the floors of the Congress.

In November 1919, President Wilson remembered our fallen soldiers of WWI with the following words: ``To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations . . .'' The Veterans Day that we know today was signed into law on May 26, 1954 by President Dwight Eisenhower. Congress amended the act on November 8, 1954, replacing ``Armistice'' with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

In its history, America has endured great tests of faith and each of the roughly 42 million men and women who have served this Nation at some point in time is a testament to the fact that this country truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave. For nowhere else in the world can you live a life of liberty in the pursuit of happiness as you can on American soil, this is the American Dream. A dream had by the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barbara Jordan and every other American. A dream recently achieved by President Obama, who came from obscurity to the forefront of a truly just nation. Veterans have all done a great service to this Nation and it is our duty to honor them. The Texas Veterans Commission recognizes over 1.7 million veterans in my home state of Texas and within my home district, the 18th District of Texas, we hold our 34,000 veterans in the upmost respect.

Every morning when you wake up, you should thank a Veteran. Every night you make it to bed, you should thank a Veteran. Every breath in freedom you take, you should thank a Veteran. After serving our Nation with honor, our Veterans deserve to be honored.

For these reasons I stand with many of my colleagues in strong support of H. Res. 89, authored by Congressman Joe Baca (CA 43rd District) for the greater recognition of Veterans Day by:

1. Encouraging Americans to demonstrate their support for veterans each year by treating that day as a special day of reflection;

2. Encouraging schools and teachers to educate our children about the many contributions that veterans have made to our society--both during and after their service in the military;

3. Requesting that the President issue a proclamation each year in connection with the observance of Veterans Day calling on the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

As stated in the resolution, the observance of Veterans Day is an expression of faith in democracy, faith in American values, and faith that those who fight for freedom will defeat those whose cause is unjust. As our Veterans take an oath to take on a just cause, so must we. We must vow to never forget the indisputable fact that our Veterans are the back bone of this Nation, they are the reason we can stand against forces of oppression. We too must stand and fight for our Veterans, to give them the care they both need and deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 736 ``Honoring President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on Dedication Day.''

Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes President Lincoln's speech during the November 19, 1863 dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

This speech, forever known as the Gettysburg Address, commemorated the sacrifices of the fallen during the Civil War, and called upon people of the United States to dedicate themselves to the principles of democracy so that ``government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.'' Lincoln's words transcend the context of the Civil War and have served as an inspiration for visitors to the Lincoln Memorial, including the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who chose the Memorial steps as the location to deliver his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech. King started his speech by invoking Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and reminding those gathered before him of the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

King's words remind us of the importance of President Lincoln, as well as how his legacy cannot be embodied by any one speech or action. This resolution is particularly timely given that, this year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln's birth. President Lincoln was a true champion of liberty for all Americans, and he led the nation during very turbulent political times from the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was portrayed as a self-made man, the liberator of the slaves, and the savior of the Union who had given his life so that others could be free. President Lincoln became Father Abraham, a near mythological hero, ``lawgiver'' to African Americans, and a ``Masterpiece of God'' sent to save the Union. His humor was presented as an example of his humanity; his numerous pardons demonstrated his ``great soul''; and his sorrowful

demeanor reflected the burdens of his lonely journey as the leader of a ``blundering and sinful'' people.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, two uneducated farmers, in a one-room log cabin on the 348-acre Sinking Spring Farm, in southeast Hardin County, Kentucky. Lincoln began his political career in 1832, at age 23, with an unsuccessful campaign for the Illinois General Assembly, as a member of the Whig Party.

Lincoln was a true opponent of injustice. In 1837, he made his first protest against slavery in the Illinois House, stating that the institution was ``founded on both injustice and bad policy.

Opposed to the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, Lincoln spoke to a crowd in Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854, outlining the moral, political and economic arguments against slavery that he would continue to uphold throughout his career.

His ``Western'' origins also appealed to the newer states: other contenders, especially those with more governmental experience, had acquired enemies within the party and were weak in the critical western states, while Lincoln was perceived as a moderate who could win the West.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States. In his First Inaugural Address, Lincoln declared, ``I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments,'' arguing further that the purpose of the United States Constitution was ``to form a more perfect union.''

Lincoln possessed a keen understanding of strategic points and understood the importance of defeating the enemy's army, rather than simply capturing cities. He had, however, limited success in motivating his commanders to adopt his strategies until late 1863, when he found a man who shared his vision of the war in Ulysses S. Grant. Only then could he insist on using African American troops and relentlessly pursue a series of coordinated offensives in multiple theaters.

Throughout the war, Lincoln showed a keen curiosity with the military campaigns. He spent hours at the War Department telegraph office, reading dispatches from his generals. He visited battle sites frequently, and seemed fascinated by scenes of war.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in territories not already under Union control. Lincoln later said: ``I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper.''

As the war was drawing to a close, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. On April 14, 1865, as a lone bodyguard wandered, and Lincoln sat in his state box, John Wilkes Booth crept up behind the President and fired a single fatal shot into the President. However, his triumphs live on far past this date.

In 1982, forty-nine historians and political scientists were asked by the Chicago Tribune to rate all the Presidents through Jimmy Carter in five categories: leadership qualities, accomplishments/crisis management, political skills, appointments, and character/integrity. At the top of the list stood Abraham Lincoln. The judgment of historians and the public tells us that Abraham Lincoln was the nation's greatest President by every measure applied.

Because he was committed to preserving the Union and thus vindicating democracy no matter what the consequences to himself, the Union was indeed saved. Because he understood that ending slavery required patience, careful timing, shrewd calculations, and an iron resolve, slavery was indeed killed. Lincoln managed in the process of saving the Union and killing slavery to define the creation of a more perfect Union in terms of liberty and economic equality that rallied the citizenry behind him. Because he understood that victory in both great causes depended upon purposeful and visionary presidential leadership as well as the exercise of politically acceptable means, he left as his legacy a United States that was both whole and free. His great achievement, historians tell us, was his ability to energize and mobilize the nation by appealing to its best ideals while acting ``with malice towards none'' in the pursuit of a more perfect, more just, and more enduring Union.

Mr. Speaker, President Lincoln has paved the way for people of color such as me to serve in Congress and represent the people of the 18th District of Texas proudly. He has been a trailblazer, opening the door for our first African American President, President Barack Obama.

This year, we celebrate the life of President Abraham Lincoln. He has given America many victories. Importantly, his presidency opened the door to ensure that all Americans would be assured their constitutional freedoms and that all Americans would enjoy the triumph against oppression and injustice. President Lincoln has lit the candle, let us today continue to carry it and make sure that it will never go out.

One hundred and forty six years after the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's words continue to inspire people and governments not only in America, but throughout the world. In 1958, France adopted the constitution of its' fifth--and current--republic. Under Title 1, Section 2, the constitution states that ``the principle of the Republic shall be: government of the people, by the people and for the people.'' This is one of many examples of other nations viewing our great country as a beacon of democracy.

I thank my colleague, Rep. Todd Platts, of Pennsylvania, for introducing this important legislation, to ensure that we celebrate, treasure and recognize the impact of President Abraham Lincoln's most famous speech and I urge my colleagues to honor President Lincoln not only by joining me in supporting this resolution, but also by promoting the reading and examining of this speech on November 19th.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 3949, which was on the floor of the House today. I was delayed in coming to Washington because I was meeting with my union members to talk about jobs. Yet I am excited about this legislation that Chairman Filner has brought to the floor, and I thank him for his leadership, which involves protecting and providing for servicemembers. There are currently 25 million veterans--1,630,000 in Texas with 34,000 veterans living in my community.

I am very proud that he put into the bill my vision impairment bill, which will provide for scholarships to help train those who can work with the visually impaired service veterans, many of whom have suffered from the IED explosions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It would also protect parents who can be buried with their children. It will keep servicemembers from being evicted or from being foreclosed on when they're serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then of course it will provide for small businesses of veterans preferred to be on the list so that they can obtain businesses or business opportunities in the United States Government.

This is very important for the upcoming Veterans Day. We must celebrate our veterans, and I am very grateful that my vision impaired bill is in this bill, H.R. 3949.

Mr. Speaker, I stand here in the name of a film producer named Noelle, who, in the midst of trying to show the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, was succumbed by breast cancer--did not die, but became very ill. During the midst of that time, her insurance was dropped.

I come in the name of Eric, a young lawyer who did pro bono work, who had a cold and was treated by an emergency room, given medicine for a pain in the neck, but yet died a few days later of a bacterial virus.

I come in the name of sick people across America to say that H.R. 3200, which will bring down the cost of premiums, which will provide a robust public option, will get rid of preexisting conditions that keep you from getting insurance--which is wanted by over 70 percent of Americans, Republicans and Democrats. I come in their name to say it is time now to pass a robust health care reform package with a vigorous public option that addresses the needs of Americans and brings down the cost of premiums for all Americans, those with employer-based insurance and those who need the public option. It is time now. Martin Luther King said, ``Now is the time.''

Madam Speaker, let me express my appreciation for having the opportunity to share with my colleagues.

Listening to my good friends who have spent the last hour giving us the reason why, and usually in that question there is a sense of hopelessness and frustration, I rise today to speak of the answer, why not? After some 60 or so years since the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s when America has attempted to travel on the journey of health care reform, why not in 2009?

Frankly, I believe that we can. And as I listened to my good friend Congressman Grayson some few days ago on this very floor and he asked individuals who tragically had lost loved ones because of the tragedy, the inequality of lack of health coverage, health care insurance, I join him, and I ask that those who are sick today in America and want to be heard, that they are sick and getting sicker because of no health care insurance, I would like you to write in on my Web site, United States Congress, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. Let us hear from you. For as we have lost, tragically, those who have passed, those countless families responding to a call for them to express their sadness and to provide us with this information, I know that there are those who are now suffering with their sickness alone because they have no health insurance.

So, today, I rise to the floor to give sort of a summary of a hearing that was held today in Judiciary that allowed individuals to come to that room and for members to listen to them on their stories about those family members that are sick. Yes, some did die, but they spoke of their sickness. And I am delighted but saddened that those stories had to be told. The room had doctors, patients coming together around the question of why not? And if not now, then when? The Congresspersons came from States as far away as Ohio and Texas. They came from Washington, D.C. They came from Michigan and Arizona and New York to listen to these various Americans coming from faraway places, as far away as California, to talk about the tragedy of sickness and being alone.

Let me, first of all, start with the obvious question of what happens when America becomes sick? Well, right now we're in the midst of a pandemic of H1N1. It has risen to the level of national headlines. The President has declared a national emergency. In fact, newspaper articles are being written that one in five children will become infected with influenza-type ailments. So we know that our children are being impacted negatively.

On this past Monday in my own congressional district, I held a hearing with leaders from the public health sector, the private health sector, Ben Taub Hospital, Harris County Hospital District, Harris County Health Department, the City of Houston Health Department, our school districts, community citizens and leaders, who indicated that, as we work with our government, the Federal Government, here's how you can do better.

But as I was listening to their testimony, I could just think of sick people, in this instance sick with H1N1. And what will my colleagues say if this turned into the raging pandemic where lines and lines of people wrapped around buildings, where people were languishing in their apartments and home because they were sick and could not access doctors?

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, we were founded and created after 9/11, the tragedy of unpreparedness in some circles. It was defined as people and this Nation not being prepared. So, for example, our first responders who addressed this question, our public health workers, our Public Health Corps here in the United States Federal Government, FEMA, and others were doing what they could do, but they were overcome by the fact that so many people did not have access to medical care.

There were those who might have been able to be cared for who were hesitant to go to a doctor. One, they could not access one, and, two, they didn't have the resources. Maybe they didn't have enough community federally qualified clinics, which is in H.R. 3200. Or maybe they had been denied insurance because they had a preexisting

disease and they said they could take care of it themselves. They were on various over-the-counter drugs when in actuality they should have seen a doctor. Maybe they should have seen a doctor at the first signs of the symptoms of this ailment and maybe they could have kept others from being infected. Health care becomes part of a national crisis.

I listened to some challenge to the Constitution about the right to health care. I frankly believe that the Bill of Rights does embrace this concept because the Fifth Amendment suggests the question of due process. And one does not have due process under the Constitution if your neighbor can have health insurance and save his children from the scourge of H1N1, not losing their lives because they might have vulnerabilities as a child, and you cannot.

So, Madam Speaker, everything is intertwined. It is an action and a reaction. As I listened to the hearing, I made several remarks. This the Monday congressional briefing where Members of our delegation joined us and they listened to the idea or to the fact that H1N1 is more widespread now than ever before. Health authorities say almost 100 children have died from the flu, and 46 States now have widespread flu activity. More than 5,000 people have reportedly died from swine flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic.

The World Health Organization said Friday since more countries have stopped counting individual swine flu cases, the figures are considered an underestimate. The flu has infected millions of Americans and killed nearly 100 children in the United States. The chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that over 1,000 people have died as a result, with 46 States reporting widespread H1N1 activity.

What happens as this is compounded by the millions who are uninsured?

Specifically, in Houston, Texas, there were two swine flu deaths confirmed on Wednesday, October 21, 2009, that have brought the H1N1 death toll in Houston up to 15. The 15-count death toll includes residents of many different areas surrounding Harris County. The State reported one new influenza-associated pediatric death last week. What do we say to that child's parents? I don't know whether they did not have health coverage, but I can assure you that there will be those infected who do not. The child who died was an 11-year-old with significant underlying medical conditions. The child was not vaccinated for influenza for the current season. Not H1N1, but the regular flu shot. I can only imagine that there might have been some difficulty in that child receiving that flu shot. So many are in that predicament. So many do not have access to doctors and clinics and health insurance; or a vigorous, robust public option which would help the millions of those who now languish who may be working, but do not have the ability to access health insurance.

So I want to thank my colleagues and my chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chairman John Conyers, for co-hosting and granting me the opportunity to act on my idea, and that was for this Congress to listen to the sick. And woe, did we listen to the sick today. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., we listened to people's stories. And so I share with you, Madam Speaker, some of the excerpts of these stories.

I have in the backdrop what America will do if this surge, this pandemic of H1N1, begins to filter into every nook and cranny and find the uninsured, those who could not earlier get a flu shot, those who don't have access to a physician to determine what they have. No doctor to give them Tamiflu, no place to go. Not because our very fine Federal authorities will not be having the opportunity to work with local and State authorities to provide offsite places for the H1N1 vaccination to take place as we get the doses and as they are being produced, but who knows of those who will go unattended because of their lack of understanding or lack of information or lack of ability to access a medical professional. Maybe they will crowd into the emergency rooms and make it a national and unending crisis.

In the hearing today, we mentioned the Vietnam War, where we tragically lost 50,000 of our brave and courageous treasures of the United States. We acknowledged their sacrifice and expressed the horror of that loss of life, although applauding their service to this country and never forgetting it.

But, Madam Speaker, without health insurance as I stand here today, we are losing 45,000 Americans every single year, a war that does not seem to have a peace table where we can sit down and resolve this conflict of those with no insurance because we are stuck, if you will, and people are not listening to the American people to be able to provide for a passage of H.R. 3200 with a vigorous public option, a bill that eliminates the preexisting conditions, that provides for opportunity for small businesses to be covered, that provides for the children's health insurance, that closes prescription part D, the horrible doughnut hole that no senior ever wanted to hear about, that protects Medicare and expands Medicaid and opens the doors of opportunity for all Americans.

Madam Speaker, The Wall Street Journal has never been a paper of great liberalism. They tell it like it is. However, many people not believe these numbers. A Wall Street Journal-NBC poll of today, October 27, 2009: Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe it is extremely or quite important to give Americans the choice between a government-run care plan and a private plan in any final health care bill, according to the latest Wall Street Journal and NBC news poll. Some 73 percent said it was important to do so; 45 percent called it extremely important; and 27 percent said it was quite important.

What more do we need to do to make it clear that we need to put that kind of bill on the floor of the House and the Representatives of the people need to vote to ensure that the sick are responded to. The sick that work, the sick that pay taxes, the sick that have children, the sick that own homes, before catastrophic illnesses causes them to go into foreclosures.

The strength of the support continues to come from many Democrats around the Nation. But let me tell you something: It is extremely important to include the fact that more than one in three Republicans, 34 percent, want a public option and view it as being extremely important. As did 39 percent of Independents; 40 percent almost of Independents want a public option.

Now, some are arguing for a lot of different issues. I, likewise, will be advocating to keep St. Joseph Hospital open. Physician-owned hospitals have a meritorious role in this Nation. They take care of the sickest of the sick. But as we do this, the question becomes why not in taking care of the sick.

So, let me begin recounting some of the stories that were told to us from 9 a.m. today, October 27, in the House Judiciary Committee room until 2 p.m. It was certainly an appropriate forum, a place of justice where people's rights are judged as we work through legislative issues, making sure that every person has a voice.

I listened to some of my colleagues speak about the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, who himself understood that there was a necessity in this Nation to speak for the vulnerable, in his leadership of the Poor People's March, in his voice on the 1963 March on Washington, and in his own eulogy on April 3, 1968, in speaking about this Nation reaching the promised land, knowing that he might not get there with us, but that we as a Nation, as a people, could find the kind of promised land that would provide people with equality for all.

I am very glad to have been able to hear from the General Board of the Church and Society of the United Methodist Church. James Winkler, the general secretary, came to this hearing today to speak of the commitment of his church body, recognizing their role. In 35 congregations across the United States, he said there are far too many people in our pews who have fallen through the cracks in our broken health care system and they are not able to afford insurance and they are ineligible for Medicaid. I ask the question again, why not?

He spoke to us about Barbara, an attorney. Her husband and her children were covered by health insurance through her law firm. She developed cancer, received needed treatment; and, fortunately, the cancer went into remission. A few years later, however,

the cancer came back, and the family was slated to be dropped from their health insurance. Sound familiar? Preexisting disease. Barbara faced a decision no one should have to face, whether or not to divorce her husband so that he and their children could receive health insurance. The question is, is this our America?

So we can listen to a long list of noes, a long list of proposals of what bills many may have. And I have the greatest respect for my colleagues. Obviously, when we drop legislation, we are sincere about it. But, Madam Speaker, there will be many opportunities to address some of the very good ideas that many of our Members have. I look forward to an ongoing debate on health care, but we ask the question, Why not? In the middle of a surge of a pandemic of H1N1, the swine flu, countless persons in their homes right now as we speak, maybe even suffering, doctoring themselves because they have no access to a physician.

The General Board of the Church and Society of the of the United Methodist Church and James Winkler, the general secretary, added this to his testimony today. Michael, a college student, was hit by a drunk driver and spent 3 days in a trauma hospital. Five months before the accident, he was dropped from his parents' health insurance because he turned 25 years of age. The very same population of 18 to 25 that a vigorous public option will help.

How many parents are out there right now knowing that their child is going to graduate from college, or even knowing that their college's health insurance plan is not enough. Your child could be on a vigorous public option. Michael was ineligible for Medicaid because he had also held down a job while attending college to assist in his hospital expenses. During his 3-day hospital stay, he accumulated $97,000 in medical expenses and is now in the midst in a long physical rehabilitation, including major dental reconstructive surgery. His mother managed to convince her employer to add COBRA benefits for this young man at an added cost of over $1,000 per month to what she is already paying for the rest of her family. Now the family faces financial ruin because of the accident.

These are tragic stories that we hear over and over again. James Winkler proceeded to say that the growing cost of health care means that many of our clergy and their families have inadequate health care and that many of our local churches have had to resort to part-time pastoral leadership. Many of our lay employees go without health benefits because of the high cost.

Madam Speaker, the stories of the sick, those that live that are begging this Congress to provide a vigorous and robust public option. Our speakers were many, but I am grateful that they were willing to share their testimony.

What about the documentary film producer? One would think that she would have the world in the palm of her hands. What an exotic life. Natalie Noel was willing to come to this place and express the pain of what she has seen in her filming of New Orleans and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, but also to tell her story of what happened personally to her.

Natalie Noelle, a journalist with news from Indian country, she is also an independent filmmaker; and, as she said proudly because she lives, a breast cancer survivor. She is a native of Mobile, Alabama, and of course she knew well of the civil rights movement.

Since August, 2007, she, working with a media company, had been co- producing ``Reinventing Paradise.'' This is a heart-wrenching documentary that tells the dramatic stories of Gulf Coast residents who suffered unimaginable hardships. As she was in the midst of doing this, she became devastatingly sick with the disease of breast cancer. But as she was talking about her own story, she told us again about the people who are still suffering in New Orleans in the area, people who, with great strength of spirit and inspiring self-determination, are struggling to rebuild their lives, homes and communities.

But the people are also faced with physical and psychological problems, and they have little or no access to care, no access to care. Even in a video that she showed in that room, an EMS worker began crying because of the many people that she had to pick up for mental health challenges; they were in crisis, and there were no health facilities for them to go to.

She told this story as she began to tell of her fight as well. And her fight was that she, too, took ill and was enormously ill with cancer. Her story was one of courage, but it was devastating. In the middle of doing her movie ``Reinventing Paradise'' she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was suddenly hearing surgeons recommend an immediate mastectomy. ``At the time I had private insurance with Alabama's single dominant carrier and a comfortable apartment in Mobile.'' And let me, Madam Speaker, for a moment just highlight that.

What the robust public option will do will provide the competitive edge that we don't have, will in fact save Americans $110 billion. Can I simply ask the question, why not? Why would we reject that underlying premise, that a vigorous robust option as documented by the CBO that will save $110 billion and it will provide an opportunity for your premiums to go down? And in States where there is only one or two insurers, you will have a competitive element. You won't close them down in no way. So much of our health insurance is based on employer- based insurance, but you will give the opportunity for low-cost insurance and you would have answered the question that Noelle is speaking to us now. This is her voice. Soon I was undergoing multiple surgeries, several courses of chemotherapy, radiation, experiencing pain that I cannot begin to describe. I know there are breast cancer survivors who live today because of that regimen, but I also know that there are probably those who are struggling alone. Some may be recently getting the news and wondering how they will be able to continue their health care. Let us hear your story.

``Unable to work, I lost my hair, my apartment, and found myself marginalized, humiliated, hopeless. My insurance was canceled.'' Are there sick who hear us today and tonight who could tell that story, your insurance was canceled? In a public option, no preexisting disease will disallow you from having insurance.

``My insurance was canceled,'' but her testimony is, ``Thankfully it was canceled after covering my first year or so of treatment, but my medical bills continued to pile up.'' She began crawling back to life with the help of a former business partner and the support of friends.

She recently moved to Pennsylvania where she was able to receive physical therapy and to complete her healing process because of the public medical assistance program that the State of Pennsylvania has in place. Can you imagine, she had to crawl her way back to a State that would allow her to finish her health care?

What is the answer to the question, why not? It is simply that we must pass H.R. 3200 for the sick, the sicker, and the sickest.

I want to make mention now of some of the doctors that came because I will tell some of their stories. But I wanted to have a poster that they actually brought. They wanted us to read off these names--the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American Medical Student Association, the American Osteopathic Association, Doctors for America, the National Medical Association, the National Physicians Alliance and SCIU, the Committee of Interns and Residents, Doctors Council and National Doctors Alliance. They wanted us to know that all of these members stand for health care reform. And the large print says, Did you know half a million doctors support health care reform? Did you know that they support health care reform?

Many of these doctors were present with us in this hearing. Remember, this was a hearing for the sick, the sickest, and those family members who had suffered, and doctors came to share with us stories. And so as many as I can share with you tonight, I will do so.

What about Joan S., Kosloff, whose son, Eric, lost his battle because of lack of access to health care? Joan cried with us in that hearing. Joan was

comforted by the other witnesses. But her son, Eric, who had a strong constitution, had bounced back from other illnesses, had previous bouts with substance abuse but was recovering and was leading his life as a lawyer who handled pro bono cases. He was an advocate for those who could not speak for themselves, and he was working on behalf of those people. Around October 15, 2006, he was visiting in Philadelphia from Atlanta. The family noticed after a brunch and a happy time that he had a bad cold and suggested that he go to a doctor when you get home, your cough sounds terrible.

Occasionally, he went to the ER at an Atlanta public hospital. They prescribed an antibiotic and sent him home. Remember, he didn't have a doctor. He went to the emergency room. This has been the plight of Americans all over this country; their doctor is an emergency room. Those doctors are overwhelmed. I've gone sometimes with my mom, who is not Eric's age, but is 83. I know full well by being in emergency rooms often that what you see is an inundated system.

And so he went to the emergency room. That was his doctor. They sent him home. He took the medicine and he didn't get better. His mother spoke to him after the first trip to the ER and heard him still coughing. On November 18 he returned to the ER--remember, not to a doctor, not to a primary care provider, which, by the way, H.R. 3200 will provide enhanced opportunities for primary care physicians as well their specialists and other medical professionals, such as nurses and nurse practitioners and others who will help in the medical system. He returned to the ER and was given a painkiller because he complained of severe head and neck pain. It had codeine in it. His mother said, I can't imagine giving codeine medication to a recovering substance abuser, and I cannot understand why the emergency room doctors did not want to find the reason for his head and neck pain.

I don't know if Eric took the medication they gave him. Eric's daughter came to visit him and they went to a friend's house. The next night he became violently ill and threw up. Remember, this person is walking around, not seeing any primary care physician, not under constant care, no insurance. His roommates called his wife to pick up their daughter. She wanted to take Eric to the hospital, but he told her he just wanted to sleep. He then fell into a semicoma and his housemates took care of him and notified the authorities.

Finally, they called 911. An ambulance took Eric to the same hospital he had been to 4 days previously. He never regained consciousness. No doctor, no health insurance. Of course if he had a primary care physician he might have been diagnosed with meningitis and bacterial pneumonia.

These are stories of Americans who didn't deserve to die, who wanted to live a full life, who were making good on their life and wanted to raise their children. This is a picture of Eric as his mother wanted us to see, vibrant, happy, serving those indigent clients that he wanted to serve, providing them with justice.

What about Dr. Rebekah Gee--and I call her a miracle--another accident victim hit broadside, both she and her husband, by an SUV while they were riding on a motorcycle. She says in the hearing room that she was lucky. She is the daughter of a university president and she had access to the best medical care and services in the country. I told her that she was a miracle. She is practicing OB/GYN now after that terrible tragic accident. And her husband did lose his life. But she admitted that they did not have insurance, he did not have insurance, and she is where she is today because of the position her father had and the willingness of their care to be at cost or not charged.

In my rehabilitation center, I spoke to a young woman whose husband got into a car accident--this is her talking about when she was being rehabilitated. He was severely mentally damaged. A family with three children, she had stayed at home and he had worked several jobs. Not only did this young woman have to deal with the fact that her husband would never be the same, but she would have to put all the money that she saved towards medical bills and lose her hope for helping her children's financial future. This was someone who was with her in the rehabilitation center. An accident or illness is punishment enough. That family, she was trying to say to us, was unlike her because she had resources through her father. Even though as a married couple they had no health insurance that would have covered her illness, she was in the same facility with a young woman who had children, whose husband was severely mentally damaged through an accident, and that person was going to have to pay. That was a sick husband, a sick family member, and they were going to have to pay and pay and pay and pay because they had no insurance.

We listened to the sick, but they were not worn out, they were not hateful, they were not angry. They were hurt, and they were pleading for us to do something for them. They were pleading for H.R. 3200. They were pleading and pleading and pleading and asking us to care. They were asking for a robust public option to bring down costs in insurance premiums that employers and others provide.

They were asking us to care about having insurance for 18- to 30- year-olds who were in the prime of their life, but who are also at the beginning of their careers or they are in college. They're asking us to care about hardworking families who, because of the expenses of the day, did not have enough money to pay for insurance.

And so I ask not why, but I ask the question why not?

And what about the story of a young doctor, so highly credentialed-- George Washington University, faculty appointment, fellowship at NIH and internship at Vanderbilt University. Long before she earned a master's in public health from Harvard and a medical degree from the University of Chicago, she had dreams. She grew up as a child of a single parent in Detroit, Michigan. She saw the diseases that came about through inequity and disparities in health care. She saw family members not have access to health care. And this young girl, now a doctor, had a dream; she wanted to serve those people. She wanted to serve you and you and you that are now sitting in America with no health insurance. She wanted to be your doctor, your primary care physician.

But yet, in the system that we have, she could not find a way to serve the poor, to serve individuals that did not have access to health care and, in this instance, access because there are probably no federally qualified community health clinics, not enough. These individuals did not either enroll or qualify for Medicaid. These individuals didn't have H.R. 3200 or health care reform to provide a robust public option. She couldn't find a way.

So, in her own words, Dr. Anthony said she boycotted and is boycotting America's medical system today. She boycotted hospital care. She left the hospital treatment system because she could not treat patients because there were these oversight boards that would stop her from treating people who did not have insurance. They could be in the hospital, but they would be sent home, and she would feel empty because she was not able to provide them with care.

She told us about patients like her Aunt Chris who couldn't afford health insurance and, therefore, went without preventive screening and was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer. She said she would never forget waiting for months to get her appointment at Cooke County or standing at the hospital pharmacy waiting in line wrapped around the corner just to drop off the prescription for her medication. Sadly, her aunt died in July of this year.

There are patients like her grandfather, who died in May from complications of CHF, leaving his retired wife with medical bills greater than the combined salaries of two physicians, or patients like her who were denied health insurance from private insurance when they were unemployed.

She boycotted the health insurance system because she, in her own words, said that she was disgusted and disheartened by the reality that 90 percent of the patients I choose to serve as a doctor, my family and community, could not get an appointment to see me if their life depended on it. She had difficulty sleeping at night.

Then she tells the story, this credentialed doctor tells the story of

having boycotted the system, and becoming unemployed, she joined the 47 million uninsured when she first moved to the District of Columbia. COBRA was offered for approximately a thousand dollars a month, but she was unemployed and she owed $217,000 in medical school loans and simply could not afford it.

The private insurance companies denied her application for private insurance, including BCBS, Aetna, and Kaiser. She assumed her premiums would be higher due to the height and weight ratio, but I never imagined I would be flat out denied. Let me just say that again so I can get it right.

She accepted the fact that she was going to have to pay very high premiums. She was willing to accept that. She has already got $217,000 in medical expenses. She thought maybe her physique would cause her to have increased payments. But can you imagine this credentialed doctor could not get health insurance at all? She was denied.

Madam Speaker, the loss of health insurance is not a respecter of age. It is not a respecter of your economic status. It's not a respecter of region. It's not a respecter of racial disparities or what race you are. It is an equal opportunity offender. It will attack those who suffer disparities because they are African American or Hispanic or Asian or if you are older or if you are younger or if you have a preexisting disease or if you have lost your job.

It is not a respecter of anyone. If you happen to have been wealthy and fallen upon hard times and lost everything, if your home has been foreclosed, you will fall into the trap of having no access to health care under this present system. I don't believe we can tolerate this kind of system anymore.

What about the story of a young physician who wants to ensure that he does what his life dream was, Dr. Alex Blum, who is a physician, a pediatric physician, who is concerned about making sure that he treats the sick children that are out there right now whose parents don't have health insurance and they may not be enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program because it has not been expanded as we plan to do in this legislation, H.R. 3200. But let me tell you his story, personally, what happened to him.

Six years ago, he says, when he was a medical student at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC, he spent the summer doing an internship at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Don't we applaud that, a young doctor goes down to be an intern at a Federal agency? It speaks to the call of President Obama for those young people to serve. He probably could have gotten any other kind of internship. He became very sick. He went to the emergency room, was told he was in acute kidney failure. The problem was that his medical school insurance only covered him if he got sick near Washington, DC, not Atlanta, near Washington, DC.

So all of you parents, like myself, that have college-age children-- they have graduated since--who want to go all the way around the world, in fact, they want to go way around the world; they want to work maybe down in New Orleans, as my son did, way away from his school, in order to be able to work at that time--he was in college--with Hurricane Katrina survivors; or my daughter, who went to the Mississippi Delta, way away from her school, to be able to help and work with those in that region. This young man went to the CDC. What parent could understand that he did not have health insurance because he had to be in the Washington, DC area?

It didn't cover me in Atlanta, he said. I qualified as underinsured. Aware that we could not afford out-of-pocket payment for a renal dialysis unit as was being recommended, my dad--his dad, a physician-- drove him through the night from Atlanta, waking him every few minutes to see if he was responsive.

Let me see if I can get that. Here you are driving, trying to get through the dark of night. You have got a child that you love sitting in the seat going in and out of the consciousness, and you are trying to make sure that you are checking on that child, rushing up to get within the guidelines and boundaries of Washington, DC, so that you can get medical care. Until we finally reached Washington, DC, the next morning, even those of us who choose to enter the profession of caring for others are not immune to the dysfunctional health care system.

I thought that was a powerful statement that he, himself, had this concern. He is, of course, concerned about the 47 million uninsured and the 87 million underinsured Americans who deserve better. He trained in pediatric medicine at a county hospital outside of Los Angeles. At this county hospital, he cared for uninsured children, those enrolled in SCHIP and Medicaid. What he enjoyed most about working within that system was that he provided high-quality care to those who needed it the most.

His patients on Medicaid and SCHIP were able to easily see subspecialists. But he has a story here, and let me just tell it to you quickly.

He once cared for a 9-month-old boy who had a swollen face covered in a rash on his forehead and cheeks and raw in his neck folds. Any of us who picked up a bouncing baby, and we know how much we love to just nestle and kiss it. And just think of this baby with this rash. And many of us who are moms and dads know how babies can get chafe. This was raw rash, as he described it. How painful this must have been for that little 9-month-old who couldn't express himself. He sat before me and scratched his arms and trunk and uncontrollably to the point of bleeding. Because of his constant scratching, his skin had started to harden. He had uncontrolled eczema, and his mother told me, in tears, how she had not been able to obtain a referral to a dermatologist, the county pediatric dermatologist, one afternoon a month, clinic time.

That same day, to prevent the mother from receiving a large medical bill, I did what I normally do. I got on the phone to a private insurance company and asked the insurance bureaucrat to agree to pay for the visit. As my other patients had to wait for me, I wasted time on the phone trying to solicit preapproval from an insurance company, but I could not sway the insurance gatekeeper. I tried my hardest to make this bureaucrat understand the child's bloody scabs, the mother's tears, but to no avail. The dermatologist took pity on the child and he did what physicians often do, he saw the child for free.

What a tragedy in this Nation. How can one accept this predicament? I ask the question, why not?

I thank Dr. Blum for going the extra mile, as so many of our doctors do day after day and time after time. I know it well, as my area includes the Texas Medical Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Hermann Memorial, Baylor, Methodist, St. Luke's, MD Anderson, and many others; St. Joseph's, the Doctors Hospital on Tidwell, so many where doctors just say yes. They just say yes.

But can you imagine? What could I have done? What do you think Dr. Blum could have done? Could he have taken a BlackBerry picture, an iPhone picture of this 9-month-old baby? Could he have squeezed it through the telephone for this bureaucrat to be able to answer?

A vigorous public option has to be the answer for there to be the kind of reality that we cannot allow this kind of system to continue to take the lives of the sick, the sick who want to live, the sick who deserve to live. This kind of condition is one that I believe can be enormously unacceptable.

Let me share with you some additional stories that I believe are important to make the story complete. We were very pleased to have at our hearing today the wife of Senator Fulbright, Harriet Mayor Fulbright, who came to advocate--she did not have to do that--for a vigorous public option. She could have continued her philanthropic work. We certainly know of the great work of her husband, Senator J. William Fulbright, and the legacy that he had left.

But she wanted to tell us of a condition that she was suffering. She had experienced anemia. There was a lot of different testing of what was her condition. Finally, she got a diagnosis. It involved cancer.

She had a doctor at Johns Hopkins whom she liked, as she said, from the start. He finally told her that even though the chemo was indeed killing the cancer, it was also causing such damage to my immune system that he felt I needed a second opinion. So he

suggested that she go to another specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

She saw another doctor, and in a few months her life began to improve. The complete transformation you now see, and she was before us, and she looked wonderful, came slowly, but it was like a miracle, she said. I am not and cannot be cured, but I am in complete remission.

She went on to say it came about because of a medical team extending around the world, doctors who shared research findings and techniques freely, swapping patient stories in an effort to treat us all with greater efficiency and compassion, brainstorming ideas about how to spread the word about this disease so that future patients would not go through a year of more frustration.

She wanted to emphasize to us it was because she had health insurance of the kind that would allow that to happen. But she came to tell us that she was not satisfied that her life was saved, that she was sick, sicker and the sickest person that she could have imagined, but now she has the opportunity to play with her grandchildren because she had health insurance. But she testified today, as a sick person formerly, now in remission, that she wants to see a vigorous public option.

Again, we want to hear from the sick, the sicker and the sickest, because they are, in fact, the reason why we need to pass health care reform. H.R. 3200 is health care reform legislation that will, in fact, provide us the opportunity to save lives.

Madam Speaker, you know I mentioned earlier 50,000-plus of our brave men and women died in Vietnam, how many we lost in World War II and World War I and our other wars and, of course, the gulf war and the Iraq war, Afghanistan, as we are still on the front lines.

Those are enormous tragedies and treasure that is lost.

I am very grateful that one of my constituents that I have great admiration for that we lost just recently, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, whom we had the privilege of naming the veterans hospital after, was the doctor that created the MASH unit.

Now, with modern technology we are seeing our soldiers come home from the battlefield, even different from Vietnam, and even though we have lost a high toll in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are saving lives because of a public health system, the military doctors who are in the field taking care of these brave men and women, allowing them to come home to their families, a government health care system.

I want the men and women who may live to serve in the United States military, or the child that may grow up to join the United States military, to be able to live if they would have access to health care and a vigorous public option, so that that 9-month-old baby who could not speak for himself laying on that table blistering his own body, uncontrollably scratching, and not knowing, just being a baby, an infant, that someone would be so callous as to refuse a treatment that could have occurred right there. Short of that doctor saying yes, that baby would have gone home with that mom.

Or the accident victim, the story that I heard in my own community, where a car was totaled with a mom and a couple of her daughters' friends, and where one child may have refused to go to the hospital, was told not to go because that family member could not afford the cost of the hospital, of the cost of the ambulance to take the child to the hospital. It was ultimately worked out that the child could see a doctor.

But I don't blame that parent or that family member. You have got to understand what that means, what that means to those who are paying rent, providing for three and four children, who are being the parent that we ask them to be, trying to provide for all the children.

Or maybe the parent that stood up in my town hall meeting and said to me, ``What do we do? I have insurance. I went to the doctor. I took it there and the doctor said, `This insurance is not worth the paper it is written on. What it says is it provides you with emergency care.' My son needs a physical in order to go into school.'' In order to start school, he needs a physical.

So many of us as Members of Congress in our town hall meetings on health care reform heard those stories. I told my staff immediately, we are going to get her the care that she needs. We are going to get that son a physical. We referred her and made sure that she got the very next day or within a day or two into one of the Federally qualified clinics. She knew nothing about it.

There are not very many in our community in Houston. We want to build up in Texas. They are growing. We are looking to invest in one with Rev. Ethan Ogletree, who is looking to put one in the Greenspoint area. We are looking to work with the Acres Home community to ensure that we have one there. And others are planning such clinics. Out of H.R. 3200, we will find the opportunity and the language and the provision to establish Federally qualified community clinics.

But that young man was able to get into one that our office provided him the access to, because that family did not know about that opportunity, so that he could get a physical and be able to return at that time to school.

Madam Speaker, I don't know how many more stories we need to hear. There are so many. I know that there are people who are sick, who are denied the access to a physician, or themselves make the decision that they are not going to go and get medical care. They are going to take care of themselves. They may try to ask a pharmacist and get some over- the-counter drugs.

As one testified in our hearing as well, another film producer who was willing to say in her story that she wound up asking friends who had similar conditions, can I borrow your medicine? Dianne, who was a TV producer, she told us that story. Many people do that.

Madam Speaker, many of them as well not only do that, but they cut their medicine in half, or they don't take their medicine. How many seniors do that?

So we have to fix this system so that the cost of prescription drugs for seniors does not price them out of caring for themselves and taking the medicine that they have. We must fix the system so that Medicare costs do not cause Medicare to not be able to serve all of the seniors and those that need it.

By the way, Madam Speaker, if we just count the lives that were lost pre-1965 before Medicare and look at the life expectancy term now, how much it has grown. I did not know my paternal grandfather. My grandmother told me that he died in the 1930s at home with pneumonia, not seeing any doctor, not having any insurance. That was America during that time. Congress even from that time, the 1930s, the 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s, tried to do health care reform. How many lives, countless lives, were lost because of the fact that we did not have health insurance?

So this hearing today was a moment in history, one that I was so very proud to be a part of. We heard from Dr. Lucy Perez, a past president of the National Medical Association, who insisted eloquently that we should have the right kind of health care reform that brings down premiums and allows access for all Americans.

We heard from Dr. Aziz, a renowned and respected cardiologist. He has extensive training in heart and lung transplants and was a co-director of the heart transplant program at the University of Washington. This doctor advocated for a vigorous public option because he wanted to be able to use his skills on those who may not be the wealthiest in America. He wanted to cure the heart problems and lung problems through surgery of those who now languish in their apartments and homes because they do not have health care insurance, who have not seen a doctor, whose health is deteriorating, whose heart disease is growing and expanding.

I do want to make mention of the fact that Eric in his death shared his liver so that someone else might live. Can you imagine that person who needed that liver not having health insurance? Can you imagine that kind of continuing crisis in America?

It is important to note that doctors like Dr. Murphy came as well to speak about the importance of letting the message of doctors from around the country come out. The poster board

that I had that indicated that all these doctors from all of these organizations are in fact supporting, they are supporting, health care reform.

The question is not why, but the question is why not? We thank him for his presence. And we thank Elizabeth Wiley, who came as a medical student and indicated that 62,000 medical students across America are supporting a vigorous public option.

I believe, Madam Speaker, that the stories of the sick, as we mourn those who have lost their lives, are potent and powerful. As we listened in the waning hours of this hearing and listened to many, many others, Dr. Ben Carson joined in by telephone and told us, this great surgeon, of the need for full access and the need for the ability to be heard on this issue.

Madam Speaker, I close by simply saying if the question is asked why, we ask why not? A vigorous public option will save lives; 45,000 die every single year. And to the sick who are listening, let us hear from you, because we will be propelled by the cause and necessity of providing you, the sick, with good health care so that you might live.